When did (or will) you change carseats

I know that the law is rear-facing until one year AND 20 pounds. But I also know that the recommendation is to remain rear-facing as long as possible. I am wondering what the rest of you did, and why?

My boys just turned one. They are in Evenflo Triumph Advances, rear-facing, and have been for about 5 months. AJ is well over 20 pounds (Ben is probably still under), so he can legally be turned forward-facing. The Evenflos are MONSTER carseats (made for kids up to 50 lbs), and take up tons of space when they are rear-facing. We are very limited in our carseat set-up in our minivan (our DD is in a Graco Nautilus w/5-point harness), and can't take advantage of the three LATCH hook-ups (because the rear-facing evenflos in the second row captain's chairs would prohibit anyone from getting into the back row without some serious gymnastics maneuvering). Right now, Ben is in the back row next to DD, and I have to lift him over his seat to strap him in. So, basically, from a convenience standpoint, I would LOVE to switch the carseats to forward-facing (waiting until Ben reaches 20 lbs, of course). But, I am struggling with the recommendations... When my DD turned 20 lbs (at around 14 months), we switched her seat forward... but I don't remember seeing those recommendations back then.

 

Jessica,

We don't switch our kids forward-facing until they reach the weight/height limits of their seats (33lbs). For older DS, we switched him around 26 months. These two are right now just 20lbs - so they'll be rear-facing for at least another year.

We have Britax Marathons - and they take up a ton of room rear-facing, too. But honestly, once I did some research, looked at crash-tests videos (Youtube has some) of how a child's body responds in a crash rear-facing vs forward-facing, and learning that rear-facing protects the head/neck/spine so much better than forward-facing - I was convinced to leave them rear-facing as long as possible.

I hope that helps! Good luck with your decision!

 

Here is a thread from last week about this same topic!

rearfacing or forwardfacing

 

Yea - look at you tube under child carseat crash tests... You see one video and you'll never want to turn your kids forward facing! DH keeps saying my one girl is getting to tall, but I say, "Rather a broken leg then a broken neck". Mine just turned 2, and BARELY meet the reccommended 22 lbs. for forward facing (they are 22.5 and 23) and they don't meet the height recommendation yet which is 34 inches. My carseats (the Cosco ones) states that they have to be 1 yr old AND 22lbs AND 34 inches. It doesn't say one or the other or 2 of the 3. So we are still rear-facing and will be for quite some time. Convenience is a non-issue for me. I have to fit 3 rear-facing carseats (2 convertible and an infant) across the back seat of an Explorer. Talk about a pain an the A$$ to put the middle child in her carseat. It usually requires her climbing over the one carseat to get to the middle, then me climbing up into the truck just to strap her in. It would be SO MUCH easier to have them forward facing.... But I'd rather be inconvenienced by putting them in their rear-facing carseat then to be inconvenienced with having to plan a funeral for my 2 yr old babies.....

Here are a couple of links on you tube as to why rear-facing is so important for as long as possible. I couldn't find the one I wanted to post, but someone on here had posted a really good video clip (I searched and couldn't find it on here either) oh well these two get the point across just as well.

ETA:
AHA! Found the link I was looking for... Get your tissues ready if you're going to watch this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI

And here's the other two still:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo...feature=related

 

mine just switched because it took alli about 2 weeks to catch up to lucas to get to 20lbs. lucas was starting to get to tall for the infant rear facing seat, so we ended up buying the frount facing kind that goes from 20lbs-100lbs. its great!! they both love it and it goes from 5 point harness all the way to backless booster.

 

My twins are over 16 months and are still rear facing. I switched my other two around a year. I saw the you tube video and it changed my mind.

 

Must see the link above to our thread from last week on this topic. Very good info on it!! I suggest reading it all of the way through before switching the FF.

Just in case... here it is again..

http://www.twinstuff.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=111052

 

we went FF at 14 mos - you can watch all the videos in the world and scare the ever loving crap out of yourself and the infintismal percentage that its really going to happen to you makes it really not worth it...

sorry - I just don't buy into the hype...my pedi said it was ok so I went with that.

 

14 months, at which point we were also over 20lbs.

 

I am a paramedic and work in a hospital so Im overly cautious and always have been about the car seats. I keep them rear facing until their feet push against the seat and make it unsafe. Most of my kids were rear facing until about 25 lbs and 1.5. The boys are getting big fast tho and both weigh about 21 lbs and are not 1 for another few weeks. We just bought them new seats last week to be ready tho. Think we might switch them on their firsat birthay.

