Ready to turn the carseat around?

Question

My son is 13 months and 20 pounds, with meets the forward-facing carseat limits, but I was just wondering what parents of older babies did. Did you turn your child around as soon as he or she met the limit, or did you wait a little longer? My son just seems so small to me still, and I feel nervous turning the seat around.

Answer 1

Rear facing is safest. You are right to be nervous. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that parents leave their children rear facing to the MAX of their carseat limits. With a good convertible seat that is 33-35 pounds or within the height requirements as determined by the carseat manual.

My sons have used the Britax Marathon seat. I kept my oldest rear facing until he was 22 months and hit 33 pounds (the rear facing limit for the seat). My youngest is 28 pounds and 26 months and will remain rear facing until he is 33 pounds. Scrunched up legs are NOT a safety concern and most kids are actually more comfortable when they are able to sit with their legs supported against the seat back. My son puts his legs up on the seat, folds them or sticks them out along the side of the captains chair his seat is installed on.

There are some people who will say that extended rear facing puts children at risk for broken legs but the reality is that #1 there are NO documented cases of crushed legs/pelvis from rear facing and #2 the real risk for internal decapitation or other head/neck injuries greatly outweigh the imagined risk for a broken leg.


Go with your momma instinct. Keep your baby rear facing.

Answer 2

Many people say that you should turn the child at 1 year and 20 lbs, but this is an absolute minimum for forward facing. It is much, much safer to rear-face to the limits of the seat (in your case, 35 lbs) so long as the child's head is atleast 1 inch from the top of the seat. The legs don't matter at all, at 2, 3, 4 yrs, whatever, the child could just sit cross legged, which is more comfortable than just having legs dangling.

A frontal crash is the most common type of crash. In a crash like this, the passengers snap forward and then back (we continue moving with the speed of the crash, until impact, and then we fly back). The amount of force is equal to the velocity x weight. So a 22-lb child in a 40mph crash becomes an 880-lb force.

Anyway, the risk here is the baby's legs. In a crash, his whole seat would slide towards the front of the car, taking his legs with it, and then slide back. Theoretically, when he slid back (w/ lots of force, this isn't a gentle slide) they could slam in to the seat back, and cause them to break. I say theoretically, because there have actually been no reported cases of this actually happening.

The alternative would be if the baby was forward facing. If he was, his head/neck/spine would snap forward and then slam in to back of the carseat. In a severe enough crash, this might cause a breakage or internal decapitation. The spinal column is much more sensitive than the legs.

So, how many people have you ever met with a broken neck? And how many with broken legs? Broken legs are more easily repaired than spinal columns.

My 5 yr old was 30 lbs at a year, and thus, had to be turned forward facing (at the time, I was unable to find seats that went higher, but then turned rear-facing again for several months at 2.5, when I found the Britax Marathon that went to 33 lbs. My 11 month old will rear-face until he is atleast 30 lbs, even if that is 2 or 3 years old!

Answer 3

1 year and 20 pounds is the absolute minimum criteria. I am assuming that you have him out of the infant seat and in a convertible seat as I would think he is exceeding height for infant by this time and possibly the weight limit. I turned by girl around at 1 because we had to take a long road trip for a funeral and she did not like rear facing. If your son doesn't mind I would keep him rear facing as long as possible. Make sure the seat belt comes in below his shoulder for rear facing and when you move him forward facing it needs to be at or above his shoulders.

Answer 4

I did change my son around almost as soon as it was deemed safe because I am sure it has to be if they say it is, also cuz my son was a screamer in the car if he couldn't see us. He was a MUCH happier little guy when he could see us, and at 13 months and 20 pounds he should be ready! But if he still seems to tiny to you, he is your child and u know best, keep him backwards for a little while, it would just be precaution. Just make sure he is not too long for a small car seat cuz that could also pose as a danger!

Answer 5

They (doctors and other baby experts) say that rear facing is the safest way to ride, because of the stress on a baby's neck and head if you were to have an accident when he is facing forward. When facing backward, his body is much more capable of dealing with an impact. As long as he is happy and looks comfortable, you can keep him rear facing.

We turned our first around right at the minimums because she was our first and we were excited to be able to look in the mirror and see her. We turned our second around close to the minimums because he started to freak out any time we got near the car and tried to load him in. He is happy facing forward.

Answer 6

I know that turning the sit facing backwards is the "safe" way to do it because of precaution with an accident. But me personally, I could never do that. I always feared my child choking or stop breathing while the seat is facing backwards, and I wouldnt know if he was choking....while facing backwards. I know there are the mirrors and everything, but I never trusted that. In any rate, I think it is best to keep it turn around until the "carseat law" says so.

Answer 7

Rear dealing with is often going to be safer, yet that does no longer mean that forward dealing with is unavoidably risky. it would additionally be safer for an grownup to be rear dealing with, besides the fact that that's not useful adequate to outweigh the inconvenience. I left my daughter rear dealing with till she grew to become into 2 one million/2. She did no longer outgrow the load shrink, she have been given too tall. Their heads might desire to be an inch under the right of the seat. Given your little ones' an prolonged time, i might probable get yet another convertible seat for the hot infant. vehicle seats expire after 4 years. So in case you leave the hot infant interior the present convertible for 2 years, it extremely is it for that vehicle seat. then you certainly will desire a 2 365 days previous in % of a clean seat and a 4 365 days previous interior the Nautilis. Or in case you purchase a clean convertible now, in 2 years, you will desire a 2 365 days previous you may leave rear dealing with besides the fact that long you like (and he might properly be smaller or taller, you in no way comprehend) and a 4 365 days previous in basic terms in % of a 5-element booster. base line, i do no longer think of you save any money interior the long-term with the help of no longer procuring a 2nd convertible now, so i might purely get a 2nd convertible.

Answer 8

If you are not comfortable, leave him be. Trust your mommy instincts. I turned my son around when he was 26 lbs, and only then because his legs were so long that he couldn't stretch them out. As long as your son isn't pitching a fit because he can't see you (or because his knees are in his ears), there is no harm in leaving him rear facing for a little longer. Actually, my car seat had a turn around at 22 lbs guide line.

Answer 9

I turned my son's seat around right away as well. I felt better being able to see his face and knowing what he was up to while sitting there. I placed the car seat in the middle of the backseat of my SUV because I was afraid of someone crashing into the side of the car. I guess we are all a bit over protective of our little ones.... :)

Answer 10

I would go by the guidelines on the car seat. My daughter was turned around when she was 1 and just a little under 20 pounds
as the car seat did not have an adjustment for her shoulder straps and the doc actually looked at it and recomended me to turn her around, so as not to crush her shoulders and collar bone.
Morgaine