Carseat - Clinton,MD

As soon as you don't need to lift him out without unstrapping him, meaning any time. The solid mount seats are actually much safer anyway because they don't move. He would probably be more comfortabe in a larger seat at this point since he is getting so long. Remember that the whole point of convertable is that is goes from rear, to front, to booster mounting.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=30201

How to tell if your RF seat is outgrown by height:

It seems that how to tell when a RF (rear-facing) seat is outgrown is a fairly common question. It can be really hard to tell when a RF seat is outgrown, and a common misconception is looking from the front of the carseat to see if it is outgrown. The seat will pretty much always look outgrown from the front before it is truly outgrown because you need to look from the side.

This picture shows the correct way to measure. A line is drawn perpendicular to the shell/back of the carseat over the top of the child's head (#1). Then a second line is drawn out from the top of the shell parallel to the first line (#2).

Now measure the distance between the two lines. When there is *less than one inch*, the rearfacing restraint is outgrown by height.

the american academy of pediatrics is recommending children stay rear facing until age 2 plus 30 pounds

you want to get a seat that has tall harness height, will fit in your car well, not all seat fit well in all cars, i have used the marathon and the radian
places like diapers.com have great online prices

http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7645/car_seat_que...

you can technically use a convertible carseat from infanthood but i think the infants ones are more convenient b/c you can just take the whole carseat out when your baby's sleeping in it and not worry about waking him. once you do the convertible, that seat stays put in the car so you have to wake up your son to get him out of the car. i also wnated to add that although the carseat should be rear facing until 1 year by law, you really should keep it rear facing for as long as possible (preferably two years) b/c studies have shown its the safest position.

As long as the seat is rear-facing, many convertible carseats are approved for newborns up to 30-40 pounds (then you need to turn them to forward-facing). I was forced to move my son into one when he was 6-months old because he was already 17 pounds and nearing the weight-limit on the pumpkin seat. The pumpkin seats are advantageous because you can lift them out of the car without having to unstrap the baby, but that's really the only advantage.

Refer back to the owner's manual for your seat, it will tell you the maximum height and weight.

My infant car seat was only good until 26 inches or 22 pounds, whichever came first. My son out grew that by 2 1/2 months old! Likely you could switch now if you wanted to since your son is already 25 inches tall. The seat should remain rear facing until the child is over a year old though.
Just check the instruction manual for your infant seat to see what the weight and height limits are. If you're near them you can go ahead and switch! Check the manufacturer's website if you don't have the manual. You can probably get an electronic copy.
My convertible car seat was good for babies as small as 7 pounds, so any convertible car seat that works in a rear facing position should be fine!
Hope that helps!

As a child safety seat technician, my advice to you would be to keep him in the infant seat as long as possible-max on weight. There should be labels on the side of his seat that tell what the weight limits are. If you do change him to a convertible seat I would also recommend that you keep it rear facing for as long as possible-there are also labels on the convertible seat telling at what weight you have to turn it around. These are best practice tips. However the law states: At least 1 year and 20 pounds before he can be forward facing.

Our infant carrier had a 20 lb. limit. We switched our son when he was six months old, because he was so long that his head was going over the top of the infant carrier. We live in TX, so not sure about laws in your state, but as long as the convertible car seat is rear facing until the baby is 1 year old and at least 20 lbs - they are good (not one or the other - but both criteria). A lot of convertible car seats on the market say that a newborn can use those too - the infant carrier was just easier for us. We also discussed this with our pediatrician.

Good luck!

It depends on you infant carrier. Mine went up to 26 inches long. It should say the guidelines on the seat. You can change now, but they will still have to face backwards until they 1 years old AND weigh 20lbs.

before he's too big for his infant one. his car seat should say on it when that is. when you buy a convertabe get one that keeps him in a 5 point harness the longest though. like the new alpha omegas or britax. at least 50 pounds and 5 years old. if you can wait til hes one i suggest the nautilus by graco. and when buying rememer that many car seats say you can use them til 80 to 100 pounds but read the ine pint thats not how long you can use them as a 5 pot harness only as a booster which isnt safe till hes at least 5.