What age do babies stop using the infant car seat?

littleangelfire81

when they outgrow it. Infant seats are outgrown when either of these happens:
1)there is less than 1" of seat above their head
OR
2)they reach the weight limit - 22lbs on most infant seats.

Or you can switch them whenever you want to - to a rear facing covnertible seat. 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Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year is an outdated practice that could cost you your child's life!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.

Big Mike

it depends on the size of the baby

Dezzys_Mommy

depends on their weight. most infant car seats go up to 22lbs and then after your child is 22lbs you can switch to a toddler car seat. my daughter is 14mos and only 20lbs so ive still got her in the infant seat.

jerry a

about 4 years old

TTC our 1st Devil Pup

I think it's 1 year

IndustrialGirl86

It depends on a combination of their age, height and weight. My daughter transitioned to a front-facing carseat at the age of approximately 15 months, but she's the size of a two-year old.

UCANTCME

Depends on where you live but this site may help.

http://www.childseatcenter.com/article10.html

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