How old to switch from rear to front facing car seat?

SS6099

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 11:06 am

My baby is 1 and over 20 lbs. Can I turn him around from rear to front facing?

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 11:16 am

You should not.

Rear facing is much (5x!!) safer, and convertible car seats are designed to hold children rear facing for longer.

Current AAP recommendation is till at least 2.

Between 3-4, a child will develop a stronger spine to withstand whiplash when sitting forward facing, lessening the risk of internal decapitation. This is not something you want to play with unless mitigating circumstances force you to place a child forward facing.

Inspired

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:50 pm

It depends on your seat and the size of your kid. Closer to 3 for me before my good seat was stolen. Keep them rfing as long as possible.

seeker

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:52 pm

My guideline: Read the manual that came with your carseat (if you don't have it, find it online.) It will tell you the maximum weight for rear facing. When your child reaches THAT weight, you turn the seat around. For my car seat I think that's something around 40lb so with a 25-lb not-yet-2-year-old I don't have to think about it for a while.

So simple! Very Happy

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:56 pm

Actually, there is also a height limit which many kids reach before the weight limit....

Marion

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:58 pm

I can't get 2 RF seats and a FF seat in my backseat...and I can't get a bigger car. So my 2+ y.o. just went FF. He's getting close to the max for the seat anyway. (He's about 30lbs.)

seeker

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 1:19 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Actually, there is also a height limit which many kids reach before the weight limit....

Whoops! Good point. What I meant to say was basically you (ideally) switch when the manual says you have to.

Inspired

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 1:25 pm

While we are on the topic of kids in cars, please remember to always take your kid out of the car with you. http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....art=0

SS6099

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 3:06 pm

My other 2 kids we switched at 1 year. Now I find it so hard to believe that I need to wait until 40 lbs???? DD is 3 1/2 and only 32 lbs. My 1 yr old is going crazy from boredom being turned around like that.

manhattanmom

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 3:28 pm

as late as you can, basically. Until recently it was 1 year AND 20 lbs...Now I believe the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends until age 2 but I don't know what the final decision is on it.
My issue was my kids being too tall before reaching the weight requirement--there was no place for their legs.
I'm glad I've graduated from that stage (for now) I have one in a booster and one who is forward-facing.

gp2.0

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 3:34 pm

Yep, as soon as there's no more room for the legs with rear-facing we switch to forward. I think we switched at somewhere between a year and 18 months.

Inspired

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 3:43 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

Yep, as soon as there's no more room for the legs with rear-facing we switch to forward. I think we switched at somewhere between a year and 18 months.

I'm not sure what you mean by no more room for the legs? My kids have knees and bend them as needed.

imamiri

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 3:45 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

^^THIS!! If I could "like" it more than once, I'd click the button 100 times.

lst

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 5:48 pm

SS6099 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFXiCzp7sqg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGDis1VlUvM

imamiri

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 6:11 pm

SS6099 wrote:

And he'll get bored once turned around too. My DD (she is 2.5 years old) looks out the side and back windows and the view is really no different.

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 6:34 pm

Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It's safer. Rear-facing seats provide more protection than forward-facing seats, and your child will probably fit into it well into preschool.

It is a common misconception that a baby has outgrown a carseat when his/her feet seem crowded against the back of the car, and that it must be safer to use the next size larger seat rather than one that is "too small." Wrong. The car seat manual will explain how to tell if the baby/child is too tall or heavy for the seat.