Can you get a ticket if your baby's feet touch the back of the seat while in a rear facing infant seat?

Question

From my understanding, a baby has to be 20 lbs. to be in a forward facing car seat, but my friend told me that you can get a ticket if your baby's feet touch the back of the seat. My baby is only 16 lbs. but her feet do touch the back of the seat. Does that mean that I need to put her in a forward facing seat already, or does my friend not know what she is talking about?

Answer 1

No, your friend is misinformed. Sorry.

A baby MUST be 20 pounds AND 1 year old to be forward facing. End of story. You CAN get a ticket for not having your child in an age apropriate restraint.

My baby girl is very light (17 pounds), and very long (29 inches). She will turn a year old next week. But I am NOT turning her forward facing because she does not meet the weight requirement.
But she did outgrow her Graco Snugride Infant Carrier/Car Seat. Because she is so long, her feet did touch the seat of the car.

I suggest buying a convertable car seat (one that can be Rear facing, then turn forward facing, then become a booster for later on) such as the Cosco Alpha and Omega, or Britax Roundabout. These are much more comfortable, versitile, and keep tall babies rear facing until they reach the weight/age limit to face forward.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I have never heard of that law but it can be a little uncompfortable for the baby though. If you still have the baby in an infant seat maybe switch to a toddler seat that is both a rear facing and front facing seat. You can use those seats starting at 12 lbs for most of them.

Answer 3

Your friend doesn't know what she's talking about.

There are height and weight limits for rear facing seats, but they vary. You need to know what they are for your seat.

And, no matter what, it's better for your child to be rear facing with her feet touching the seat than to be forward facing before she's developmentally ready. It would be very unlikely that a baby would, say, break a leg in a crash, but that's infinitely preferable to the brain damage or death that could be caused by whiplash from being forward facing before they have proper head control, etc.)

And your baby needs to be 20 pounds AND A YEAR OLD before you can turn her around. (Many babies hit 20 pounds before their first birthday, but both criteria need to be met before they can switch.)

Answer 4

Call the police department (non-emergency line) and ask. They can also check your seat out to make sure it's installed correctly.

By the way,

Not only does your baby have to be 20lbs, they also need to be:

1) 1 year old

2) able to cruise (I think that means they have strong enough muscles to endure an accident while facing forward)

Answer 5

That is not at all correct. Your baby's feet can touch the seat-back, there is no such law about this sort of thing. Just follow the most current guidelines regarding child age/weight and you'll be fine. I have 2 kids of my own...

Answer 6

I have never heard this one either. I am going to tell you like I told my sister. Before she changed the car seat around she was sort of in a dilemma like that. Not ticket wise though. Her son was facing the back and his feet were going up the back of the seat. She wanted to know if she had to wait until a certain time to turn him around. Weight wise he was able to be turned around. Age wise I guess not. I asked her how would she like to be laying like that with her feet having to go up the seat like that. So right then she turned the car seat around. My kids are soon to be 14 and 11 and as soon as they could start sitting up and holding their head up I turned them around. I went through several road blocks and they never said anything to me. So I say if your baby can sit up go ahead and turn them around.
Just use your mommy judgment on this.

Answer 7

never hear of that but check with the local law in you area to see what them say

Answer 8

Never heard that one

Answer 9

Hey, Britney !!!