Car Seats- When to forward face? - Do you exactly follow recommendations?
msmzrose wrote: Good Day Everyone-
My daughter will be one year old in 9 days.  The manufacturer of her car seat recommends that the car seat not be placed forward facing until the child is one year AND twenty pounds. However, my daughter is very petite and only weighs 18lbs.
We are going on our first long car trip (8 hours) and I am hesitant about moving the car seat to forward facing based on the requirements. On the other had the thought of driving 8 hours with her backwards doesn't set right with me.
What would you do?
Thanks in advance,
Michelle
ammommy replied: Well, let me start by saying that I think that I'm in the minority on this topic, but I'd turn her. I understand all of the reasoning for keeping children backward facing. I even understand why some parents wait even longer. However, I know that my kids would get cranky and mean when they rode backwards for more than 30 minutes and once they were forward, life was much better. Not sure why, but that's what happened.
DD was about 19 pounds at age 1, but I turned her. I'd talk to your ped since s/he knows your daughter.
Mom2Boyz replied: I would leave it rear facing until she reaches both the age and weight requirements. They put those requirements on there to insure the safty of the children using them (better to be safe than sorry). As for the long car ride, when my son was younger I bought a mirror that you put up in front of the baby, and you can see the child when you look in your rearview mirror. Good luck with your trip!! Long car rides with infants are no fun 
mckayleesmom replied: I waited till Mckaylee was 22lbs and that was when she was 18 months....took forever for her to gain weight...I wanted to wait till she was 25lbs, but we had another baby on the way and she was stuck at 22lbs....shes still stuck at 22lbs and shes 2 now.
A&A'smommy replied: We left Alyssa rear facing until she was 13 months old I believe
jcc64 replied: There is a carseat board on ivillage, which is moderated by carseat safety technicians, and they are adamant that the longer you can keep a child rear facing, the safer he will be. It is directly related to the strength of neck muscles and the severity of potential head injuries. After spending some time on that board, I kept my dd rear facing well into the 2nd year. She also happens to be petite, and was nowhere near 20lbs on her 1st b-day, but I would have kept her rear facing nonetheless. There are all kinds of mirrors and products designed to ease your mind while driving with a rear facing child. I know it's more convenient to forward face, but why take the chance?
kit_kats_mom replied: Katherine rode rear facing until she reached 20 lbs which was around 20 months. I would have left her that way too except she was really tall and was kicking the seat back. On long car rides, one of us just rode in the back seat and kept her busy.
amynicole21 replied:
That's exactly what we did, too... We turned Sophia at about 15 or 16 months because her legs were too long. She didn't hit 20lbs until around then also.
luvbug00 replied: I would keep your child facing the rear. Mya was a premi and I'm small so she was kept facing to the rear until 25 lbs.unless your ped says it's ok. 
mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Hmmm...I may be in the minority here too. My DS is 9.5 months old and is just shy of 20 lbs. I know he'll be there by next month! We still have him rearfacing, but he's been in a frontfacing seat before and he did fine. Not that my DS is bad in the car at all, but I could tell that he was much more happy facing forward.
I don't think one way is better than the other...I guess it just depends on your child's size.
How's your car ranked in terms of safety?? I have a VW Passat stationwagon, 4w drive, so I feel really safe and will most likely turn my kiddo around in the next couple months, maybe even before he's 1.
mom2lilnick replied: I would talk to your ped too. Depending on how tall she is, she might already be too tall to still be facing backwards. Check the requirements on your safety seat and but a call in to the ped and see what they say.
amynicole21 replied: The reason you don't turn them, even if they are well above the weight requirement at 10months for example, is that their neck muscles are too weak to protect them in a head-on collision. A fussy baby is still better than an injured baby 
mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Like I said, I don't think one way is better than the other. This is just my decision, as a parent, to make. Safety of course comes first, but I thought the rule was either upto 20 lbs or at one year, whichever comes first. 20 lbs is coming first for us...
