[MrsTiffy]

Can you hand car seats down from child to child? I still have Alex's old infant car seat, and if I can I would like to use it for this baby. Also when the new baby gets here I wont be able to fit Alex's car seat safely in my van if it is rear facing. Do you think that by then it would be ok to forward face him? He will be almost 2 and a half. If I should keep rear facing him then I will have to figure something out... maybe convince my dh to let me trade my van in for something a little better.

[JaxonsMom2010]

I have as long as they are not expired or damaged. My first three kids were close in age, so it made more sense for me to reuse them.

Also, it would be ok to forward face him, it is just safer to continue to rear face.

[Kittynoah]

I used my infant seat from Jed for Julia. Like Christy said, as long as it isn't expired or has been in an accident - it should be fine.

We did get a bigger vehicle so that Jed could stay rear facing - but he was only 18 months when Julia was born. If he had been closer to 2 1/2, we probably would have turned him around.

[Sam914]

At 2.5 i wold think its really just a judgement call based on how big they are and i you are comfortable with it. Dh wants to keep M RF until he can't anymore, but i can't say that we'll do that for sure depending on our situation.... At 2 M is about 26lbs so for him, being a preemie he's slightly small for his age obviously so he would probably make it to 4 in his seat. I'm going to decide based more on his size and maturity rather then age being the magic choice.

As for the infant seat yeah, you can definitely pass it down as long as its not expired... i cant remember how many years it is, and it might vary by seat so i'de look in the seats manual and if you dont still have that Google it or ask on the carseat safety board here on JM. We got ours for Christmas 2009, so it was manufactured sometime in 2009 i'm pretty sure... M used it until christmas 2010 and now my niece has been using it since she was born in Oct. 2011... she'll probably use it through spring (or as long as she fits, shes a big girl) and then hopefully pass it back to us for another baby. After that i'll either give it back to my sister for her #2 or trash it depending on how the timing works out. It'll start to get pretty worn out by that point so we'll see about getting a new one depending on when it is and how many more kids we might want and such

[Twhylite21]

Yes, you can hand down seats as long as they're not expired. Most car seats are 6 years if they're not in a super hot climate (the heat can cause the fabric, plastic, etc to break down faster. Some seats have an 8-10 year limit, you just need to look at the base of your seat usually to see the expiration date.

We bought a Chicco Keyfit carrier for Lily in 2008, we used it for Vi and now my friend is borrowing it, then I'll still be able to use it for this LO due in May and I have another 1.5 years (I think) until it expires.

As for the RF, like Sam said, that's a personal decision. The guidelines are to age 2 *or* until the weight limit of the seat. It is recommended you go to the full weight limit of the seat, even after age 2. But again, it's a recommendation. In my van, I have Lily and Vi rearfacing (ages 3.5 and 22 months) and will still be able to fit the new baby RF as well. But every vehicle is different. It's better to have Alex safely FF compared to unsafely RF.

[MrsTiffy]

Alex is about the same size as Mikey. I think he would be ok with being turned around. I know he likes to be rear facing because he can see the older kids that way. If he is facing forward then he wouldn't be able to see them. I am going to move the seats around this weekend to see how things could work out. I wont be driving the kids to and from school next year, so I may be able to work it out where Alex will be able to stay rear facing. I had forgot that the older kids would be riding the bus at that time. I hope I can figure it out, so Alex can stay rear facing. I don't want to switch him unless I have to, and we bought his seat just so he could stay rear facing for longer. I will check on the infant seat to find the date. The seat hasn't been in any accidents, and is in good shape. Thank you all for your answers!!

[sandpaper06]

It's hard to make these decisions. For us, our cars could only fit one seat RF, so when Lauren came along, I *had* to switch Marcus FF for safety reasons. L is still RF and will be until another babe comes along, unless we get new cars.