When did you turn your car seats around?

I know all of the studies out there say it's safest to leave our kiddos facing backwards in their car seats as long as possible. I don't have a problem with this, but have gotten pressure from some family and friends to switch them around. Everyone near me seems to say they switched their kids the instant they could legally. This made me wonder if the vast majority of kids are facing forward at the age and size of my daughters, so I thought I'd ask all of you what you did.

Thanks!

 

We could've waited, but honestly, until recently, I had no idea people did that! I just noticed how cranky they were when driving and fell asleep in moments and then it ruined our whole day. Once we turned them around, they were sooooooooooo happy and smiling and now they rarely sleep in the car, because they are so busy looking around and we can talk about things going on around them. I might have kept them rear facing a bit longer if I had known, but overall I'm secure with our decision at the legal weight, height and age....We also rarely travel more than a mile! Hard to believe, but true-everything is right next to us!

 

I voted between 22-24 pounds, but they were 19 months old when we did it. They are just peanuts.

 

We could have right at one year but we waited to 14-15 months so I voted 22-24#

 

we waited until about 14 mos and got the ok from the pedi cuz DD was 18 lbs - pedi feels its more age and neck strength than weight - coupled with the fact she didn't hit 20 lbs till she was nearly 2 so we flipped them - best decision I ever made! The commute crying stopped immediately!

 

We did it at 15 months, though I wanted to wait longer, but you have to pick your battles <_< Dh had his mom always asking when we were going to swtich them, along with when I was going to stop nursing I think he was starting to think I was some freak mom who didn't want her kids to grow up....um, I don't :blush: , but the point is that in both cases it is better for the kids!!!! Sorry for the rant!

 

We waited until they were 18 months. Hannah was off the chart on height - 35 1/4 " and 27.5 lbs - it was getting hard to stuff her in there :lol: Natalie was 24.8lb & 32 1/2 " - 70%. They were both so excited - it's was a whole new world facing front! That said, I think it's best to do it later rather than sooner.

 

We did it at a year, our kids were well over 20 lbs. Both of them weighed that much by the time they were 6 months old.

 

We turned them when they were almost 1 (a couple weeks away) because we were driving from KY to Illinois and it was so much easier.

 

I don't remember how much mine weighed. They were 17 months though and over 20 lbs. I kept them rear facing until they were getting too tall to be in their seats rear facing (determined by the seat instructions). Elizabeth is 15 months and is still rear facing. She is not 20 lbs yet though. Even when she is I doubt that I will turn her around. I will keep her rear facing until she hits the weight/height limit to be rear facing in her seat. It's just the safest/best thing in my opinion.

 

I hated not being able to see my babies and the mirrors we had attached to the headrests to see them were horrible. So as soon as they were 20 lbs. I turned them around. They were older than 12 months when we turned them.

 

I turned mine around at 21months. They were somewhere between 20-22lbs at the time. They loved being rear facing and I would have kept them that way but I went on vacation with them and I had to have the forward facing for all of us to fit in the car. I kept them that way after coming home because I didn't really think they would want to be rearfacing again.

Had I not traveled they probably would have been rear facing till they were about 26months when they started going to nursery school.

 

I voted 20-22 but going by weight is a bit misleading for us since T&T didn't reach 20 pounds until 15 months of age. We switched around 16 months because their heads were within an inch of the top of the seat (long bodied). I'm not so sure now that we couldn't have waited longer but I was following the instructions in the carseat manual. I didn't want to turn them for safety reasons and then once I did, I HATED not being able to see their faces in the rearview mirror anymore (I had a safety mirror mounted so I could see them). They weren't suddenly more entertained forward-facing. If anything, they got more whiny because it was easier to drop a toy on the floor. I encourage others to put it off as long as possible.

 

We turned ours around right when they turned one, since we were traveling to my brother's wedding. They always fell asleep in the car when they were rear-facing. They didn't sleep at all that first 5 hour trip!! They were so fascinated with what they could see!

 

With Nadia, we turned her carseat at 18 months -- I don't remember how much she weighed, but definitely over 20 pounds. (She was 19 pounds at 1 year.)

If I had to do it over again, I would have kept her rear-facing for longer. Actually, I *am* doing it again, LOL -- my little ones are still rear-facing, and will stay that way as long as I can reasonably do it. And, they're much bigger than Nadia was at 13 months -- roughly 22 and 25 pounds.

But, it's not a weight thing. Rather, it's the size of the head in proportion to the body. The younger the child, the bigger his head in comparison to the rest of him. So, in an accident, the head gets thrown forward, with greater risk of injury for younger children. That's why rear-facing is safer!

 

I turned them at 11 months in the middle of the evacuation in houston from hurricane Rita. We had been in the car for 13 hours and my son was getting car sick and vomitting. I turned their seats and we did not have any more vomiting episodes. It was early but I was super stressed and he was miserable! It was so much easier to reach them and hand them what they needed; and see when they were not feeling well!

