Forward facing car seats

My boys are almost 14 months now and there is a signifigant amount of weight difference between them. The bigger one is now ready to be switched to forward facing. However, his little brother is amost 2 pounds behind him. So, my question is, how many of you switched one car seat and left the other rear facing and how many of you left both of them until they were both ready to switch to forward facing. I have read that it's actually being promoted to prolong rear facing a little longer. Any advice? I feel bad about swithing just one and leaving one to look to the rear by himself!

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS! We are totally in the same boat here. I do keep hearing the same thing the longer they are rear facing the safer. I will be curious to see the responses.

 

It is proven to be safer to RF. Please do not be in a hurry to turn them.

Mine RF until they were approx. 2 yrs 4mths.

 

agree, with pp we are keeping our kids rear facing as long as we can.

 

Thanks for the reinforcement ladies! I really want to leave them as long as possible just needed to know that I'm not crazy for leaving them rear facing!
akameme - go giants!!!

 

My girls are both almost 24 pounds and still ride rear facing. When we switch we'll switch both at the same time. If there's no reason you need to switch your one son who's over 20 pounds (ie - he gets carsick riding backwards or something), I'd vote with the PPs. Keep both of your boys rear facing as long as you can!

 

I agree with the PP's -- rear-facing for as long as possible is safest. Even if their legs are scrunched up against the seat, if they're not complaining, it's still safer than forward-facing.

I had to replace my carseats after an accident recently (my twins were rear-facing in Britax Roundabouts, and didn't have a scratch, thank goodness). I got two Radian 65's, but they're tall seats, and I just couldn't fit one rear-facing behind the driver's seat in my Honda Odyssey, as my DH is 6'4", and he needs the seat all the way back to drive. We tried lots of configurations, but to keep my sanity, I need my twins in the second row, and my older DD in the third.

Anyway, with a lot of reluctance, I did turn my DD forward-facing, because of the seat issue. (And I put her in her big sister's Recaro Young Sport, which has better head protection.) She's almost 18 months, 28 pounds, and about 35 inches tall (huge kid!). Her brother, who is three pounds lighter and two inches shorter, is still rear-facing right next to her. It's working fine...

Sorry for the saga -- I still have to justify the whole forward-facing thing to myself, LOL. Long story short, there is no reason you have to turn the bigger twin anytime soon, but when you do, there is no reason you have to do both at the same time.

 

I guess I'm the odd duck out b/c I turned them at a year. DS was 22 pounds and DD 20. They are SO much happier forward facing it has made travelling much more pleasant.

 

I too haven't changed them yet. At their one year appt they were 22lbs and 21lbs. But Anthony is almost 3 inches shorter, and he has quite the larger head. I just feel more comfortable with him especially, rear facing. And I too also hear it is safer. Nicholas is 30 1/2 inches and he still has some room before he touches the back of the seat. Once that happens, I will switch them both. We are going to my brother's two hours away for Christmas, I may switch them by then, as Nicholas has gotten sick a few times in the car.

 

We kept both rear-facing until they were around 20 months, it's much safer. One is about 2 pounds heavier than the other.

 

I kept my girls rear facing till 21months. It would have been longer but we went on vacation and there was no way that my dad could have sat between them in the rental van if the seats were rear facing. I kept them forward facing after we got home because I thought after being that way they would not want to go back, but they never complained when they were rear facing and were very happy traveling that way.

Had I not gone on that vacation they would have stayed rear facing till they started school that September since they were only just about 21lbs when I switched them.

 

I did not switch mine until they were 16-17 months and they both were able to be turned together... I wanted to wait longer but Beau's legs were crammed so i chose to turn them... Good luck!

 

QUOTE(Callen @ Nov 30 2008, 11:22 PM) [snapback]1091507[/snapback]
It is proven to be safer to RF. Please do not be in a hurry to turn them.

Mine RF until they were approx. 2 yrs 4mths.



I'm sooo glad you guys know this!

I had a woman from the National Highway Safety council come to my house (unreal) and help me to make sure my car seats were installed correctly.

She told me under no uncertain terms to KEEP THEM REAR FACING UNTIL THEY REACH WEIGHT LIMIT which for us is 35 lbs! She said there is significant evidence stating that rear facing is best. In fact, AAP has changed their guidelines.

I am NOT switching until I absolutely have to.

 

ERF (Extended Rear Facing) is much safer than forward facing them now. Please keep them Rear Facing until they reach the max weight/height of the seat according to its manufacturer.
Do not rush in turning your children forward and since we are on the subject, don't rush to put them in a booster either. Extended harnessing is also recommended for as long as possible.

This is a great site for carseat information. Please check it out, I have learn much there!

 

One of my girls can go forward too but I think I am going to hold off until they both can if not longer, probably not too long though because the skinny baby is super long and her feet are already cramped.

Everything I have read says rear-facing is the safest.

 

My girls are also both still RFing at nearly 18 months but they are tiny! Still under 20lbs at last check a few weeks ago. They'll hopfully be RFing until they reach the limit on the seat, which at this rate might not be until they're 4.

 

I left them both til the smaller one was ready. It seemed to work - it wasn't too much longer - I just didn't want any more reasons for them to whine at the time. Good luck!

 

We're going to put ours forward when we take a 2 week vacation, so we have more room (and dh can't complain about being cramped in the car), but I'm going to turn them backwards again when we get home. At our last dr. appt they were 17 and 18 lbs so we didn't want to do it yet then. We'll get another weigh in before our trip.

 

QUOTE(mommymeg @ Dec 1 2008, 12:32 PM) [snapback]1092597[/snapback]
We're going to put ours forward when we take a 2 week vacation, so we have more room (and dh can't complain about being cramped in the car), but I'm going to turn them backwards again when we get home. At our last dr. appt they were 17 and 18 lbs so we didn't want to do it yet then. We'll get another weigh in before our trip.


I believe the minimum requirement is 1 year AND 20 lbs. I really would suggest keeping them rear facing...IMHO it's not worth the risk.

Miriam

 

Cramped legs, whiny babies and tight fits are not compared with the risks of a neck injury or sudden death, in my opinion. I am sorry if I sound harsh, I don't mean to. I encourage you all to search about extended rear facing, at the end, I know you will agree that is worth it.
A broken leg can be fixed without really major complications, a broken neck...not so much.

 

I switched one forward facing and left the other rear facing for 4 months because they had a 3-4lb weight difference. They didn't seem to mind, in fact they could look at each other and interact more. When I finally switched her forward she still wasn't 20 lbs but the pedi said I could. She felt my little one had the strength despite not having the weight.

It is true that rear facing is safer and you should leave them that way as long as possible.