 

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Jan 15 2009, 11:45 AM) [snapback]1148264[/snapback]
we went FF at 14 mos - you can watch all the videos in the world and scare the ever loving crap out of yourself and the infintismal percentage that its really going to happen to you makes it really not worth it...

sorry - I just don't buy into the hype...my pedi said it was ok so I went with that.



I get what you are saying, I really do. The majority of infants and toddlers will live through their childhoods to become old men and old women. But the facts (that I've found) are that automobile accidents are the #1 cause of death among toddlers. Here's a link:

http://www.statisticstop10.com/Causes_of_Death_Toddlers.html

I guess, if there is something I can attempt to prevent as much as possible, something that is probably the most dangerous thing my children do every day (ride in a car) - I'm going to use the info that is out there to protect them to the best of my ability.

I'm definitely not judging others that turn their kids around forward-facing at 1 year and 20lbs - we all do what we feel is best for our children. We are their parents and we do what we feel is right.

 

I turned my oldest right at a year -- we were in the car a LOT and he was dying to turn around and see what was going on. He was a big baby, always in the 90th % or higher, and was MUCH happier once we turned him around.

My twins, on the other hand, are TINY! They're 15 months today and still rear facing (although I'm not sure if the smaller one is even 20 lbs yet.) I hear what you're saying about the van and the latch. My parents were generous enough to pitch in for the girls' car seats, and I got some britax roundabouts even though they won't last as long, partly b/c they're smaller and we (by "we" I mean my 5 year old!) can scootch past them in the captains chairs. Also, a big difference this time around is that rear facing is just as interesting if not MORE b/c Big Brother is in the back seat in his booster and does a great job keeping everyone entertained. I probably won't switch them for awhile.

Good luck!

 

We are still rear facing and plan to for awhile. The boys are 25 lbs (maybe more) and 13 months so legally I could turn them around. They don't know any different though. They aren't fussy except right when you strap them in and I don't think that would change with forward facing. They only really ride in the car 5 minutes to daycare and home and for errands on the weekend anyway.

I'm planning on at least 18 months and maybe 2 years if it's still going well and they don't hit the weight limit for rear facing.

 

I will keep my boys rearfacing as long as they are under the RF weight limit on our seats, which I think is almost 40 lbs.

 

QUOTE(becasquared @ Jan 15 2009, 08:14 AM) [snapback]1148068[/snapback]
Here is a thread from last week about this same topic!

rearfacing or forwardfacing

Thanks! This is my first post on the 1-4 forum, so I missed the thread last week! Sorry to repeat the topic! :blush:

QUOTE(blueclouds @ Jan 15 2009, 08:15 AM) [snapback]1148069[/snapback]
but I say, "Rather a broken leg then a broken neck".

This is a wonderful point!


QUOTE(Mary Janelle @ Jan 15 2009, 11:44 AM) [snapback]1148345[/snapback]
a big difference this time around is that rear facing is just as interesting if not MORE b/c Big Brother is in the back seat in his booster and does a great job keeping everyone entertained. I probably won't switch them for awhile.

Yes, I think that big sis and little bros would all be sad if they couldn't see each other! I swear they have a party back there, with all the giggling and chattering that goes on! :lol:


Sorry to those of you who searched for the youtube links, but I can't bring myself to watch them! I am just going to have to take everyone's word that it is shocking and mind-changing. (I have enough phobias about my children getting into a car crash, so I think that watching a simulated crash involving a child would probably give me a full-blown anxiety attack).

But, I feel convinced to leave them rear-facing for the time-being. Please don't think that I am callous about my children's safety for considering turning them FF. I shouldn't have used the term 'convenience,' because it is more than that - how carseat configuration affects the amount of time they spend in the stroller in the freezing cold, how well I can reach everyone's straps to properly latch and tighten, and, most of all, the ability to use our LATCH's. I would feel much safer having all three children on LATCH's rather than shoulder straps, but, as I mentioned before, that makes the backseat virtually inaccessible (my DD could shimmy back there, but I would not be able to reach her to tighten her harness). I don't know how on earth parents do this with 4, 5, plus kids!! If we have a 4th, our van will be wall-to-wall carseats, and we will have to access the kids in the back row from the 'trunk!'

 

We switched when one was 25 lbs. and one was 21 lbs. The 25lber was starting to push against the seat in front of her. We checked with our ped. and she thought it was fine. I sweated the decision for a long time.

 

We switched around 16-17 months...

 

Jessica,

We have a minivan, too. Here's how we have our seats arranged - it is pretty easy for me to get everyone loaded in and strapped in, too.

Second row of seats are Captain's Chairs and we have one rear-facing Marathon behind the passenger seat and then my DS is in a Britax Regent behind the driver's seat - all using LATCH.

