Car Seat Rear or Front?
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Mama Rena posed this question after reading my posting on car seat checks: "When do you turn the car seat to face forward?" Good question- I was wondering the same thing as our hefty Birch is getting harder to load in through our hatchback. This is from the American Academy of Pediatrics (a very conservative agency in my book- but solid research on this I should think).
All infants should ride
rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh
at least 20 pounds. That means that if your baby reaches 20 pounds before her
first birthday, she should remain rear-facing at least until she turns 1 year
old. It is best for children to ride rear-facing to the highest weight or height
allowed by the manufacturer.
Here are some links for a few car seat manufacturers- so you can check out your specific car seat:
http://www.britaxusa.net
www.gracobaby.com
www.EddieBauer.com
PHOTO: Birch in his car seat last weekend- lest anyone worry he is not being tortured by his car seat- he actually has headphones on- and, no, he wasn’t listening to heavy metal at full volume- in fact, nothing was playing, he just wanted to try the headphones on.
As a pediatrician and nationally certified child car safety expert, I wrote a short piece on rear-facing & toddlers which discusses not only the latest recommendations but also the evidence behind them.
http://thecarseatlady.blogspot.com/2010/02/turning-baby-forward-facing-at-1-year.html
Im glad you know that rearfacing is safest until the child reaches the limits of the seat, but I just wanted to point out that the child in the photo isnt in the seat correctly.
The chestclip needs to be at armpit level (HUGS – the rubber things, can be removed rearfacing if they are in the way, they need to be put back on for forward facing)
The straps look a little loose too!
Hope you fix it to keep him safe!
Kelly – CPST
Your kid is not belted in correctly. The shoulder pads should sit on the shoulder and the chest clip should sit at armpit level.
If your child is under 33lb then keep them rear facing. The seat limit is the best goal to aim for. Premature turning could result in detachment of the spinal cord from the spine…think about that.