Car Seats

Hi J.,
Well, the recommendation used to be at least one year old and over 20 lbs. I have read many other things stating to keep them rearfacing til age 3, but it looks weird to have a child folding his legs due to being too tall. I would not rush it though. I kept my oldest rear facing til 18 months--she was about 22 lbs by then. My 14 month old is still rear facing weighing 19 1/2 lbs. The local fire department will know.

As for milk, whole milk is recommended at 12 months...

K.

My ped told me that it is ok to leave them rearfacing up to 15 mos., but some parents hit that 1 year mark and whether the child is 20 lbs or not, they turn them around. It's really what you feel is right. Talk to your ped, though. Mine advised me to wait longer because my boys are so small, but if you have a larger child, he/she might say to go ahead. Per the question about milk....I don't really know this answer. My ped told me 12 mos, but that I can give cheese at 9 mos. I do know that up until they are 1 year, babies really need the formula/mom's milk for the calories. Hope this helped.

Ok this is very controversial (sp) of a subject, you really should keep your child rear facing for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. Most car seats can remain rear facing until your baby is 40lbs it just depends on how long thier legs are for everyone's comfort. It's best to keep them rear facing until they are at least 1 but I have a feeling my son may not last that long with his long legs, but we will try. Our goal is 30-40 lbs and 1 yr old.

Cows milk ... not until they are AT LEAST ONE YEAR OLD.

J.,

I'm not sure there really is a certain time because all kids are different. But I put my daughter into one as soon as she could sit up by her-self. I also liked it better too because I could keep more of an eye on her. Sorry I could not be of much help. Oh one more thing!!! Their are some seats that you can get at babies r us for 8 lbs and up that are front facing.

I know A LOT of babies who aren't 20lbs when they turn 1. My son wasn't one of them though. ;)

Your child must be at least 1 year old AND 20 pounds before you can turn them. It has to do with their neck muscles and the time it takes for them to develop them and build up the muscles.

Can't start whole milk until your child is 1. A lot of 'firsts' for that 1st birthday. :)

Just to let you know that it is not a law that children remain rear facing until 20 pounds and 1 year. It is a recommendation, a good recommendation but again a recommendation. I was told once by someone that it was a law and I checked it out.

Talk to your pediatrician but I would leave him rear facing as long as you can.

I think your pediatrician should let you know at the one-year visit if your child can sit forward facing. Mine did anyway. My daughter was just under 20 pounds when she turned one. She might have been 19 pounds, I can't remember. He suggested I wait a few more weeks before facing her forward (but she was actually already so tall and outgrowing the infant seat, we already had her facing forward anyway!).

But not all one year olds are 20 pounds at one. I'm sure most might be, it's probably the average. My girlfriend has a daughter who is very petite and she just had her 15 months check up and she's not even 20 pounds yet! Almost...but not quite.

Whole milk starts at one until they turn two.

I have read that the baby must be both 20lbs and 1 year old in order to sit in a forward facing seat. This is because they need to be at least 1 year old to have the required mobility and muscular development (even though many are 20 lbs prior to 1yo), but low birth weight babies might not be 20 lbs by their first birthday and they should remain rear facing until they reach 20lbs.

Here is a link with more info:

http://www.saferchild.org/carseat.htm

It is recommended that you wait until a baby is 1yo until you begin on cows milk. The reason here is that the proteins in cows milk are difficult to digest and until their digestive systems have developed, it can cause problems for them. Goats milk is ok prior to 1yo and formula or soy milk is ok. However soy milk doesn't always have all the nutrients the babies need, so check the labels.

From Texas DPS http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_inform...

I do know a couple of boys who are small and didn't reach 20lbs by their 1st b-day. The law says that you must adhere to the manufacturer specifications for your particular car seat as far as height and weight. Personally, my son is 15 months and about 24 lbs and I still have him rear facing. My pedi did give the ok to turn him around, but he seems perfectly happy there facing rear, and it has proven to be much safer. Why change it if it's safer rear facing? I will only turn him around when he outgrows the recommended weight limit for my car seat being rear facing (or if he seems to want to start facing front sooner). Yes, his legs are getting long, but I checked with the people who do the car seat checks at hospitals and they told me that kids are fine sitting indian style in car seats.

Our pediatrician said the 1 year is more important than the 20 lbs, but there are a lot of 1 yr olds that don't weigh that yet. We had the same issue because our son is so incredibly tall (consistant in the 95% every check up). His dr said it's important to let the neck muscles get more developed because that's where the greatest risk comes from. He advised to keep the seat facing back for as long as possible because that's the absolute safest way to ride. We went ahead and turned our son's seat forward on his birthday. He was way past 20 lbs, but the weight didn't bother him on being turned around. It was his legs being all squished up on the back of the seat. He was happy to stretch them out. I know it's hard, but don't rush it because the safest really is facing back.

Milk is at 1 yr too, but our pedi gave us the go ahead when he still had about 3 weeks to go before the big birthday.