Front Facing/Rear Facing?

Hi E.,

Two and a half years ago, we turned our thirteen (almost fourteen) month old daughter forward facing. A week later we had a car accident (the other driver was going over seventy miles an hour and hit the side of our van). My daughter's neck was broken and she had bleeds and bruising on her brain due to the severe shaking her head took. The docotor's all thought her head and neck injuries would not have been as severe if she had been rear facing. The good news is that she was still young enough for her brain to grow new pathways and, although she does not have 100% movement in her neck, she's still a perfectly normal little girl....this was only by the grace of God because the doctor's did not think she would make it!

Just be sure you do not leave your daughter in an infant carrier rear facing. If the car seat has a carrier handle, she is too big for it! You will need to buy what I call a luxury car seat (one that can start rear facing and then turn front facing), has a five point harnass, and an ample amount of head support!!!

And by all means, everyone please make sure your child's seat is installed properly and that you make them ride in it EVERY time you are going anywhere (even if they pitch a fit). Your child's life depends on it!!!

From a mother who knows first hand the importance of carseat safety,
J.

2 moms found this helpful

It is okay to put them in forward facing once they are a year old. However, if she still fits in the rear facing one, that is definately the safest. I know doctors recommend they stay rear facing for as long as they can. Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

My pedi suggested I keep my son rear facing until 18 months unless he's just got knees in his chest from being too big. However, he outgrew his infant seat (travel system seat) way before he turned 1. Your "big" carseat probably goes rear or front facing, so you can probably put her rear facing in the big seat instead of using the infant seat. The general guidlines are 20 lbs and 1 year old before facing front, however, like I said I pedi recommended keeping him backwards as long as possible, so that's what we are doing.

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Rear facing is the safest, so my doc told me to keep my little girl rear facing as long as possible.

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The rule is that the child must be one year old AND 20 pounds. Both requirements must be met to turn them around. Many people get tired of them facing backwards and turn the child when only one requirement is met, but that is not following the safety standards.

Hope this helps,

Y.

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The safest way for them to sit is rear facing. We had our daughter rear facing until she grew out of that position.

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My son stayed rear facing in his larger car seat until 2 yrs old. Some days, I wish he was still rear-facing because he's kicking my seat!

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Rear Facing !! As long as you can

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Hi E.!

I had my daughter in for her 9 month well visit about 1 month ago, and my pediatrician actually brought this up. He said the latest studies out indicate that it's best to keep them in rear facing seats until 18 months or 2 years. He said he already spoke with his children about keeping his grandchildren in the rear facing car seats longer.

I thought of my friend whose little one hated the car seat so she couldn't wait until he turned 1 to face him front. I think if your daughter is fine with rear facing, then keep her there as long as possible because it is by far the safest position for her according to the latest research. All that to say, if she hates her car seat, you may want to balance what is safest for her with what is best for your sanity! :)

Thankfully, my daughter still does not mind the rear facing car seat, so I will try to keep her there as long as possible since my pediatrician gave me that information.

I hope that helps!

Love in Christ,

Lisa :)

1 mom found this helpful

Rear facing is safest, for as long as you can.

S.

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Is she still in the infant carrier from your travel system? If so, she has likely out grown the size requirement for that seat. Pull out your owner's manual to check the height requirement in the current seat. My daughter outgrew the height for the infant seat at 6 months and my son outgrew it before 4 months. We had to buy a new carseat, but still faced backwards for a while.

The minimum to face forward is 20lbs and 1 year old, but it is recommended to keep them backward facing for as long as possible.

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Please keep her rear facing as long as possible for your car seat. It is SO much safer. If she has grown out of the weight limits of the travel system, then in most cases you can use her new bigger car seat in a rear facing position. There is a lot of research out there that recommends keeping your kiddos rear facing as long as possible, even if they have their knees bent and feet against the back of the seat. Good luck!

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one year AND 20lbs. is the minimum requirement

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it's sad that another person believed the hype about rear facing. i did the research too for both of my boys. i turned them at a year and 20 lbs. they were completely safe. to wait longer is paranoia and fear. why do it?

Keep her facing backwards as long as possible. Even if her legs are getting longer it is better to have a broken leg than a broken head!!

I, personally, would keep her rear facing until she absolutely outgrows the travel system seat. Like the pp said, the requirements are 20 pounds AND 1 year of age, but, even if she's already 20 pounds, rear facing is safer, still, at this age. Just my .02 :)

I'm delighted you're sticking with rear facing. Despite what some have written, this is not "hype" but rather sound research that we were blessed to learn from a friend who is a child life specialist at Cook Children's and has taken a 40 hour course on correct child safety seat installation!

Our daughter remained facing rear until she was nearly 3 years old and had been sitting with her legs crossed in front of her for a few months. It was never a problem and she had even learned how to get herself seated by then.