i have a 7 month old daughter and i wanted to know at what age or weight can i put her to face the front of the car instead of rear facing and when and what age or weight can i put her in the front seat with me if it is only me and her in the car?
2006-08-13 19:49:01 · 7 answers · asked by alisha_62295 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
leave her until the weight of what the car seat says. it is better for her safety, have you ever gotten whiplash? there are mirrors that you can buy at the store in the baby section that you can put on the back seat and then you can see the baby's face and she can see yours while you are driving from the rear view mirror.
2006-08-13 19:53:05 · answer #1 · answered by singitoutloudandclear 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A child must be 1 year old AND weigh at least 20 pounds before they can ride in a front facing car seat. They must meet both criteria not one or the other. It is safest for the child to stay rear facing as long as possible. Frontal crashes are the most common, which is why babies have to be backward and should remain that way for as long as possible. In a frontal crash, a rear facing child is protected because their head and neck are within the confines of the shell of the carrier which is moving toward the front of the car, then they rebound toward the back of the car. This movement allows a child to "ride down" the crash with minimal impact to their body. When you turn them forward facing, their head and neck will take all of the crash forces and a child under 1 does not have strong enough bones to withstand these forces. You can actually seperate the spinal cord in an infant. So, rear facing is best for as long as possible! The seat you use has labels on the side to indicate it's limits. To be the safest, you should use the seat rear facing until the maximum rear facing weight limit is reached and then turn it forward.
As far as the front seat, your rear facing child absolutely CANNOT go into the front seat if you have a passenger side airbag that cannot be turned off. Airbags can kill a baby. A forward facing child "can" go in the front seat, but children 12 and under should ride in the back seat as it is safer for them.
2006-08-14 11:40:37 · answer #2 · answered by carseat xpert 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She must be BOTH one year AND at least 20 lbs to ride forward facing in the back seat. It's best to keep them rear facing as long as possible. (Check your car seat to see what the limits are.)
Then they move into forward facing carseats and then I think when they are 35-40 lbs they can be in a booster seat. When they are 8 years old and 80 lbs they shouldn't need the booster any more and can wear the normal seat belt. I think they have to be 12 years old to ride in the front seat.
2006-08-14 08:09:51 · answer #3 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sinitoutou is correct. Even if it’s legal to have a young child facing forward, little kids have big heads and their necks are not strong enough to withstand even a moderate crash.
Keep them rear facing as long as the seat will permit.
2006-08-14 02:58:22 · answer #4 · answered by Rockvillerich 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
She should never be in the front seat. Its safer in the back especially if you have air bags. You can't turn her around until she's 1 and 35 lbs. They also need to have good head control.
2006-08-14 11:21:34 · answer #5 · answered by mommy_2_liam 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
1 year, my daughters weighed over ten pounds when they were born so I moved them at about 11 months because there legs were being pushed up on the back of the seat.
2006-08-14 02:54:00 · answer #6 · answered by hthrmonday 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
1 Year and 20 lbs
2006-08-14 02:50:53 · answer #7 · answered by Maddie's Mommy!! 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