LJ

 

Funny you should ask - Jack and Lily are 14 mos. and we are changing them today. I cannot wait!!!! THey are such fussbuckets in the car that I limit the distance we travel. There are actually places that I want to take them that are more than 10 minutes away and I am hoping that switching them helps!

 

We waited until at least 1 reached the RF weight limit on his carseat and then turned them both. He was almost 2 years old and 33 lbs. If it were up to me I would've let them remain RF longer - I feel it is so much safer.

 

QUOTE(LouCee @ Aug 3 2008, 03:45 PM) [snapback]911373[/snapback]
We waited until at least 1 reached the RF weight limit on his carseat and then turned them both. He was almost 2 years old and 33 lbs. If it were up to me I would've let them remain RF longer - I feel it is so much safer.



Wow, I'm kind of shocked that so many of you turned them around so early!

A baby's neck bones don't fuze together until they are 3 years old so until then they are at HUGE risk of neck injury in a crash. Rear facing is by FAR the safest way to go.

We plan to keep the girls rearfacing until the upper limits of their car seats, in our case that will be 40 lbs.

All of you should go to youtube and do a search for rear-facing carseats and watch some of those videos, there's a lot of good ones all supporting rear-facing as long as possible.

Another good resource is www.car-seats.org

 

I voted the second choice .. i dont remember how many months they were .. but hated being rear facing .. plus they had long legs .. so we were anxious to be able to turn them around. It helped with the crying too.

 

We turned them around the moment they hit 1 year. They were well over 20 lbs already and they have always been long so their feet were kind of curled up from the seat. I was so happy to change them and they were so happy to BE changed. It just made everything so much easier for us.

 

Mine were both 20 lbs at 11 months so we turned them because we were taking a long rode trip. ardon:

 

My twins were 2 yrs 3mths before I turned them around.

I would not have considered doing it much earlier. Safety is more important that anything.

 

I voted 22-24 lbs -- I really have no idea how much they weighed, but they were about 15-16 months, so that seems like a reasonable guess. We did it when they had grown enough in height that we were going to have to take out the seats to adjust the straps. I decided to just turn them rather than re-install the seats RF and then have to turn them again later. Plus, it was getting hard to maneuver the kids in & out RF (I kept banging their heads on the roof of the car).

Had I been more enlightened/informed at the time about how much safer it is for them to be RF (and also, if I had realized that installing carseats isn't as big of a pain as I thought it was), I would have left them RF awhile longer. They didn't really mind it. But by the time I learned how much of a difference it makes, safety-wise, they had been FF for months, and I wasn't about to turn them back around.

 

Mine were 16 months and over 20lbs.

 

We changed them at a year. Both were well over 20 lbs. by then.

 

I voted the other. With My older DD she was 24lbs + and around 2 yo when we switched them to FF. The twins are 22 lbs and 25 lbs and 2 months away from their 2nd B'day. I haven't switched them yet and don't plan yet though my younger DD is getting antsy rear facing.

 

QUOTE(AriaGirl77 @ Aug 3 2008, 04:19 PM) [snapback]911396[/snapback]
Wow, I'm kind of shocked that so many of you turned them around so early!

A baby's neck bones don't fuze together until they are 3 years old so until then they are at HUGE risk of neck injury in a crash. Rear facing is by FAR the safest way to go.

We plan to keep the girls rearfacing until the upper limits of their car seats, in our case that will be 40 lbs.

All of you should go to youtube and do a search for rear-facing carseats and watch some of those videos, there's a lot of good ones all supporting rear-facing as long as possible.

Another good resource is www.car-seats.org



I agree with you 100%. I have seen the you tube videos as well as the damage that a car accident can cause and infant or a toddler (peds RN). I am keeping all 3 of mine in their carseats rearfacing until they reach the max which is I think 35-40 in ours too

 

Considering how uneducated the vast majority of the population is about carseats, I don't put a lot of credence in what they are doing. Most babies stay in their infant carriers well past the time they outgrow them, people don't attach their carseats to the car securely, there are plenty that turn the babies around before 1 year and 20 lbs because "the baby doesn't like facing backwards", and tons of small children that should still be in carseats are not.

With the girls, I turned them around at 13 months since we were on vacation. I was moving the carseats a lot and it was easier to install them forward-facing. It's a lazy excuse.

With Dax, he is now 26 lbs and still rear-facing. I plan to turn him forward either in December when I move his carseat to the backseat because of the new baby or if his head reaches the top of his carseat shell. He does sit with his legs bent but he is significantly safer that way. I'm sure everyone in my family has comment one time or another about how he is ready to turn forward but I'm not taking any unnecessary chances.