under weight but over 1 car seat question? HELP!!

I was under the imprssion that my girls had to be over 20lbs to flip the big carseat from rear facing to forward facing. I have yet to buy the big carseats yet. My girls are 19lbs each and are 28 inches long. So I thought I had to wait to put them in the forward facing carseats then I recently had people tell me as long as they are 1years old I can pu them in the big carseats. Help please tell me whn u switched your kids
Thanks Tania

 

There is so much that makes this confusing!

To be forward-facing they need to be 20 pounds AND one year old. Safety-wise, however, you should leave them rear-facing as long as possible. In the event of an accident, their necks are much safer in the rear-facing position and even if their legs look squashed against the seat, the legs will heal better than the neck!

They should move out of their infant seats/"buckets" when they meet the weight limit OR the height limit. Many seats have a height limit of 26" so if that's the case for your seats, your girls outgrew them two inches ago!

A convertible seat (one that can be used rear-facing and then forward-facing) will usually have a lower weight limit of five pounds. My children went straight into a convertible seat and were never put in the buckets.

So. Your girls can be in a convertible/"big girl" seat now but leave them rear-facing. Have fun picking out new seats!

 

They need to be 1 year AND 20 lbs. It's possible that they have outgrown the baby seats in length and you will need to go to a convertible carseat, rear facing.

 

My girls hit the weight limit to flip around MONTHS ago. That said, even once they turned 1, I didn't flip them around. They are in convertible carseats, just still rear facing. I'm actually considering flipping them around forward facing at this time, but have had the courage yet. I know they are safer rear facing, but they are starting to fight getting into their seats and I think the change would help!

 

A fireman told me it was simple if you are borderline/unsure then leave them facing backwards. You would rather they break their legs than their necks.

 

The rule it 1 year AND 20 lbs. It is still safer to keep them rear facing as long as possible though, it should tell you that in the insruction manuel as well.

I just pulled this off of this site The biggest car safety mistakes parents make -- and how to avoid them

Facing your child forward too soon
Children have large heads and comparatively weak necks, so in a head-on collision (the most common type of crash) a child's head can jerk forward suddenly and violently, resulting in spinal injuries. For this reason, keep your child rear-facing position as long as possible. Just be sure that he rides in a rear-facing seat specially designed to hold children weighing up to 35 pounds or a convertible car seat that's made to hold children weighing up to 35 pounds in a rear-facing position or up to 40 pounds in a forward-facing position. (Note: The 12-months-and-20-pounds rule that many parents cite when turning their child forward in the car is actually the minimum size and age requirement.)

 

Without a doubt wait until they are 20 lbs. and 1 year old.

 

20 lbs. AND 1 year. Both of mine are rear facing even though they are 1. My son is 19 lbs. 9 oz. and is still rear facing.

 

I have two Britax Decathlons for my twins. We have had them since the twins were 6 months. They are 15 months now and still rearfacing. There is a ton of research out there on that subject. I plan to keep them rearfacing until maybe 2. Like others have said it is suggested that at 20 lbs and 1 year you CAN turn them around and CAN is the key word.

But don't be confused...you do not have to turn them around but that is the minimum suggested requirements to be able to turn them around.

There is a site that has very good info called www.car-seat.org. There is tons of reviews on car seats as well as many research articles on all sorts of carseat issues including rear facing being very safe. HTH!! Best wishes!

 

I think there is a lot of confusing information out there. Parents seem to be getting the message that they should turn the kids around at age 1 and 20 pounds. I saw a blurb on a national news program recently where they said exactly that. They meant to say that the earliest you can turn them is 1 and 20. Honestly, I'm not sure why they have weight as a guideline. I think it encourages people to want to turn them earlier than the minimum age because they think their 20 pound 8 month old who is crawling is as ready as a 20 pound 15 month old who has been walking for months.

Anyway, we're staying rear-facing until they hit the max height or weight.

 

Basically the earliest you can face them forward is 20 lbs AND one year. But most convertible seats you can use from early on. Most people just prefer the infant seats for the carry them in it ease.

There is a great video on youtube that shows what can happen when our kids are FF instead of RF in their carseats. OMG. It is scary. So my boys are rear facing in their marathons until 33 lbs or whatever the limit it.

So you can move them anytime now to their convertible seats. I think I moved dd to her roundabout (they did not have marathons in 2000) around 8 months due to my preference. but she was still rear facing for another year or so? I forget already1

HTH

 

My guys weren't 20lbs at a year and my Pedi said we could turn them, but we didn't we waited a few extra months. They weren't upset about being backwards.....so we left them!