At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I know I can't go by weight because the ped doesn't think Andrew will be over 20 pounds when he turns 1.

Can I switch it anyway just going by age?

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

it has to be BOTH 1 year and 20 lbs, but it's really recommended that you keep them rear facing as long as possible because it's much safer. i think my carseat can stay rear facing until 33 lbs.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

Thanks

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I switched when she met both requirements. Age and weight Despite the video, my ped said it was fine.

Message edited 3/28/2007 11:35:41 AM.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

My ped said once he's 1 AND 20 lbs turn him around. She doesn't buy into "keep them rear-facing as long as you can". I'm turning him around at 1, he's already over 20 lbs.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

Message edited 3/28/2007 1:59:39 PM.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I was planning to turn the seat forward facing at 1 year until someone sent me this video that shows crash test videos comparing front and rear facing. Now I'm planning to keep him rear facing as long as possible even though he already meets the 1 year and 20 lbs requirements.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

It's safer for everyone to sit backwards (except maybe the driver.. ). Most collisions are head-on, and the head-on collisions are the most severe. Just think about your own head and body when you brake really hard. Everything gets flung forward. As an adult, our bodies are strong enough (usually) to deal with it, but if an adult was sitting backwards, all the deceleration force would go evenly through the entire body, and into the seat, not just the seatbelt and the head being flung forward. It's simple physics that dictate that rear-facing is much safer.

Our seats are able to be rear-facing much longer than 20 pounds, so we keep DC rear-facing as long as possible. Recently, I learned that it's OK to have the kid's feet touching the back of the chair, and even having the knees bent a little. It doesn't affect their safety, so we'll probably keep DD rear-facing a bit longer than DS.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

Nope you need to wait until both happen. I switched them at 15 months when both were over 20 pounds.

If you get into an accident if he is not 20 lbs he is not as supported forward facing since he doens't have the weight to hold him down, or something like that.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I think DS will reach 20pounds way before he turns 1 year, so I will change him after his b-day.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

my son was small for his age so he hit the 1 yr mark before he hit 20 lbs, but I turned him around right before he was one because I just felt he was ready & looked too big to still be rear facing,
but that could be because he had a new brother at 11 months old, and I felt like it was crazy to have 2 rear-facing babies!

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I am having the same dilemma....DD is 21lbs and 13 mths so she can face forward but I think she is safer facing the rear....glad to hear its ok for her legs to be hanging off the side a little as I noticed that yesterday.....sucks for her as the britax marathon is pretty rounded on the sides so she cannot see me and I find it very hard to see her when I am driving except for the mirror...

We will see....I Am still undecided about this one.

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?

I switched DD when she was 18 months because that is when she was both 20 lbs and over a year

Re: At 1yr old I can switch the carseat to foward facing?