Wait for the poll. *got the idea from DS.

The Importance of Rear-Facing: Version 2 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8)
Child Seat Safety (http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI)

These give some information and show crash tests of forward and rear facing. (also just look to the right on the you tube screen and you will see many more video's concerned people have made about rear facing and also five point harnesses in car seats)
also check out the website child restraint safety (http://www.childrestraintsafety.com/rear-facing.html).

How long does my child need to stay Rear-Facing?
It is recommended that all children remain in the rear-facing position until they reach 20 pounds and 1 year. This is even incrporated into most state car seat use laws. However, it is safest for your child to stay rear-facing as long as a car seat will allow. Look for seats with higher rear-facing maximum weight limits.


I am rearfacing Jacob until he is 33 lbs. We feel is is much safer facing rear then forward given the information that is out there.

I am curious about what other families are doing or what they feel about it even if they do not have children yet. So extended rearfacing thoughts feelings?

there's no way z could have rear-faced until 33 lbs. she was wayyyy too long. she was also like 3 yrs old...

If you would like to check up on the information I have posted and see what you find. It might chnage your mind.

Breanna: We turned her at 11 months. She was below the weight and age but she kept pushing against the seat which loosened her carseat and I felt it wasn't safe keeping her like that.

Johnny: We kept him rear facing til 13 months. His legs got to long to keep him rearfacing.

Evan: We will keep him rearfacing as long as possible.

She went into a forward facing carseat at a year.

Darian: I did not know any better and thought he was being smushed in his rear facing position so I turned him right before he turned a year.

Jacob: will be rearfacing until he hits the 33 lb limit of his seat. I have really researched this and feel it is safest.

I have seen a lot of reasons why on different web sites and posted on here, I have seen countless videos also

Until someone can show me a video by NTSB that has a properly placed forward facing seat in a crash test my mine will never be changed :yes

Q has been forward facting since she was a little over 1 and my son was front facing at 1 also.....I was in an accident with my son and my ex was in a seperate one with him also. Due to the fact that the seat was properly placed he was NOT thrown around as these videos depicts

We turned Morissa around about a month early because she was tall, and could not sit comfortably rear facing.

Future reference you might want to tell people AHEAD of time that others can see how they vote. The joys of a poll sometimes is to stay anonymous.

It says so right above the poll...

Be advised that this is a public poll: other users can see the choice(s) you selected.

It is not like it is something to be ashamed/embarrassed about so I didn't leave it anonymous. Are people going to judge one another over how they place the car seat after the child is one if so that is petty.

It says so right above the poll...

:duh it did. Guess tahts what I get for voting and not reading fully :lmao

We turned our oldest at 1 year and 20 pounds and will do the same with our 2nd.

20 lbs AND one year.

I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't 20 lbs at one year.

I didn't reach 40 lbs until I was eight or ten at least.

I was a scrawny little midget child.

It is not like it is something to be ashamed/embarrassed about so I didn't leave it anonymous. Are people going to judge one another over how they place the car seat after the child is one if so that is petty.

Sadly though yes people will be judged. Just like people will be judge on the amount they think is reasonable for a car seat, or putting kids in sports, or how they parent, or what they let their kids wear. People are judged every day by their actions no matter how petty things seem to one person may not seem petty to another. :D

We turned our oldest at 1 year and 20 pounds and will do the same with our 2nd.

that's probably what we'll do but we'll see

btw i'm one of the other votes lol

We will extended rear face

:duh it did. Guess tahts what I get for voting and not reading fully :lmao

:giggle Well, now you know what to look for in the future, at least. ;)

:duh it did. Guess tahts what I get for voting and not reading fully :lmao

I actually clicked to see results first and hovered over the #'s. I didn't see it highlight so I thought it wasn't viewable...I never saw the "it's a public poll" thing. So your not the only one! :D

All three of our children were forward facing not long after turning one. If you place the carseat the way it should be you'll be just fine.

I forward faced at a year with both boys.
I voted other with Cara, I don't know if I'll do extended rear facing. If she's miserably uncomfortable rear facing after a year then I'll foward face her, if not I'll leave her rear facing.

20 lbs AND one year.

I don't know about you guys, but I wasn't 20 lbs at one year.

I didn't reach 40 lbs until I was eight or ten at least.

I was a scrawny little midget child.


