Car seat question? New Mom Help?

acharlesz

The reason that a child seat is designed to be backwards facing for an infant is to protect their neck. When you stop a car the child's head will move forward and the car seat will stop it from falling too far forward. If you turn it around then each time you stop a car your child will have to use the tiny muscles in their neck to stop their head from the momentum of the car. Heaven forbid you get in to a wreck, you could break the child's neck from it. Their head is currently the heaviest part of their body. Which happens to by why so many of them drown in shallow water. They can't pull their heads up.

Sorry, as a father I would ask that you please not take the risk with such a thing.

jump

When the baby fulfills both criteria of being at least 1 year old and at least 20 lbs.

This is what the safety experts agree upon and what is legal in the US.

He would also hate not to see you. However, keep your eye on the road most of the time. Driving safely is most important than, always seeing him. For both of you.

littleangelfire81

Do not turn him forward facing until he has outgrown a rear facing convertible car seat. Once he outgrows the carrier, you'll need to get a rear facing convertible seat and keep it that way. Rear facing seats are outgrown when:
1) there is less than 1" of seat above the child's head
OR
2)the weight limit is reached - 22lbs on carriers, 30-35lbs on convertibles

So he needs to be rear facing a good long time yet...2 years! Definitely look into getting a mirror, but make sure it attaches very securely, you don't want it going flying in an accident. Also get a suction cup mirror (likely in the same section of the baby stuff) to put on your windshield right below your rear view mirror. Angle it so that you can perfectly glance in it and see your baby's reflection in the mirror you put next to his seat. That way you aren't risking getting into an accident by always moving your rear view back and forth. And...relax. He is fine back there! And safest that way.

The old 20lbs/1 year rule is just that. OLD. It came about in the 1980's when our seats were only capable of rear facing to 20lbs and we didn't know any better. Now we definitely know better and all current convertible seats rear face to at least 30lbs, but its hard getting people to realize this.
Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year is an outdated practice that could cost you your child's life!
1)A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 5 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age.
2)A child's vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone.
3)Current research suggests that children under the age of two years are 75 percent less likely to die or be seriously injured when they are riding rear facing.
4)In a recent article from Injury Prevention, it was found that the odds of severe injury to forward facing children age 12-23 months old was 5.32 times higher than a rear facing child. (Car Safety Seats For Children: Rear Facing For Best Protection; Injury Prevention 2007; 13:398-402.)

It works this way: when you get in an accident and run into something, the car stop suddently, but everything and everyone in the car keeps moving in the direction the car was moving when it stopped, in most accidents, this is forward. So in an accident with a child in a forward facing seat, his head, the heaviest part of the body on babies and toddlers, flies forward very forcefully and easily snaps. If that same child is in a rear facing seat, his head tries to fly forward but is supported by the back of the rear facing seat, so there is no stress put on the child's neck and spine.

Check out this photo album exclusively of rear facing kids, many of them much older than 12 months: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx There isn't a single documented case of a child breaking their legs b/c they were rear facing in an accident. There are, however, lots of cases where children have been killed and seriously injured where a rear facing seat would have protected them better. And most kids actually prefer to be rear facing b/c they can rest their feet on the vehicle seat back. When they are forward facing, their legs don't receive enough support and will frequently fall asleep.

WHY REAR FACING:
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf
In the foreground is a forward facing seat, in the background a rear facing seat. You can see how much trauma the forward facing dummy has to endure. The rear facing child simply rides it out.
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/maxicosipriori.mpg

Here's another video. You can see how there is NO trauma to the baby, it simply sits there waiting for it to end.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view&current=video06A_MGA_213_RearFace-Convertib.flv

The story of a child who suffered severe injuries from being forward facing when he could've been rear facing:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59783

SouthernRose

He has to be 1 year old and weigh 20 lbs, but the longer you leave him rear facing the better. Also do research on using a mirror because some of them has been known to cause injury too.

christina

babies should face the rear until they are one, you can get a mirror from the infant section at your local wal-mart target where ever you shop place it on your back seat in front of the car seat then you can look in your rear view mirror and see him in his mirror that helped me when traveling i hated not knowing if she was ok. plus it plays music and lights up by a remote you have so it helps when they are fussy.

kk703

they should be 20 lbs and 1 year old

ARS1CO

the front facing car seats are for kids that are at least one year old or 27 to 30lbs. my son's is one and weights 26lbs so he is already on one of this seats. if you want to see your son while driving you need to buy a mirror special for the rear glass of your car.

FLCajun77

NOOOOOO! He is not going any where. If you are in a frontal impact he will be pushed into the seat. That is good. If you turn him around the will be thrown forward and then backwards, causing some serious head and neck injuries.
Never put them in the front seat either.

UCANTCME

Nope.............you cant do this.

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