Then in the back row we have one rear-facing Marathon in the middle of the bench seat - also using LATCH. They are a 60/40 split and we have the "40" part folded down. When I load a baby into the backseat, I just lift him over the bench seat and strap him in. Then my DS can just climb in and get himself arranged in his carseat and I just have to buckle him.

The most challenging part of the whole thing is just stepping into the back of the van so I can load that baby in - but it is fairly easy, really, b/c he's rear-facing so I just just tighten the straps and everything from the back of the van.

Don't know if this will help you or not - but thought I'd throw it out there.

Good luck!

 

We are rear facing and literally crammed into a Ford Focus. In a perfect world my boys would stay rear facing until they hit the limit for their seats (30lbs for the newer seat), but I have a 3% and a 50% kid so 30 lbs. could be years away!. I plan rear facing until summer (when we travel more with two adults in the front) and then we will look at our options again. DH can't stand more than 10 min in the passenger seat with the current configuration.

 

we turned to front facing about a month after the girls 2nd bday. I would have kept them rear facing longer, but it was becoming a pain in the behind getting them in and out..

 

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Jan 15 2009, 03:45 PM) [snapback]1148264[/snapback]
we went FF at 14 mos - you can watch all the videos in the world and scare the ever loving crap out of yourself and the infintismal percentage that its really going to happen to you makes it really not worth it...

sorry - I just don't buy into the hype...my pedi said it was ok so I went with that.


I completely agree with you.When you buy a car do you watch videos about the safety of the vehicle? If most did, half the people wouldn't own Honda's or toyota's. Or surburbans cause of the massive amount of damage they cause other vehicles when in an accident.

 

QUOTE
But the facts (that I've found) are that automobile accidents are the #1 cause of death among toddlers. Here's a link:

http://www.statisticstop10.com/Causes_of_Death_Toddlers.html


well it actually says "unintentional injury"...with a combination of factors, MV accidents being one of those factors...

and from what I've seen most children killed in car accidents are not properly restrained - I don't think I've ever seen an accident (in which it was so violent that everyone was killed) that a child was killed while properly restrained...

I've seen the YouTube videos and again one of them is because the kids seatbelt malfunctioned and threw him and his booster seat out the door - it had nothing to do with the seat....

again to each his own and do whats best for your family but alot of it is hype engineered to make us feel like failures if you don't do EXACTLY what each expert says...

 

QUOTE
I've seen the YouTube videos and again one of them is because the kids seatbelt malfunctioned and threw him and his booster seat out the door - it had nothing to do with the seat....


True but I believe the argument there was that the child would have been better restrained had he been in a 5-point harness seat that he was still well within the limits to use. Would he still be alive today if he WAS in a 5-point harness?? Who knows, but if you can do something about YOUR child, why not??

The percentages might be minutely small in that we will actually be in an accident, and then be in an accident so severe that someone is killed - but I'd rather not take that chance at all. If there is ONE thing I KNOW I can do to better protect MY child from being killed - then I'll do it. The crash test results speak for themselves. There is no hype to that video that compares FF to RF carseats in an impact. Granted that's for either a head on collision or rear-end collision only. Only the type of seat you have can protect from side-impact collisions, RF or FF.

I see it as a car insurance policy. What's the chance we will actually ever have to use it? But we still have to pay for it, right?? So the chances that you'll ever actually have to find out if it works to leave your kid RF longer are slim to none, if you can do it, you might as well. Better protection.

 

My first son I turned around soon after a year. The twins are now 14 months and 27 lbs but I still have them rear-facing because of the new recommendations I've read. They seem perfectly happy rear-facing so I plan to keep them that way until they protest or just don't fit.

 

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Jan 17 2009, 08:35 PM) [snapback]1151334[/snapback]
well it actually says "unintentional injury"...with a combination of factors, MV accidents being one of those factors...


Not to argue with you (b/c I'm really not) - but if you look under the main headings ( "Unintentional Injury", for example) it has the percentages next to each individual cause of death.

Motor Vehicle Accidents account for 10.97% of toddler deaths. That is the highest percentage out of ALL of the causes of death listed (followed closely by Congenital Abnormalities at 10.91% and Drownings at 9.35%).

