[StorkWatcher]

Well, the ONE thing I was ready and waiting to do the minute A turned one was turn his car seat around.

The big, wide world of forward facing car seats.... It was HILARIOUS Saturday morning, as we headed for an hour and 15 minute drive to my sister's for A's second and final First Birthday Party. For the first 20 minutes, I think he was in a trance. At first, he had a look on his face as if to say, "Whoa! You guys are goign to get in trouble! Why can I see you? Did you forget to put me in this thing right?!" Then he just stared into space out the front window with a blank expression on his face. It was too funny.

On the down side, when he falls asleep in the car now, it looks like his rubbery little neck is getting kinks in it, since the seat doesn't recline now. And of course, we're facing forward too, so he seemed a little disappointed that he couldn't see our faces the whole time. But it's sure nice for the passenger to be able just to turn and look at him.

Let me just say I spent about 45 minutes Friday night working with the dang seat. Redoing straps. Reading and re-reading the manual. Making sure everything looks right and safe.... I think he appreciated it.

[intladoptionblog]

I know I'll sound dense, but they can turn around at one year? Cj is 18 months and I still have her backwards! She is tiny, though... not yet 20 pounds. Does that make a difference?
There are no seatbelt laws here at all, or info, so I'm not up on the wisdom.
Thanks in advance for any and all tips.

[kelceesmom]

In CA the law is 1 year old AND 20 lbs. I didn't turn Kelcee around until she was 14 months old.

Stork- your local fire dept and police stations will check your carseat for proper installations. I was lucky because down the street from my folks is an officer and he always checks it for me when I have to change something.

[bajj]

Originally Posted by intladoptionblog

I know I'll sound dense, but they can turn around at one year? Cj is 18 months and I still have her backwards! She is tiny, though... not yet 20 pounds. Does that make a difference?
There are no seatbelt laws here at all, or info, so I'm not up on the wisdom.
Thanks in advance for any and all tips.

I would (and did) wait for 20 lbs. My youngest ds was extremely tall, but extremely thin. He was around 18 months when we turned him around. We would have kept him longer, but he got too tall when he finally did reach 20 lbs and was a little too crowded!

It is safer to be rear facing so I would suggest doing that as long as possible! Some people have big babies and can't keep them rear past 12 months, though.

[my someone]

Absolutely right, everyone!

But don't just consider the 20 lb mark...

My son is huge. He was 20 lbs at 7 months. I was told he should STILL face backwards until one year of age. The reasoning is that neck muscles aren't strong enough until after that age to support the head in a front-facing whiplash situation.

So it's 1 year AND 20 lbs. If those 2 milestones don't occur together, wait.

[mommamarci]

I have been told also that rear facing is best. We plan to keep our child rear facing as long as we can. I was looking at car seats this weekend. One of them is up to 35 pounds rear facing, not sure of the length requirement though. I am hoping to keep Cameron rear facing for about 2 years.

[StorkWatcher]

Good advice everyone. Our poor guy was reaching the limit - he's pretty long, so I wasn't sure how much longer we could go with his legs almost touching the seat. And like others, he hit the 20 pounds mark MONTHS ago...

And yes, I plan to have it checked tomorrow after our shots - a local fire station does free checks on Tuesdays....

[kelceesmom]

Good luck on the shots. I dreaded those days. Ours was always a nightmare. Can't believe he is one! Where has the time gone??????????????????

[StorkWatcher]

Yes. I think tomorrow will be worse than every before, because he'll have more realization about what is going one and now he HATES to lie down for a diaper change, let alone me pin him down for this. I'll be crying........ Yuck.

[Emster]

Our seat will hold baby til 30 lbs and 30 inches, I believe. At 7 months (this week already!!) Woobie is at 20 lbs and 27 inches, so we shall see what we shall see...What do you do when your rear facing seat runs out of room? Is that where the convertible carseat comes into play?

[mommamarci]

A lot of babies must be moved into a convertible car seat because they outgrow the carrier. I guess I should have clarified, we are looking at convertibles already. We will probably move him into one by Christmas. I think they will last longer than the carrier will. My sister said all of her kids had to be in convertibles by 9 months because they outgrew the weight limit for the carrier.

[intladoptionblog]

Thanks, everyone. She doesn't mind rear-facing, so I'll leave her that way for now. She's in a convertable car seat, so will fit it for a very long time, and the longer I can keep her happy facing backwards, the better. Her brother, also Cambodian-born, was HUGE ... still is with his 4th birthday coming up next month (11.5 pounds at 4 weeks old and 42" tall now) ... and I'm very happy to have my last baby be tiny.

[StorkWatcher]

Em, yes. ONce he's beyond the limits of the infant seat, move to the convertible. A's been in his convertibles for quite a while now. (He was to within one inch of the top of his carrier when I moved him over).

The main one we use in my car works until he's 50 pounds or so, I think. It works rear, forward, and as a booster. SO it will be around for a while.