My almost 19 month old only weighs 17lbs (and has been growing incredibly slow, only 1lb since his 15 month check up). We still have him rear facing in the car. At his 18 month check up I asked the doctor if it would be safe to turn his carseat around yet and he said at this point it is really up to us. He said my son is old enough that his neck muscles are strong enough that if there were an accident and he were forward facing that he wouldn't break his neck. Just wondering what you would do in my situation. I would like to turn him around so I can look at him and talk to him in the car but I'm just not sure if I should turn him yet since he's so small.
I have 2 smaller children too and I did change their seats around when they were a little over a year old. The dr. told us the same thing.
My friend and I who are going to be daycare providers had to take a car safety seat class and in the class hey say to leave them faced backwards as long as possible it is safer for them. After viewing the videos I would have to agree with them any children in my car will face backwards as long as possible. Hope this helps.
I feel your pain! My son is 22 months and weighs 22 lbs. On top of that, our car seat recommended keeping him rear facing until he was 33 inches tall and 22 lbs. He just got there now! I turned him around when he was about 16 months because I couldn't take it anymore. He did so much better in the car (and he was doing fine before) when he could see out and be a part of things. Technically we would all be safer facing backward; at some point you have to decide what works for your son and your family. He's strong, and I'm sure you drive with the intention of making every effort not to crash. If you want to turn him around, go for it! Good luck.
We did not turn my son around until around 19 months, even though he is a large child. I would have kept him rear facing longer but we were going on a 12 hour car trip and his little legs were so crammed in there. Rear facing is the safest. It protects the neck from whiplash, but also the tiny little body from being thrown out of the seat.
If it were me, I'd wait. Like someone else said the law is 12 months AND 20 lbs. My DS is on the oposite end of the growth spectrum being almost 30 lbs (and 33" or so) at 11 months old. I remember sitting in my pediatrician's office when DS was 6 months old and asking him about carseats because I was terrifed that DS would hit 33lbs (the rear-facing limit on our carseat) before he hit 1 year. The pedi didn't even want to discuss it because he recommends kids stay rear-facing as long as possible, and he didn't know what to tell me. I have friends who have 2.5 year olds that are still rear-facing because their kids haven't hit the rf-ing weight limit on their carseats yet. Good luck with your decision!
M H,
I'm in a similar situation. My 13 month old weighs approximately 17 pounds and she cannot stand to be rear facing in her baby seat anymore. She crys non-stop when we have longer car rides, we've decided to by a convertible and put her front facing. She is very tall, so I figure it has got to be fine.
I hope this helps. Good Luck!!
N.
My daughter is 20 mos and only around 22lbs. She has been in a front facing car seat for some time. She has a five point harness and does just fine. Check the requirements in your area. My eight year old is finally getting out of her booster seat this year. Not because of the weight requirement but because of the age.
The five point harness holds her in pretty good. We just have to make sure we adjust the shoulder straps regularly because we forgot to make the adjustment from winter to summer clothes and she had wiggled herself out of her harness. Good luck to you!!!
My daughter is small, too. We didn't turn her until around 2 years old, either. They NEED to be at least 12 mos old AND at least 20 lbs - BOTH need to be met to be turned around. They are safer rear facing, as long as they are not over the size limitations. Because our dd was so old when she turned around, she was scared sitting front facing. She didn't have the comfort of the seat back there and didn't like the feeling of having her legs hanging down. It took a little while, but she got used to it.
S.
The current law 20lbs. 1 year is just a minimum they recommend to keep your children rear facing to up to like 33lbs or something these days.
I wouldn't recommend forward facing for quite awhile.
Check out this website it's EXTREMELY helpful and has so many resources.. It's a mom carseat forum and you'll learn ALOT and can ask this question on here.
Why is it so important to flip? Does he really want it? I know pediatricans and police officers (who see the effects of car accidents) that leave their own children rear facing until 4 years old! (They just fold their legs indian style.) Neck muscles or not, rear facing is the safest way for your child to ride.
I read a couple of posts that said keep him in there until he is 33-35 lbs. That ONLY works if your child still fits length wise in the carseat. If his head reaches the top of it, he is too big. If his knees reach the bottom, he is too big. Make sure when you do decide to turn him you use a booster with a 5 point harness. He is almost 2 years old so he should fare well forward facing. My daughter was too big for her rear facing at 10 months, so for her safety I switched her to a front facing booster.
I'm surprised how many parents are keeping thier children rear facing past a year! Thats incredible, and awesome! Also to the parents who turned thier babies before 20 or 22lbs, your seat will not work if your child is UNDER the minimum weight for forward facing. if your child dies in an accident and is under the 20 or 22lbs mimimum for forward facing it VOIDS the warranty and any responsibility on thier part for faulty seat. Just keep that in mind. 99% of convertible seats ont he market rear face to 33 or 35lbs, why not keep your child rear facing for as long as possible.
My oldest rear faced until 17 months, when he hit the rear facing limit on his seat, of 33lbs. Then he forward faced. My youngest is 20 months and still rear facing in his Britax Marathon. He will turn when he hits the rear facing limit of 33lbs.
Neck and spines in children don't fuse until around age 3, so a ped saying its ok at a year is absurd, they know when a childs spine is ready to forward face, and ergonomics prove its not until around age 3.
So, in your case, DEFINETLY keep him rear facing until he is to at least 22lbs, which is more than likely the forward facing minimum weight on his seat. Otherwise it could void the warranty on part of the seat manufacturer in case of an accident. HE doens't meet the minimum requirements for forward facing yet, so leave him rear facing.
I hope all parents will heed this advice, and keep thier child rear facing until they outgrow the rear facing weight limit on the seat. You can't outgrow rear facing by height, unless the childs ears are level with the seat back or they outgrow it by weight. Again ALL convrtible seats on the market have minimum forward facing weight of 20 or 22lbs, so don't start using it forward facing until your child is AT LEAST the minimum weight. There has never been a documented case of a childs legs being broken by being rear facing nad having thier legs crossed. I would much rather have broken legs, than a broken neck or back anyway. Rear facing is safer, your child is too light to forward face in any seat. Keep him rear facing until he reaches the seat limits rear facing.
do a google search on "when to turn the car seat around" and you will find a lot of information. most of what i saw was that it is safest to turn them around once they are at least 1 year old AND at least 20 pounds. this is size and age when they have the strongest neck muscles to survive a car crash.
your baby is so close and will probably be 20 pounds in a month. i would wait.
As long as the requirments are met why not? I turned my DD at 12 months because she was over on the weight and height. I would. My DD likes looking forward.
Hi MH,
We recently had an expert in car-seat safety come to our ECFE class, and the point she emphasized the most is that it's best to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible--i.e., until they are too heavy to stay rear-facing (usually around 33-35 lbs--your car seat should say what its rear-facing limit is). She said that kids are just plain safer rear-facing, and she noted that it doesn't matter if their legs go off the end of the seat (though their head shouldn't be within an inch of the top of the seat). She said that while you technically can turn your LO around at 1 yr/20-22 lbs, her goal was to get kids to stay rear-facing until they are too heavy to stay rear-facing. Hope that helps--good luck with your decision.
Juliet
Sure you baby has strong enough neck muscles, BUT if they are asleep in the car when you get in an accident, those muscles don't work as well. And a lot of kids(even my 10 year old) will fall asleep in the car if the trip is over 10 minutes. Don't think that they are cramped, because they are always sitting folded up like a pretzel just fine. And they don't know that they would be "happier" sitting forward, because they never have.
Leif will be backwards until he hits the backwards weight limit of 35 lbs.
