Car Seat Advice - Plano,TX

Go to www.seatcheck.org for guidelines for YOUR state. Take the seat and her to a free carseat check! Many, many people are misinformed about the use and installation of carseats! Doing a seat check could save your daughter's life!

I say, as long as she is content, keep her in her infant rear facing seat. If you really feel the need to put her in a "regular" car seat, you could still keep it rear facing since she is kind of tiny. But honestly, if she is happy, not too long for it, and doesn't seem to have a problem being in her infant seat, then keep her in it until she weighs too much or becomes too long!

I didn't read all the wonderful answers you have already received so I'm sorry if I'm repeating someone else. The law is that you have to keep them rear facing until at least 20lbs AND 1 year old. So even when she turns 1, you still need to keep her rear facing until she's at least 20 lbs. My 17 month old is 29 lbs and still rear facing. I transitioned him to a convertible seat at 8 months but I still have it rear facing. It's much safer for them to be rear facing. I'm going to turn mine around eventually, but I'm not in too big of a hurry since he's still very happy facing backwards.

Probably leave her in it. Most instructions for car seats and laws (not sure in TX) have age and size requirements. For ex. in MI babies must be at least one year old AND weigh a certain amount before being forward facing. Double check locally, buy if she is still within the parameters of her infant car seat, you might want to still leave her rear facing even after 1 yr old.

I believe legally you have to keep her rear facing until she is 20 pounds AND 1 year. How is her height? We had to move my son into a convertible car seat (still rear facing) because he was approaching the weight limit and exceeded the height limit at ~8months old.

My middle child was the same. The pedi said you can leave them in the car seat rear facing until they reach 20 lbs or go ahead & turn them around. It's actually the muscular in the neck and upper back, not the weight, that makes it safe to be turned around & the muscles are developed at 1 yr. I hope that helps!

we switched my son out of the infant carrier when he was 6 months because he was a tall boy. we bought a convertible car seat and at 2 years old he is still rear facing. we have the Graco My Ride and my son likes the angle it has him at. the seat he has for his fathers car is forward facing and he likes that but he still has NO complaints about going to rear facing in my car. even though my son is tall he still fits rear facing and has no problem with his legs getting scrunched up. if your daughter is small you will have no trouble keeping her rear facing for longer. i will have to turn my son around in the next couple of month due to his height but by then he will be almost 2 1/2. the angle of the infant carrier is different then that of a regular rear facing car seat. the My Ride holds kids to 40lbs rear facing and then you can turn it around for a forward facing harness limit of 65 lbs

My son just hit the 20 pound mark and he is 19 months old. He is a tall skinny guy. He is still riding rear facing and we are going to keep him rear facing until he is at least 2 if not longer. It is just safer this way. We bought a Britax Advocate when he was 14 months old and it can go either rear or front facing. So far we have had no issues with him wanting to face forward and I feel much better knowing that I am keeping him that much safer.

We had to transition our son early because he was so tall, but he's still rear-facing. You will have to transition your daughter eventually, since she should be in a car-seat until she is about 50-60 pounds, and many kids still need booster seats after that, but there is no rush as long as she is safely within the limits of your current carseat. Rear-facing is a LOT safer than forward-facing (for everyone, actually), and so when you do finally have to transition, look for a seat with a high-rear-facing weight-limit so that you can continue to keep your daughter rear-facing as long as possible.

Keep him in his infant seat or a convertible seat facing backwards for as long as possible. It's better for them if you get in a crash; Legally she can't go forward facing yet. She he has to be 20 lbs AND 1 year old.
If you are wanting him to be in a big girl seat then get him a Britax Marathon. Its a convertible and it goes up t 65 lbs so she can stay safer for a LONG time. They are a bit more expensive, but so worth the money. They use foam inside the frame which absorbs a lot of the impact shock. Most other seats are just lined with foam which doesn't do a whole lot.

They now recommend that you keep her backward facing for as long as possible. I kept my 2nd daughter (who was also small for her age) backward facing until she was almost 2. Actually, everyone in a car would be safer if we always faced backwards due to the physics in a car crash. Good luck!

It's actually recommended to keep the baby rear-facing for as long as possible since it's safer. My son was also tiny and was in the rear-facing bucket seat until he turned 18 months (at which point he was straining his neck to look forwards, so our doc gave us the go-ahead to turn him around even though he was only 19 1/2 pounds - we probably still should've waited!)

Sophia,
I dont know how other mothers feel, but i would keep using the car seat if that fits with her height and weight. I did that with my boys. It is easier and cheaper then going out and buying a regular car seat. I didnt feel comfortable putting my boys in a regular car seat until they grew out of the infant carrier, because of how small they were. If you are comfortable with using the carrier still, then i would continue until the baby out grows it.

M.

My daughter weighed 15lbs. at a year, and I asked her ped. the same question. He told me the longer she can be in the infant rear facing car seat the better. That is the safest postion for a child in the car because there is less impact if in a car accident. I kept her in the car seat until she reached the 20lbs. to face foward. She did fine with it. With my third daughter I had to switch her around because her legs were too long, but I that was at 14 or 15 months.

I say keep her in her current seat as long as you can:-)

You pediatrician should be able to give you the best direction.

We kept both of our kids rear facing until 12 months. Our pediatrician recommended keeping our 2nd rear facing until 2 years. She was so tall, and so scrunched-up, she was miserable. So, we switched her, and thank goodness, at just 2 years old, we never tested if it was a good decision.

As small as she is, you can probably get away with it a little longer, but she may enjoy the different position that a regular car seat puts her into (more upright vs. reclined in the infant carrier).

An infant seat is outgrown when the child reaches the weight limit or there is less than one inch of shell above the childs head.
you can move her to a convertible car seat in the REAR FACING position any time. My boys were both out of infant carriers by 4mos, but remained rear facing until 18mos and 35mos. An infant seat is no safer than a convertible car seat, but at her age she may enjoy a rear facing convertible more, since it sits more upright and she will be able to see out the side and back windows, and it will give her more legroom.

A pediatrician is great for your childs health, but will know nothing about child safety in the car. The AAP recommends children remain rear facing until at least 2yrs old and 30lbs, or when the child reaches the rear facing weight limit of the car seat. Most pediatricians still dont' quote the AAP, their own organization, correctly.

Car seats in the US will rear face to 35, 40, or 45lbs. Children can remain rear facing until they reach the rear facing weight limits of the convertible car seat or there is less than one inch of shell above the childs head. Feet touching the seat is not a problem, nor a reason to turn a child around forward facing.

So go for it, get her a convertible car seat and keep her rear facing. google Joels Journey and Extended rear facing for more information.
A few great seats are; Graco MyRide 65, Sunshine Kids Radian, First Years TrueFit, Evenflo Triumph Advance. All will allow you to keep your little one rear facing for a couple more years, and in a harness until at least age 5-7. :)

My son is pretty small too and the doctors and police told us that you switch them to a front facing car seat at 1 year and 20 pounds. So you need to wait until she is 20 lbs.

Hope this helps!
N.