Car seat question

Talltrees82 · June 2015

LO is 32 inches long and his feet are touching the seat in his rear-facing convertible. I want him to be rear-facing as long as possible, but the feet touching the seat concern me a bit. The car seat says he can rear-face up to 40lbs (he's 27lbs), but it also says he can front-face at 27 inches (he's 32). In an accident I'd rather he have broken legs than internal decapitation (can't even think about this!). Can I keep him rear-facing?

radiohd18 · June 2015

We've had our rear facing car seats inspected twice by local police and both times they said it's okay if the child's feet touch the seat, especially if the car seat is tightened correctly.

emilyann64 · June 2015

I think it's fine bc their knees will bend in the case of a car accident. I've seen lots of kids with much longer legs than our LOs still rear facing.

momofmanyinthemitten · June 2015

My 2.5 y/o is still rear facing. He just bends his knees. We turned DD1 at 2 because she gets carsick.

Sporty1216 · June 2015

I follow carseatsforthelittles on Instagram and they have a ton of great info there and on their website! They address this question specifically and say that even damage to the legs is unlikely. They have all kinds of pictures and testimonials about big kids rear facing. It's pretty inspiring! I'd recommend checking them out if you haven't already. I've found them immensely helpful. I have also done car seat checks at our local children's hospital. Maybe you have a similar resource that can help you out locally?

SmallCityLiving · June 2015

It's actually more comfortable for the kids (and safer) to have their legs bent and almost in their lap than dangling like they will when they forward face. So keep them rear facing as long as possible!

ksulli · June 2015

My now 4yo sat read acing with her legs bent up against the seat for a long time. She's extremely tall (95th+ percentile) and was rear facing to her 2nd birthday. They're fine (and safer) that way regardless of their legs.

clbailey5 · June 2015

Their supposed to be rear facing until 2 right? So many of my friends have kids younger than 2 and they have them facing forward!

Talltrees82 · June 2015

Ok great! Thanks ladies! I'm feeling less concerned about his feet now! I will keep him rear-facing as long as possible.

@sporty1216 I will have to check out carseatsforthelittles! Thanks!

ksulli · June 2015

clbailey5 said:
Their supposed to be rear facing until 2 right? So many of my friends have kids younger than 2 and they have them facing forward!

That's the receomendation (from the APA I think), but the law (in my state at least) only requires it until 1.

Smores730 · June 2015

Definitely safer to have their legs on the seat than being forward facing!

Sadly the laws in most states lag well behind what should be considered standard for safety purposes. Just barely over half the states require helmets while riding a motorcycle and several states do not require adults to wear seat belts if they're in the back seats. They're so safe back there and all. yikes.

Talltrees82 · June 2015

Smores730 said:
Definitely safer to have their legs on the seat than being forward facing!

Sadly the laws in most states lag well behind what should be considered standard for safety purposes. Just barely over half the states require helmets while riding a motorcycle and several states do not require adults to wear seat belts if they're in the back seats. They're so safe back there and all. yikes.

Really? No seat belts in the back seat? That blows my mind!

yellowflower15 · June 2015

In Ontario, the law goes by weight. I think it's 22 lbs before you can forward face, but as ppl have posted, the longer you rear face, the better. We were told by a car seat tech that they should be at least one year, at least 22lbs and walking unassisted. That was told to us about 3 years ago, so I think the recommendations are to wait longer now.

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