if my son is 7 months is and 21 pds and 29 inches tall is he big enough and old enough for next car seat?

Answer 1

Which seat is he in now? The infant one that clips into the car and stroller of the convertible. If he is in the infant one yes he is absolutely ready for the rear-facing convertible car seat. If he is already in that one, he can not go into the forward facing position until he is one year old AND 20 lbs.

Answer 2

He's too big for his infant seat, so you can put him in a rear facing convertible car seat. Absolutely do not turn him forward facing yet!

In the age of the internet its amazing so much misinformation exists! Please please do not listen to people telling you to turn your child forward facing 'at your judgement' or when her legs touch the seat. In truth, most children LIKE resting their feet on the back of the seat in front of them. Check out this photo album exclusively of rear facing kids, many of them much older than 12 months: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (see sources) that ALL babies stay rear facing as long as possible, up to the weight/height limits of their seat. Most seats go to 30lbs rear facing, some go higher, check your manual. They are too tall for an infant carrier when the head is within an inch of the top of the shell. Too tall for most convertible seats when their ears reach the top of the seat. Has nothing to do with how long their legs are! There isn't a single documented case of a child breaking their legs b/c they were rear facing in an accident. There are, however, lots of cases where children have been killed and seriously injured where a rear facing seat would have protected them better. They are safest rear facing b/c their bones have not yet completed the ossification process that bonds/hardens them like adults. They need the bracing support that a rear facing seat offers to withstand a crash. 20lbs AND 1 year is the bare minimum as far as the law is concerned, but the law is the bare minimum of safety, and who wants to do the bare minimum for their child?

A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age. A child's vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone.

Answer 3

He can definetly go to a convertible carseat. I switch my baby when he was 4 months, so he ould be a lot more comfortable. Make sure you keep him rear facing until he is one years old also. The longer rear facing, the better. The reason is if you were to get into a crash, his neck is less likely to become damaged. I got the Fisher Price Voyager Deluxe and absolutely love it. It is perfect for my baby and it is going to last a long time. The slots are high and the weight limit is high. Good luck.

P.S. Heather Y is absolutely correct. Ignore the thumbs down!

Answer 4

we switched right around then if not a little sooner, to the alpha omega elite. I physically could not carry the infant seat around anymore as my son was a big boy :) but the alpha omega says it goes from 0-100 lbs.perfect! it also converts so you can use it all the way up until they dont need a seat anymore and personally 2 seats were enough fo rme to spend money on! they do offer another seat that goes up to 50 lbs but I didnt see the point in getting a 3rd seat. just be sure to keep it rear facing and you may need to use a pool noodle to help recline your seat until you can move it to front facing. gl
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Answer 5

no he not that have to be at least 1 year old to get the next car seat he perfect with the one he got now............. i know this because i my 3 niece and 1 nephew and they both got a new seat at 1 year and 4 month but my nephew got one at the age of 1 year old cause he a big boy but still have the same one and he 2 now.

Answer 6

He's big enough for the next car seat as long as that car seat is a "convertible" seat. That's the kind that can be both rear and forward facing. The whole thing stays in the car all the time, unlike the infant carrier kind (which usually has a limit of 20-22lbs based on model). Since he's over 20 lbs, as soon as he hits his first birthday you can turn the seat forward facing, though experts suggest leaving it rear facing as long as possible. But no forward facing until they are both 20lbs AND 1 year old.

Edit: I don't know who gave me the thumbs down, but my answer is absolutely correct. Here's a direct quote from the babycenter.com website
"Baby (or infant-only) car seats: These face the rear of the car and have a 20-lb. weight limit. (If your baby reaches 20 lbs. before his first birthday, keep reading to find out about convertible car seats.)
Convertible (or infant-toddler) car seats: These function as both rear-facing infant seats and forward-facing seats. Most new ones are designed to hold a baby of up to 30 or 35 lbs. facing the rear of the car. It's safest to leave your baby rear-facing as long as possible — so if he's still comfortable in the rear-facing seat, and the seat is designed to accommodate his weight, then leave it in that position if possible." and here's my source http://www.babycenter.com/0_car-seat-safety-how-to-choose-and-use-a-car-seat_399.bc

Answer 7

In most cases the law states toddlers must be rear-facing until 20lbs AND one year, however it is always safer to be rear-facing.

Assuming you are currently using an infant carrier the maximum weight is probably 22lbs, unless it is one of the few that goes up to 30lbs (graco safeseat is the only one I know of).

So obviously if he has reached the maximum weight OR height for his infant carrier he needs a different seat. In this case he needs one that is rear-facing which leaves you two options. 1) an different infant carrier that is rated for 30lbs 2) A convertible car seat.

Convertible car seats usually give you the best value for the money as they remain rear-facing until 30 or 35 lbs and then can be installed forward facing until 40lbs. Some can then be converted into a belt-positioning booster which can usually be used until the child no longer needs a booster. However the belt positioning booster these seats convert to is not always the safest option.