Due to my dd's height she was 20 lbs just a little over 1 year of age
My son was husky guy and tall at 1 also so he was actually 20 before 1

I agree with what Judy said first, until its an NTSB thing, we will do the year.

Miss K turned one a week ago and was 18pounds 8oz. Her seat allows for rear facing until 22 pounds. So she'll be rear facing for at a while.

Due to my dd's height she was 20 lbs just a little over 1 year of age
My son was husky guy and tall at 1 also so he was actually 20 before 1

Maybe I was just a friggin midget then. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

z was rear facing until she was one year AND 20 lbs. we will do the same with ellie.

Maybe I was just a friggin midget then. HAHAHAHAHAHA.



My husband is over 6 foot and my dd is now well over 36 inches...she is going to a be a tall one. Neither of my kiddos were or are small like I was and still am. My son is 11 and is already taller than me :scared

My husband is over 6 foot and my dd is now well over 36 inches...she is going to a be a tall one. Neither of my kiddos were or are small like I was and still am. My son is 11 and is already taller than me :scared

birth must have just been SOOO fun.

I am a little scurred to have kids.

My mom was in labor with me for five days.

And I believe in Karma.

I'm pretty sure we'll be doing extended rearfacing.

We turned Ella around at like 11 months. She is in a 5 point harness and uses the LATCH system. We were in a BAD rollover car accident not too long ago and Ella survived b/c of her carseat. She was forward facing and in properly. She wasn't thrown around like some video's show. I do not regret our decison and Landen will be forward facing at 1 yr. To each their own. If you feel it's best for you and your child more power to you.

Both my kids were turned forward facing at a year.

We turned Dd around at a year

Both my kids were turned forward facing at a year.

So were mine, or pretty soon after. They both reached 30 lbs at around 2 1/2. I can't imagine it would have been safe for them to be rear facing then. They are soooo tall. I can see it up until 2, possibly. They were both 20 lbs when they turned around though.

Im pretty sure we will turn her when she reaches the ok weight. I havent researched anything on this so I truely dont know the benefits of not.

Our plan right now is to wait for a year...the crazy thing is his pedi. told us that he can be forward facing soon even though he isn't a year old :rolleyes I told her I thought it was the weight limit AND The age and she didn't know. I hope she didn't tell anyone else that and they didn't look it up. Anyways that is our plan unless he ends up not being uncomfortable or goes over the weight limit for rear facing then we will do it longer.

http://xd9.xanga.com/6a2c123220531156671252/s117434132.jpg
this little tyke is from Norway where it is common to rear face well past toddlerhood. He is 6 years & 4 months old. Of course they don't sell seats that rear face that long in America but for those wondering he is using a Britax two way elite which has a rear face lb limit of 55 lbs.


http://x9a.xanga.com/c61c0a3524c33156671509/s117434340.jpg

This little lady is in America she is just 4 months shy of her second birthday.

Her seat has a weight limit of 33 lbs.

If you are worried about their legs you can teach them to cross them but they will often just do it on their own.

There have been NO reports of broken hips or legs with extended rear facing. Which might help others fell better about doing it.

Anyway that is just my view on it I know everyone will parent their own way and how ever they feel fits their family best :)

Our kids were turned around at a year. They were both well over 20 lbs at that point and legs were crunched against the back of the seat. Regardless if their feet touch the back rest though, it's still safer for them to be rear-facing.

My oldest was turned around at 19 months because that is when finally got to 20 pounds.

Ds was turned around 10 days before he turned 1. No real reason I guess. We were moving and he got turned.

Youngest was turned around at about 12 1/2 months.

I just double checked her car seat and it allows rear facing up to 35 lbs

I turned Tandis forward facing at 13 or 14 months, forget which. He was much less fussy in the car. I have my seat properly placed. I knew what people say about rear facing etc and I still wouldn't change it. Glad you're getting the info to people who might not know though. :)

I wonder what the white strap on the babies head is? (its in the 1st link) It attaches to the back of the seat. I honestly do not think they give accurate tests. My 5 1/2 y/o is only about 30-35 lbs.

They say all of the seats are installed correctly for the tests, I know others don't believe they are. I do know that from studies they have done with random spot checks in reg people's car seats that the majority of seats are installed incorrectly.

Also many rear facing seats can not be tethered the tether is only for when the seat is turned forward facing so ALWAYS check your instructions to make sure that the seat can be tethered rear facing. If not sure then contact the car seat manufacturer.

