Car Seat?

I was told that they needed to be at least one year old to face forward, before that they're little necks just cannot handle an accident forward facing, and even then you are supposed to wait as long as you can just to be safe.

We waited until my daughters legs literally couldn't fit in the rear facing position anymore.

It seems like forever and is hard to wait, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Hi there! I see you're in Portland, so I highly recommend going to Segal's to check out carseats. Even if you don't end up purchasing a seat there, they are incredibly knowledgeable about the latest safety regulations, crash testing, and ratings for different kinds of seats. They really take their time with you and walk you through the pros and cons of different brands. If you do buy one there, they'll even install the seat for you- they're seat certified (or whatever it's called!). Come to think of it, they'll install a seat for you no matter where it's purchased. We've bought seats there and on the net.

As an aside, both my girls were transitioned to a Britax Marathon once they were done with the infant carrier seat...and we're paranoid about car safety. Keep those kids in a five point harness for as long as possible. Too many sad stories about kids who would have lived if they hadn't been transitioned before they needed to be. : (

J.

www.car-seat.org is a great site. It's run by certified carseat installers. There are quite a few local Portland/Salem techs.

Just yesterday I turned my 20 month old forward facing. She is about 26lbs. I would have left her rear facing until closer to 30lbs, but she has been so cranky in her seat that I thought I'd turn her and she is much happier. I feel better that I left her RF as long as I could -- 9 months longer than most who turn at a year and 20lbs.

IMO -- I'd leave your DD rear facing as long your seat permits.

We have the Britax Marathon which is a great seat. Goes RF until 33lbs and FF until 65 with 5pt harness. Although kids usually outgrow seats by height before weight.

We moved our 4yr old out of a Marathon in July and she's about 42lbs and 41" tall. We got our 4 year old a Sunshine Kids Radian 65 -- I would recomend it highly. It also can be used RF (not sure of stats at this moment). Per others recomendations avoid the Radian 80 which uses a 5pt harness until 80lbs, because it's the same harness height as the Radian 65 (and chances are your child will out grow by height first).

My #1 desire in a car seat is that it have a 5pt harness. You'll notice alot of convertable seats only use the 5pt harness up to 40-45lbs then you use the seat as a booster with just a seat belt.

I hope this helps.

E.

Hi M.,
we just asked our pediatricain. We ask him and the nurse for everything for stuff like that.

After looking at several reviews and saftey tests I decided on the Britax roundabout and love it. Very easy to adjust the harness as nessesary. Also it's very easy to clean. My husband bought the Evenflow triumph for his truck and the good thing about that one is how easy it is to switch from one car to another. The seatbelt slides through the actual body of the carseat very easy.

Just watch the comfort! I got a graco and thought it would be perfect, but it has a large seam midback that actually left bruises on my sons spine if he had to sit in it very long, and he also screamed and cryed alot on trips until I padded it! also, when I looked at the amout of padding, or lack of, I was shocked! No way an adult would sit in something like that!
sadly, the more comfort, the higher the cost.

Hi there M.,

Did you already choose a new car seat for your little one? I always check stuff like that out at www.consumerreports.com. You can get all the ratings and look at recalls and stuff.

Good luck!

C.
www.enhanceyourwayoflife.com

The best advice we ever got was from Segal's. We didn't buy our first car seat from them but they installed it for free and gave us free safety advice. When my daughter turned one she barely weighed 20 lbs. I went back to Segal's to have them turn it forward facing and was told it was safer to keep her rear-facing a little longer, until she weighed more and was taller. I was told that our car seat (Britax Marathon) was rated for 20 lbs forward facing, but that in his opinion, she was just too small and it was better to err on the side of safety. It was a bummer for us (and my daughter!) because she hated her car seat at that time - I think facing backwards was making her car sick. Anyway, we didn't end up facing her forward until she was almost 18 or 19 months old. We did the same for my son.

I'd love to be able to afford a Britax, but it is nowhere in my budget and I don't see the money popping up anytime soon. I read all the information on all the baby sites and have fallen in love with the Evenflo Triumph. I will be buying that one next week. It had RAVE reviews with ease of use, comfort and safety from EVERYONE who rated it. That is very important to me. Plus it goes rear facing UP TO 35 POUNDS!!! Amazing. Also harnesses are good up to 50 pounds which considering my now 9 year old wieghed that at 7, I'm pretty sure it'll last us a good long time. Check it out on the Evenflo site or babiesrus.com
You can go to any fire or police station and they can either install or direct you to someone who can if you are having problems with ANY seat!
Good Luck!

Please keep your little one rear facing as long as possible. The MINIMUM to turn a child forward facing is 20 pounds and a year, but the current RECOMMENDATION is to keep them rear facing until they reach the limits on the seat. Each seat has it's own limit, but it's usually 30-35 pounds and when their head reaches the top of the seat. Most children can remain rf until they are at least 2 or 3 based on the seats manual. Do not worry about legs being scrunched. There have been no documented cases of broken legs due to rear facing AND leg injuries are much less severe than head/neck/spine injuries,which increase w/ forward facing.