My son just turned one yesterday and is 22 lbs (will have his exact weight after his dr appt today). The delimma is, I want to keep him rear facing for as long as possible for his own safety, but my hubby wants to move him to forward facing as we did this with our oldest son. What is your opionion on this topic and what have y'all done?
We are currently using convertible car seats in both of our vehicles, and his feet touch the seat but he doesnt seem to care much about that.
Thank you ladies for the responses. This is what I want to do but my hubby seems to think differently.
Keep him refacing for as long as he is happy. (I know it's hard to drive if he's screaming and unhappy.) Legs touching the seat does NOT mean they'll break if you're in an accident. But even if that could happen, broken legs are better than a broken neck. Rear facing protects the neck better.
Most laws state that a child must be rear facing until age one, but many pediatricians are recommending they stay facing backwards until age two. (I know mine has.) I am assuming he is a convertible car seat, so it should fit him rear facing for a while. His head should not be above the back of the seat. "Rear-facing carseats are NOT a safety risk just because a child's legs are bent at the knees or because they can touch/kick the vehicle seat." (http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html).
You CAN keep him rear-facing until his legs get too long. Once his feet can touch the back of the car's seat that he is facing, then you need to turn him around for sure. His legs could get injured in accident if you don't. Until then, if they baby doesn't mind, I say keep him rear-facing as long as you can. It's safer, and he can still see his brother in the seat beside him for entertainment. We kept our son rear-facing until his legs got too long and he didn't mind it all.
At 13 months my daughter's feet, while rear facing, were touching the back seat and she was uncomfortable. The Peditrican said once the feet /legs were touching the seat while rear facing it was time to switch if older then a year because it would be safer if there is an accident.
While the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends keeping a child rear-facing until age 2, we opted with both of our kids (ages 4 and 2) to move them forward at 1 year.
In our son's case, it wasn't the recommendation at the time.
In our daughter's case, it was, but she was SO scrunched because of how tall she is for her age.
Luckily we made it through the year without any accidents to test whether we'd made the right decision.
I understand their logic based upon their muscle strength and ability to be injured in an accident. It became an issue of practicality for us, and we felt comfortable making that choice in both cases.
Good luck.
Have your husband watch this. A true story that will make you want to keep them rear facing:
Hi J.! Keep him rear facing as long as possible. Even if his legs appear too long, keep in mind that, in case of an accident, a leg injury is better than a head/neck injury!
I wish I had known about keeping my kids rear facing. Looking back, I don't know why I was in such a hurry to have them face forward.....
ps....wow, I just read Christina G.'s post! So "ditto" to what she said! :)
Hi there - as other posters have noted, it is safest to keep your child rear facing for as long as possible (two years, preferably).
Please have your husband check out (and pass along) the following website, which someone else posted on Mamapedia earlier:
www.joelsjourney.org
The website tells the story of an 18 month old whose neck was broken in a car accident while the seat was facing forward (he survived and is doing much better, after several surgeries and a lot of time in the hospital). The physics of car seats and infant/toddlers' heads make it more likely that a young child will have a severe neck injury in a front-facing car seat if the car is impacted from the front or the rear.
My son is 22 months; he is still rear facing. He doesn't know any different, so is fine with it. He just folds his legs (or kicks the back seat) while in the car. I will keep him rear facing at least until he is two - maybe longer.