Convertible car seats are not truly the "next car seat" because they can be used from birth (5lbs and up) the same as an infant carrier. In some cases they are safer than infant carriers, however most parents find it easier to get a newborn in and out of an infant carrier that is in the house then maneuvering an infant with poor neck strength into a seat in the car.

http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#rearfacFF
Rear-facing vs. forward-facing

Safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children remain rear-facing as long as possible and never travel forward-facing before they are 1 year old and also weigh at least 20 pounds to reduce the risk of serious neck injury and lifelong disability. All new convertible seats available today allow a child to remain rear-facing until they weigh up to 30 or 35 lb, depending on the model.

When the child is rear-facing, the head, neck, and thorax are restrained together by the back of the CR in a frontal crash. There is little or no relative motion between the head and torso that could load the neck. If the same child were facing forward, the harness would restrain the torso, but the head and neck would pull and rotate forward, leading to the potential for serious upper spinal injury.

There are many misunderstandings and misconceptions about rear-facing vs. forward-facing that lead even the best intentioned parent or pediatrician to believe a child is "safe" facing forward when he is still very young. These come from obsolete ideas and advice that may still appear in older pamphlets and pediatric literature and are not the current recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Real-world experience has also shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash. The body is being held in place, but the head is not. When a child is facing rearward, the head is cradled and moves in unison with the body, so that there is little or no relative motion that might pull on the connecting neck.

The most common misunderstanding is that a child is ready to travel facing forward when his neck muscles are strong enough to support and control his head. However, when a car hits something at 25 to 30 mph, it will come to a stop at a negative acceleration rate of from 20 to 30 G. Because of the time lag between when the vehicle stops and an occupant stops, and the fact that the head of a forward-facing adult or child is still free to move relative to the restrained torso, the head may experience as much as 60 or 70 Gs acceleration for a brief moment. Even the strong neck muscles of military volunteers cannot counteract such forces. Instead, the rigidity of the bones in the neck and strength of the connecting ligaments (not the muscles) hold the adult spine together and keep the spinal cord intact within the confines of the vertebral column.

Very young children, however, have immature vertebrae that are still partly made of cartilage. These are soft and will deform and/or separate under tension, leaving just the spinal cord as the last link between the head and the torso. According to documented research, autopsy specimens of infant spines and ligaments allow for spinal column elongation of up to two inches, but the spinal cord ruptures if stretched more than 1/4 inch. Real-world experience has shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash.

Another aspect of the facing-direction issue that is often overlooked is the additional benefit a child gains in a side impact. Crash testing and field experience have both shown that the head of a child facing rearward is captured by the child restraint shell in side and frontal-oblique crashes, while that of a forward-facing child may be thrown forward, around, and outside the confines of the side wings. Field data show better outcomes for rear-facing children than forward-facing children, even though most CRs are not specifically designed to protect children in side impact.

Some older convertible CRs indicated in their instructions that a child should face forward when her feet touch the vehicle seatback or when the legs must be bent due to lack of space. This prohibition is not justified by any crash experience or any laboratory evidence, and these instructions have now been revised. There have not been any crashes documented in which rear-facing children sustained leg injuries because they were rear-facing. Even if this were the case, broken legs are easier to fix than broken necks. The only physical limit on rear-facing use is when the child's head approaches the top of the restraint shell (see Height and weight limits). At this point, she should be moved to a rear-facing convertible restraint, or, if the child is already using one and is over one year, to its forward-facing configuration.

There are no magical or visible signals to tell parents, pediatricians, or technicians when the risk of facing forward in a crash is sufficiently low to turn the child around. In an international research and crash review conducted several years ago, the data seemed to show a change in outcome at about 12 months between severe consequences and more moderate consequences for the rare events of injury to young children facing forward in a CR. At the time, one year old was useful as a simple benchmark, but now the message is to keep the child facing rearward as long as possible within the weight and height limits of the CR. This may be as long as 18 to 24 months.

Parents and pediatricians need to know what the real reasons for extending the rear-facing period, in order to be able to make an informed judgment. For research documentation, see Weber, 2000. See also Rear-facing child restraint. (7/06)

Answer 8

yes but it still needs to be rear facing! he is big enough for a forward facing seat, but his muscles arent strong enough yet..if you were in an accident, he would not be strong enough to support his neck! they need to be a year old for a forward facing seat! they have big boy seats that are good for rear or forward facing!

Answer 9

Ask the fire station. They are actually trained in how to safetly secure children in car seats. That's they way it is in Ohio. Call it wouldn't hurt. If not ask doc:)

Answer 10

check with your local fire dept. or city police even state trooper and ask...they will have a better answer...it varies according to state and you would wanna check with those to be sure you get the correct info. to ensure your childs safety.....