They say all of the seats are installed correctly for the tests, I know others don't believe they are. I do know that from studies they have done with random spot checks in reg people's car seats that the majority of seats are installed incorrectly.

Also many rear facing seats can not be tethered the tether is only for when the seat is turned forward facing so ALWAYS check your instructions to make sure that the seat can be tethered rear facing. If not sure then contact the car seat manufacturer.

i know ours will be checked by the hospital, store staff and police department to ensure correct installation. there is only so much that people can do (this isn't an attack on you i promise), some people can't afford the britax (or comparably priced) seats, etc. i'm only quoting you since you brought up incorrectly installed seats :wink

Liam was turned around at 10 months-he already weighed 25lbs and was three feet tall. His legs were so squished he had to sit like a frog in the rear facing position.

we turned all 3 before 1 year with ped approval. all 3 would wiggle the carseat loose. (and yes, all were installed correctly and checked by the fire dept).

we turned noah our oldest around when he was 10months. He was just so uncomfortable and was kicking so bad that MY seat would move. He is 22 months and just now 22lbs. But he is a leggy child. Isaac is now 6 months and is already outgrowing the rear facing infant seat. But i am going to buy him a car that can face forward or rear so he is more comfortable.

I watched the videos and I've seen them both before. I kind of look at it like anyone can make a youtube video and make it look like their point is the "right" thing. One of those dummy kids has their head strapped to the seat. Thats not an accurate test if you ask me. I'm sure if the forward facing dummy had its head strapped to the seat it wouldn't move either.

I voted wrong cause I didn't read all the choices :oops But we turned our son at 9 months because he was way to big to be backwards. His legs were to chubby to cross and they pushed up into his chest and he couldn't breath. He was over the hight and weight limit and our ped said he though it would be safe for us to turn him around. Maybe if we had a carseat designed to have a bigger child rear facing he might have stayed backwards longer. Our daughter was an itty bitty thing and she stayed backwards until about 14-15 months. She also had a better designed carseat. I'm sure if we have another baby we'll turn them around at one year and 20 pounds or when needed like we did with our son.

I'm just not convienced it really is the best thing to do. I'd like to see some stats on the amount of rear end, side impact, roll-over and head on colisions. My guess is that would more rear-end, side and roll over accidents than head on ones and it seems to me those videos were based on head-on colisions.

I have seen a lot of reasons why on different web sites and posted on here, I have seen countless videos also

Until someone can show me a video by NTSB that has a properly placed forward facing seat in a crash test my mine will never be changed :yes

Q has been forward facting since she was a little over 1 and my son was front facing at 1 also.....I was in an accident with my son and my ex was in a seperate one with him also. Due to the fact that the seat was properly placed he was NOT thrown around as these videos depicts


ditto.


I've been in a few different kinds of accidents (being hit from different directions, a couple if them were bad) with my kids in the vehicle forward facing and not once have they ever been injured whatsoever.

That first video you posted.. the rear facing dummy has it's head strapped to the seat... come on, that's a joke :lol How is that supposed to be depicting anything accurate?

She went into a forward facing carseat at a year.

:yes with both!

They went forward at a year but the next baby will stay rearfacing as long as possible.

DP

I guess if there was more information from unbiased sources I "may" think differently, but all in all most if the info out there comes from sources who support rear facing over front facing......just too much biased info IMO

i know ours will be checked by the hospital, store staff and police department to ensure correct installation. there is only so much that people can do (this isn't an attack on you i promise), some people can't afford the britax (or comparably priced) seats, etc. i'm only quoting you since you brought up incorrectly installed seats :wink

I never said anyone had to buy an expensive seat there are cheaper seats that rear face past 22 lbs you just have to look for them. I know I have seen photos of 2 year olds rear facing in a Costco brand seat so they do NOT have to be Britax or Recaro.

It is wonderful that you are going to have all of those places check however the only person that is qualified to tell you the install is correct and show how to do it correctly if it is not is a Child Passenger Safety Technician. They are they only people that have the proper training to do so.

For those asking about car accidents here is a bit of information:
What if I am hit from behind? Won't my child be safer facing forward? (http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx)

Frontal and side impacts are the most common type of crashes. They account for 96% of all crashes. They are also the most deadly type of crashes (especially side impacts) and rear-facing children have MUCH more protection in both types of crashes than forward-facing. In the 4% of rear impact crashes that a rear-facing child would be in, they have at least the same amount of protection that a FF child would have in a frontal impact, with the added benefit of less crash energy being transferred to them, and the fact that the rear impact is usually not as severe.