Good luck on your trip! Maybe try rearfacing...you can always pull over and turn it if you need to.
amynicole21 replied: Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. I just wasn't sure if everybody understood that it's a maturity issue, not a size issue. If you are in the US, the law is 20lbs and 1 year. In Canada it's either/or. HTH.
Jamielou replied: I put laney in a front faceing car seat when she was around19 pounds but she is very long and was way to long to leave backwards and her ped. said it was o.k. but i would probably ask yours because they have requirements but i think it depends on how mature they are...... 
~KARA~ replied: My girls both reached 20lbs long before they turned a year old, adn there was no way I could leave them rearfacing with as tall as they were. They would have had to sitt with their legs bent up the hole time they were in the car.
They make those lil pillow things that go infront of the child (like what goes around their head when they are a new born) Maybe you could use one of those.
3_call_me_mama replied: Rather than going by the advice of other parents for or pediatricians about this, I recommend you follow the LAW. Regardles if your Pediatrician or anyon eelse says it's ok, a law is a law for a reason. And the ticket you could get if caught is not fun, as well as the threat that you pose to your child's safety. As far as the long car ride, both my kids rode rear facing until the law allowed them to be turned around (Kathleen hasn't reached one or 20 lbs yet) and we took 6 1/2 -8 hour car rides at least once a month to see my inlaws. They were fine and we jsut stopped often enough to let them stretch and run around and feed them. I don;t think a child necessarily will behave any better in a car facing forward than they will rear facing. Just my opinion though. Just make sure to stop and take breaks, that will help far more than anythign else. Most kids would get antsy fo rthat long in a car regardless or the way they are facing.
CCTandME replied: The following links give great info and some videos. These were posted on another board by Jabice, a carseat tech. She is a member on ivillage. They really are a wonderful source to answer any and all carseat q's.
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/ConvertibleShop.aspx
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/fivepointshield.aspx
It is recomended to use a car seat w/o a shield on it. Especially for a rear facing infant. It is a common misconseption that the shield makes it safer-it actually could be the opposite. Children have been know to hit their heads on the shields, shields have broken, and I know of at least one little girl (3 year old, I believe) that died while riding in a car seat w/a shield on it. I can post the link to her website if you would like.
No, my car seats do not have shields on them and my ds will never ride in one either.
Janice-car seat tech and mommy to Cias, 2.5 yrs. and happily rear facing for as long as possible
beckamouse replied: ok now I have a question regarding car seats and such.
Maggie j is 26 pounds and only 8 months old BUT is taller than most 1 year olds i've known.....(don't ask how her daddy and I are short and bone thin)
when is a good time to put her in a front facing car seat because her little feet press against the back seat and because of that her knees are bent almost all the time
mom21kid2dogs replied: Here's the ultimate link to info on extended rear facing of children.
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx
If the information in the article doesn't convince you, check out the crash video. It wasn't hard for me to attach my daughter's beautiful little face to that crash test dummies~you do the math. After reading the info my husband asked if we couldn't cut some leg holes into our trunk so we could rear face, too!
My daughter rear faced until 2.75 years of age when she outgrew her rear facing harness by weight. Her safety is not her decision, it's my responsibility. In my world, it's not about the law (which is horribly inept in some areas like here in Ohio) it's about what is safest for your child. As one tech on the IVilliage board bluntly but aptly put it "The legs of live kids bend, the legs of dead kids don't". It is safest to rear face your child until they outgrow the rear facing limit on their seat by harness weight (most are 35 lbs, some are as low as 25~check your manual for this info) or by seat height (also in your manual).
HTH in your decision!!
mummy2girls replied: Personally I would wait till she is 20 pounds. Why take that chance. there is reasons why there is weight restrictions so to be safe i would keep her rear until she reaches the wieght... just my oppionion
CCTandME replied:
One year AND 20 pounds!! If you FF too soon you put her at greater risk for a more serious injury or death in the event of an accident. Wouldn't you rather have a broken leg then a broken back or dead baby? Read some of those other links. Or try visiting ivillages carseat board. Just to educate yourself on all the pros and cons. They really are helpfull. The members on that board can tell you stuff you may not have thought of. Good luck!! 
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