Rear Facing or Forward Facing?

dragonfly · #1 May 6th, 2012, 11:23 AM

Has anyone's LO's started facing fowards in their car seats?

Charlie is like a lb away from being able to so we've put him forward facing. He used to HATE his car seat and scream constantly until he fell asleep (which would usually end up being when we were 2 min away from where we were going) but since we put him forward facing he's totally fine in the car now

MissImpatientlyWaiting · #2 May 6th, 2012, 12:17 PM

No they are supposed to stay rear facing till they are at least 1 yr old and 20 lbs. New guidelines want them to stay till they are 2 yrs old because their neck muscles aren't strong enough in a sudden stop. Are you in the US? If you are I think you can actually get a ticket for having them in a carseat incorrectly under age 1. I feel your pain, Caleb is starting to hate the carseat too. I practically have to lay on top of him to strap him in, but we won't be turning him till he is over a year and maybe closer to 2 depending on his height and how comfy his legs are. Check out the car seat board there is a lot of info over there.

*PurpleMidnight* · #3 May 6th, 2012, 05:09 PM

Zoey is still rearfacing

dragonfly · #4 May 6th, 2012, 05:16 PM

No I'm in Canada. The care seat we have says that as long as he's 20lbs he can go forward facing (the last time we weighed him he was 19+).

Wait.. just checked and you are absolutely right! Just goes to show you should always do a little more research and not just go by what the label on the car seat says.

Since now I have to switch his carseat around what do I do about his head slumping forwards? A big reason why I couldn't wait to turn him around was because when he falls asleep his head completely slumps forwards (to the point where I'm scared it will block his airway)

TinaG1 · #5 May 6th, 2012, 05:35 PM

He is still rear facing, but his legs are all scrunched. I originally wanted to wait until he was 2 years old to move him forward facing, but we may end up switching him when he's a year old. He is just so miserable in his seat because he can't see out the window and he doesn't have the leg room.

dragonfly · #6 May 6th, 2012, 07:56 PM

Yeah Charlie is the same way. They don't really make car seats too comfy for them rear facing when they start getting bigger.

hkystar · #7 May 7th, 2012, 07:00 AM

Susie is a petite little thing. She is still in her infant seat and rear facing. I wont move her till probably 2 years old.

MissImpatientlyWaiting · #8 May 7th, 2012, 07:00 AM

I have Caleb in a Maxi Cosi Priori, I absolutely LOVE it. Because of the way it is shaped his head falls sideways rather that forward, but since you already have a seat I'm sure you don't want to buy another. Check Walmart They have headrests and neck rolls and they have these things that go over the carseat straps that help catch their heads.

Loving6 · #9 May 7th, 2012, 08:36 AM

Ariea is still rear facing.She has a wonder neck,she will turn her head nearly all the way around to see me or DH drive!!

GladToBeAMomma · #10 May 8th, 2012, 04:37 PM

Emma is still rear-facing for now. We will probably move her after her first birthday.

breathing for two · #11 May 8th, 2012, 07:20 PM

rear-facing. I'm pretty sure it's not entirely legal to have them forward-facing this young. I can almost always sit in the back with them, so I've never had to deal with my kids feeling abandoned because they can't see me in the car.

dragonfly · #12 May 9th, 2012, 10:14 AM

I don't think Charlie's issue is that he can't see me. It's that he can't really see anything other than the back of the seat. He likes being able to look around and see out the window.