children in rear facing car seats

Great comment very helpful. I hope parents that don't know these things will read these comments.

Yes thats another good point. A lot of times the seats arent even installed properly.

Once they outgrow the infant seat you move them to a convertible seat. It faces forward and back usually for babies from birth to 3 years. Our two oldest kids outgrew their infant seats at 4 months. No way were they ready to face forward. My daughter actually only outgrew the length limit which was 26" on our seat at the time. She was no where near 20lbs. In fact she didn't hit 20lbs until she was like 16 months old. It is now recommended to have children rear face as long as possible--usually until they hit the seat limit which is around 30lbs. They are just safer that way. My oldest daughter didn't get to 30lbs until she was 4 years old.

when do you suggest moving them forward facing? For example...my baby is 7 months but she's a teeny tiny little girl weighing in at only 14 lbs...I should still wait until she's 20 lbs to put her forward facing...even if that means she's almost 2, right? What about the height? Will her legs get too long to be rear facing? LOL...can you tell I'm a new mom? :)

Yes she should stay rear facing until she is at least 20lbs, even if she is over the age of 1. Of course I did turn my oldest around early. We had to fit another carseat in so we turned her just before we brought the new baby home. She was 14 1/2 months old but only weighed 18lbs. She didn't hit 20lbs until after she was 18 months old. At the time I couldn't see how we could get the baby in and out with her rear facing. But now that we have even more kids and have tried the seats in different positions I know she could have stayed rear facing much longer. Not much I can do about it now. My son was the opposite. He hit 20lbs by 5 months old. He was rear facing until just after his first birthday. We debated for awhile whether or not to turn him around but he was so heavy it was hard to lift him into the seat so we turned him. He was much happier, but he still would have been safer rear facing. Many people now are keeping their toddlers rear facing, too--until they are at least 30lbs (which is usually the limit on most seats). Like I said, my oldest wasn't 30lbs until she was 4 years old. She is 6 now and only weighs 34lbs. She could still be rear facing if we had a newer seat (some go rear facing to 40lbs).

oh my gosh, that's awful. I have a 7 month old. I wouldn't DARE put her forward facing. Granted, I have to sit funny while I'm in the front seat. In fact, my best friend has a 7 month old also and he weighs 19 pounds. She won't be putting him forward facing until he reaches the magical 12 month milestone. I just think it's so important and it aggravates me so badly when I see a small baby forward facing--God forbid those parents get into a serious wreck with those babies.

I know what you mean. My husband and I have been married for 3 years (together 6) and we thought long and hard about bringing a baby into the world. I'm 22 and he's 24. From the time I turned a teenager I always wanted a baby around 17/18-ish, but when that time came I knew that mentally, financially, physically, emotionally--all the *musts* I wasn't ready. You can rant and I'll listen (well, read...lol.. :P ) There are some teen moms out there that accidentally get pregnant and do everything in their power to step up to the plate and be the person they have to be for their baby. Then you have the ones that try to get pregnant and don't do a darn thing for their babies. It urks me too, can you tell? So...about her length rear facing...will she not be too long. We bought the Britax Marathon car seat and...blah..I'm a nervous wreck--I guess I shouldn't be I have a LONG time before I have to consider facing her forward but it just seems like her legs will be squished against the back of the seat when she gets the avg length of a 18 month old.

I felt so bad for her. She is a beautiful little girl. Her name is Heaven and she is just 3 months younger then my daughter Brenna. She was really neglected as an infant because her mother said she couldn't handle it all. She just shipped her off to whoever would watch her and her poor husband worked nights then came home and had to take care of the baby because she was tired. She really makes me mad. She is 22 and acts like a freaking moron. She chose to get pregnant and have those kids (she was trying from the time she was 17 and had them at 18 and 19). She is the worst kind of teen mom and gives other teen moms a bad name. Her older daughter lives with her father and step-mom now and her younger daughter lives with her mom and step-dad because she just can't deal with them. I know it is hard. My oldest two are 15 months apart just like hers but I also had another one just a year after my second. She was living with us when I was pregnant with Brenna and had a baby and 1 year old. She saw how tired I was all the time and how I didn't have time for anything. Some people are just stupid I guess. Sorry for the rant. She just rubs me the wrong way.

He must be really strong. My daughter is 6 1/2 months old and she is in no way ready to turn around. Sure she can sit up straight if I hold her but if she falls asleep her head falls down to her chest and since a forward facing seat can't recline that is how your baby will be if he falls asleep while driving. It isn't safe. The head of a baby is the biggest part of it's body and the neck is the weakest part. In an accident his head is going to whip forward and he could suffer a basal skull fracture (where the base of the skull seperates from the spine). It is fatal. I hope you reconsider turning him around so young and fragile. Facing rear is the safest way for babies to travel (even after they are one and 20lbs).