I think as parents we just do the best we can do with the wealth of information that is thrown at us each day. Carseats are just something I feel strongly about. When I look at my children's lives and think about the dangers that they face - riding in cars, at this point in their lives, is most definitely the most dangerous thing they do almost every day. As far as the hype goes - I don't see there being that much hype about it. Pediatricians don't suggest it (at least in my experiences) - but if you ask them, they will say the AAP does recommend rear-facing as long as possible. There aren't commercials suggesting people leave their children rear-facing longer. Britax doesn't heavily advertise their seats. If anything, I feel like there are still many people who do not know that it is now recommended that children stay rear-facing until the limits of their seats. Many people follow the 1 year and 20lbs recommendation like it is a rule (at least many people in my real life). And honestly, it is up to each and every parent - and no one should feel like a failure if they are doing what they truly feel is best for their child.

 

I keep my kids RF until 30lbs.

For my twins I think that is still a long way off. At 18 months the little one weighs only 24 pounds and the larger one must be about 27. I figure she may turn around 2 years but the little one still has a long way too go.

 

QUOTE(blueclouds @ Jan 15 2009, 09:15 AM) [snapback]1148069[/snapback]
Yea - look at you tube under child carseat crash tests... You see one video and you'll never want to turn your kids forward facing! DH keeps saying my one girl is getting to tall, but I say, "Rather a broken leg then a broken neck". Mine just turned 2, and BARELY meet the reccommended 22 lbs. for forward facing (they are 22.5 and 23) and they don't meet the height recommendation yet which is 34 inches. My carseats (the Cosco ones) states that they have to be 1 yr old AND 22lbs AND 34 inches. It doesn't say one or the other or 2 of the 3. So we are still rear-facing and will be for quite some time. Convenience is a non-issue for me. I have to fit 3 rear-facing carseats (2 convertible and an infant) across the back seat of an Explorer. Talk about a pain an the A$$ to put the middle child in her carseat. It usually requires her climbing over the one carseat to get to the middle, then me climbing up into the truck just to strap her in. It would be SO MUCH easier to have them forward facing.... But I'd rather be inconvenienced by putting them in their rear-facing carseat then to be inconvenienced with having to plan a funeral for my 2 yr old babies.....

Here are a couple of links on you tube as to why rear-facing is so important for as long as possible. I couldn't find the one I wanted to post, but someone on here had posted a really good video clip (I searched and couldn't find it on here either) oh well these two get the point across just as well.

ETA:
AHA! Found the link I was looking for... Get your tissues ready if you're going to watch this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI

And here's the other two still:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo...feature=related

I am a child safety seat technician and still don't understand when a carseat is installed correctly and it is as tight as possible and there is NO give how it can go forward in a crash. I also still don't understand how the straps do the same if you have them tight on your child. Can anyone explain?

Thanks!

 

QUOTE
I am a child safety seat technician and still don't understand when a carseat is installed correctly and it is as tight as possible and there is NO give how it can go forward in a crash. I also still don't understand how the straps do the same if you have them tight on your child. Can anyone explain?

Thanks!


Okay, I'll give you that one. The car seat should have been tightened and the straps equally tight. But all things considered, it still gets the point across that IF your child was forward facing and were to be in an accident (head on or rear-end in this instance) that their head would most certainly go forward while the rest of their body stayed put by the straps. The car seat would DO it's job, but you can't stop the force of movement. If you're going forward at 50mph, and all of a sudden come to a stop, everything that's not strapped down is going to continue going forward at that rate of speed. Hence the reason they say to stay RF. If your child is RF, then they have the back of the seat to break the force. If they are FF, there's nothing to stop their head from continuing on, even though their bodies are strapped in tight by the belt, thus resulting in serious spinal injuries (possibly, not saying definetly)

So, the car sat could still be installed properly and still do it's job in an accident, but FF there is nothing to restrain the head like there is the torso and legs....

 

QUOTE(blueclouds @ Jan 18 2009, 01:41 PM) [snapback]1151959[/snapback]
Okay, I'll give you that one. The car seat should have been tightened and the straps equally tight. But all things considered, it still gets the point across that IF your child was forward facing and were to be in an accident (head on or rear-end in this instance) that their head would most certainly go forward while the rest of their body stayed put by the straps. The car seat would DO it's job, but you can't stop the force of movement. If you're going forward at 50mph, and all of a sudden come to a stop, everything that's not strapped down is going to continue going forward at that rate of speed. Hence the reason they say to stay RF. If your child is RF, then they have the back of the seat to break the force. If they are FF, there's nothing to stop their head from continuing on, even though their bodies are strapped in tight by the belt, thus resulting in serious spinal injuries (possibly, not saying definetly)

So, the car sat could still be installed properly and still do it's job in an accident, but FF there is nothing to restrain the head like there is the torso and legs....

I do understand that about the head. I just meant in the videos you even see on tv the carseats go flying, that was what I was talking about. I agree it is important to keep them RF as long as possible.