Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I have always been told 20 pounds AND 1 year of age but some doctors might not hold to that. I'm a stickler for those kinds of things though. Bess mom to Elena (3/31/00) and Audrey (9/27/03), bcf, dbb 12 hrs/day At 09:57 AM 1/12/2005, you wrote: >Well now that we are talking about car seats I have a question. When >can rear facing children go to forward facing? I thought it was >20lbs but I am not sure. I too will be looking for a new car seat >this weekend for and you have all giving me great tips! > and >BL CF 12/16/03 >(3 more days of casts left!!) > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 According to what I've been told by our pediatrician, the child is okay to sit forward after he or she holds their head upright steady and continuously. As far as weight goes it all depends on the head support thing. Bascially the rear facing seating is to avoid whiplash and a child that no longer needs it's head supported is stronger against this potential problem. Ask your pediatrician for the best advice. You can call them for this rather than wait for an appointment. --- Number23 number23@...> wrote: > The law abotu seats differes from state to state. > Call your Highway Patrol office for the laws. Here > it's 20 pounds AND one year old. Meanwhile my > little rabbit continues to sit backwards. He's been > at 19 pounds for months. > s. > > Re: car seats > > > > > Well now that we are talking about car seats I have > a question. When > can rear facing children go to forward facing? I > thought it was > 20lbs but I am not sure. I too will be looking for a > new car seat > this weekend for and you have all giving me > great tips! > and > BL CF 12/16/03 > (3 more days of casts left!!) > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 What exactly is the benefit of turning a child forward facing? Why would anyone want to do this before it's absolutely necessary? Head and neck strength or not? My children, all three, have held their heads up steady and continuously before they were 2 months old. All of them held their heads up actually by 4w, starting somewhere around 2. Now, by using this rule I could turn a child forward facing at 2-3 mo's? No way. I'm pretty sure all the states have 20# AND one year rules but if you get the right seat you can leave them rear facing till they're simply too big to be comfortable rear facing. Darbi, my CF baby rear faced till somewhere around 18-19 mo's. The other two were 16 and 15mo's rear facing (boys, taller I think). The way I see it, if they don't know they can face forward and the parent decides this is the way it's going to be they're happy that way till the time is right to switch. I simply don't understand the push to move children to a less safe position although almost every parent I've ever met just can't wait to make some kind of less safe change. Whether it be forward facing or to a booster with a shoulder harness or no seat at all... whatever. This, I just can't understand. If I have a chance to place a child in the safest seat/position I will. Moving to boosters was not something I looked forward to, so much that I bought a 5 point to 80 pounds for my oldest rather than to move to a booster and shoulder strap. My 4 year old uses that seat now and I still am wary of the 6 year old being so much less restrained in a booster however because of room across the back seat for 3 children we have had to do one child in a booster. I too am anal about car seat safety. Irks me to no end to see a child too large for infant seats, chest clips too low (allowing shoulders and subsequently the whole body to be launched out of the straps), and loose straps. Worse yet... chest clips not done up at all. I just want to throttle some people! I've spent money we did not have to have the best seats for my children and I'm happy to have done so. Never been in an accident (well I did get bumped a few months ago but that's nothing) so I've not had to test them out but I hope I never do. If I do, I'm darn sure the seats are rock solid and the straps are tight and they'll have the best chance at avoiding injury they can have. It's the least I can do for them. And they don't complain either. They know they're required to be safe and that's all there is to it. I also can't say enough for tethers. It really makes a difference in getting the seat tight and not moving. Most US seats have tethers now but I don't think they're supposed to be used rear facing. Britax has always had a rear facing tether and I love it. OK - off my carseat soapbox... ya'll haven't seen this side of me yet huh? I'm actually famous amongst my mama friends for this stuff lol! Kori At 02:03 PM 1/12/2005, you wrote: >According to what I've been told by our pediatrician, >the child is okay to sit forward after he or she holds >their head upright steady and continuously. As far as >weight goes it all depends on the head support thing. >Bascially the rear facing seating is to avoid whiplash >and a child that no longer needs it's head supported >is stronger against this potential problem. Ask your >pediatrician for the best advice. You can call them >for this rather than wait for an appointment. > > > >--- Number23 number23@...> wrote: > > > The law abotu seats differes from state to state. > > Call your Highway Patrol office for the laws. Here > > it's 20 pounds AND one year old. Meanwhile my > > little rabbit continues to sit backwards. He's been > > at 19 pounds for months. > > s. > > > > Re: car seats > > > > > > > > > > Well now that we are talking about car seats I have > > a question. When > > can rear facing children go to forward facing? I > > thought it was > > 20lbs but I am not sure. I too will be looking for a > > new car seat > > this weekend for and you have all giving me > > great tips! > > and > > BL CF 12/16/03 > > (3 more days of casts left!!) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Well, Kori, this is something we definitely have in common! I am somewhat of a fanatic about car seat safety too. All my Mommy friends know better than to ask me about car seat issues, they'll get a 20 minute discourse! I couldn't agree more about the rear facing/forward facing issue. I actually got into quite a heated argument once with someone who insisted that her 10 month old needed to be turned forward facing because he was exceptionally tall and his feet were touching the seat of the car. She felt sure that if they were to have an accident that he would end up with broken legs and he was soooooo uncomfortable. She just refused to see that if he were forward facing in an accident that he may end up paralyzed or even dead because he was just not old enough to be forward facing. It actually isn't about neck control at all. A lot of kids have very good neck control and should still not be forward facing. It's about bone ossification. The bones of a child under a year old are not ossified and simply cannot hold up to the forward forces of a car crash. They will shatter resulting in a paralyzed or dead child. Anyway, I was not so educated when my 8 year old was little. The law in our state at the time was only over 20 lbs. I thought that was good enough and the second he was 20 lbs. turned him forward facing. We didn't have the internet at the time and I knew no better. Thankfully, we never had an accident so he was not injured. With Livie, I know better. She is almost 3 and a half years old and we just turned her forward facing about six months ago. In regards to boosters... the law just recently changed in our state that all kids under 80 lbs. need to be in a booster. My son who turned 8 in August was in a booster all the way through 85 lbs. We have finally let him stop using the booster because he got tall enough that the seat belt was not hitting his shoulder appropriately in the booster and he was safer being out of it. You should have heard the complaints around here of people who had to go out and buy boosters for there 4-6 year olds when the law changed! Sheesh!! Anyway, longwinded just to say I agree!! Jen & Livie Re: car seats > > > > > > > > > > Well now that we are talking about car seats I have > > a question. When > > can rear facing children go to forward facing? I > > thought it was > > 20lbs but I am not sure. I too will be looking for a > > new car seat > > this weekend for and you have all giving me > > great tips! > > and > > BL CF 12/16/03 > > (3 more days of casts left!!) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Oh ya...... or my favorite.....a person driving their car with their baby on their lap! Rrrgghhhhh! A while back I worked at a convienience store with a drive-through window I served out of. I told my dh after that I think we're the only parents in the county who use car seats and/or seat belts on our kids. s. if I see a small baby forward facing, or WORSE STILL a baby not in a car seat it makes me CRAZY!!! , mommy of: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Oh ya...... or my favorite.....a person driving their car with their baby on their lap! Rrrgghhhhh! A while back I worked at a convienience store with a drive-through window I served out of. I told my dh after that I think we're the only parents in the county who use car seats and/or seat belts on our kids. s. if I see a small baby forward facing, or WORSE STILL a baby not in a car seat it makes me CRAZY!!! , mommy of: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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