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December 2015 Moms
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New California car seat law

stephaniechen82stephaniechen82 member
in December 2015 Moms
Just an FYI for those in CA. Starting 2017, all babies 24mo and younger must sit rear facing, unless they are over 40lbs or 40" tall. So when purchasing a car seat, try to keep this in mind. A convertible car seat needs to be convenient for your car, as well as have some growing room. I wish I had known this before purchasing our Britax convertible car seat a few years ago, which is huge and a pain to have rear facing in any car (unless you have a Tahoe or something huge). My first kid grew out of the infant car seat (baby trend) by 10mo. This new baby is going to need a different seat...which means more $$$ than I had anticipated spending. I will try to find a seat that is more versitile in age range, is easy to get the kid in and out of when rear facing, and has room to grow for long legs.
Does anyone know if there are other exemptions? Such as children getting car sick when rear facing? I can't find the actual written law, just news articles.
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Re: New California car seat law

  • willashbabywillashbaby member
    That's a law with good intentions but really impractical for a lot of people. Thanks for sharing!
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  • MegStarkMegStark member
    edited September 2015
    They just passed the same law in Oklahoma. I believe Missouri and Kansas aren't far off. It's a great law. 

    Edit to add: There is PLENTY of room for a 23/24 month old in a rear facing convertible seat. I even asked our pediatrician about it when DD's legs seemed to be running out of room. She made a very valid point... All adults sit in a car with bent legs. Why should it be a big deal for children to do the same for the sake of safety? It's not uncomfortable for them. 

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  • stephaniechen82stephaniechen82 member
    edited September 2015
    Of course safety is important. Im not arguing that point. But there are certain situations that make this law hard to follow. My child had bad car sickness in RF position, and also just had complete meltdown after meltdown getting into a rear facing seat. If you can manage to get your child to sit RF, that's great! It's just impractical for certain situations. Also, not every 24mo is the same physically. I'm sure there is plenty of room if you have the right car and right seat, and a shorter child. Anyway...I'm just updating the group on this law. Whether you are for it or against it, please be respectful.
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  • MegStarkMegStark member
    @stephaniechen82 - I don't know what I'd do about the car sickness. That's really tough. 
    As far as the convertible car seats though, the child will have the same amount of room no matter what kind of car they're in. If it's rear facing right behind your driver seat in a small car, yes, that would be more uncomfortable for the driver. My DD will be 2 in a few weeks though, she's around the 75th percentile in height (so she's on the taller side) and she fits fine. 

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  • tesarytesary member
    I also feel this should be a law everywhere. DD was in the 100th percentile for height and weight and we kept her rear facing till after she was 2.
    http://tinyurl.com/cf3mcxy
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  • MorganW24MorganW24 member
    It's only a matter of time before this is a nation wide mandate. It is about keeping our kids safe. Our 15 month old is still rear facing and will stay that way until at least 2 probably longer.
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  • CmagnoCmagno member
    I love that this is becoming a law! I have a feeling my DD will be RFing until she's 4, she's tiny and content rear facing. It is tough in my Prius because the convertible car seat is big but we make it work.
    I don't know anything about the law rules sorry. When do kids develop car sickness? It seems like if they've always been rear facing they'd never know the difference or to fight to want to face forward? Not trying to be snarky, I've just had friends mention this and I've wondered what prompted it.
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  • tralalablahtralalablah member
    DD will be rear-facing just this side of forever and this new LO will be as well. I'm totally cool with this law, if we're going to write laws to protect people, it should be children who otherwise can't advocate for themselves. In most situations, I'm more pro-do what you want, but not this one.
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