The forces in a rear impact crash are much different from the forces in a frontal impact crash. In a frontal impact, the forces are much greater because the vehicles are usually traveling in opposite directions. Experts suggest that a frontal crash is the same as hitting a concrete barrier – the vehicle and all occupants come to a dead stop within less than 1 second.

When you are struck in a rear impact, the vehicles involved are traveling in the same direction, and the vehicle that is hit in the back has room to move forward. The crash force on the occupants is much less than in a frontal impact. The movement of the impacted vehicle, in addition to the crush zone, absorbs a lot of the crash energy, so it is not transferred to the child. Additionally, the majority of rear impacts are at low speeds.

In short, if your child is rear-facing, he has optimal protection in the types of crashes you are most likely to be in. If he is forward-facing, he may have optimal protection in a rear-end crash, but statistically, that is the least likely to happen and he is 60% more likely to be injured or killed in the types of crashes (frontal, side impact) you are most likely to be in.

You can learn more about the physics of rear-facing at http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html (http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html)


For anyone that turned their young child prior to one year it is against federal law. If the seat you have does not allow proper fit RF while under one year then you need to get a new seat. There are grants you can get if you need a seat that will fit correctly into your car. The reason for RF has nothing to do with their height and everything to do with their spin. Their head is 25% of their body mass the adult head is only 6% so think of the weight their head is in a crash. When they are RF their seat is in a completely different angle then when facing forward.

OK now I am really done because I don't want anyone to feel bashed or anything of that nature I am just putting the info out there. One last thing the AAP has said that they believe it is best to RF well into the second year of life. So if your pedi is advising you to turn your child prior to one year of age they are advising you to break the law and ignoring the fact that no matter how tall or how much a child weighs they are still most likely not fully developed in their spine to withstand a crash FF.

I guess if there was more information from unbiased sources I "may" think differently, but all in all most if the info out there comes from sources who support rear facing over front facing......just too much biased info IMO

That's because the two websites that have the most info on child seats are both designed by the child passenger safety techs. If you check out the two websites in my last post they have information for sitting both ways though and many other useful things. Yes I agree the CPST's ARE biased but that is because they deal with car seats for their job. To me that says a lot.

Also says a lot that in America we are behind on this as in the Netherlands they seat until 6 RF in many cases. Other parts of Europe they RF until 3 on average. I mean just look at how lax the car seat laws are in Arizona it is 5 years old to ride with out even a booster NO lb limit. I am happy that many states are going to 6 & 60 and 8 & 80. But then I am a car seat safety nut. :)

OK, my answers are kind of complicated b/c I have three kids and have done different things with all of them.

Jaxon (my first)- born when I was 19, was not anywhere near as educated about carseat safety. So, I turned him at around 10 or 12 mos b/c he was HUGE (way over 20 lbs :nutts). Knowing what I know now about safety, I definitely would NOT have turned him. So, I selected the 1st option for him. I can't really remember if he was quite 1 year old, but he was around 10-12 months, I think.

Shelby (my second)- turned her at around a year, maybe a little after. I knew that safest was rear facing but was not really educated about why it was safest and really didn't know that it was common to leave them rear facing past 1 year. She was over 20 lbs by 10 months old, so she was well over the weight but I probably would have left her rear facing a bit longer if I was more educated about benefits of it.

Hunter (third child) is 13 months, 26 lbs and still rear facing b/c I feel it is safest for him right now. I am not sure when we will turn him forward facing, I guess as he grows and we can see how he is most comfortable. Right now, he's very thick and heavy but he is short, so his legs aren't cramped up and he seems perfectly content being rear facing. I think we will probably turn him sometime around 18 months or so, but I can not tell you for sure.

with oldest DD we didn't know they had to be rear facing until they turned 1 (the ped didn't tell us and i stupidly didn't think about looking up state laws) so she was forward facing before 1 (she was WELL over the 20lb weight limit listed in the carseat instructions to be forward facing).

with youngest DD she was rear facing after she turned 1, but that was mainly because she's a peanut and took forever to reach 20lbs. once she was a ways past that she was turned forward facing.

We turned Arianna around a little after a year. She was soooo stinking tall/long. I feel like if forward facing was unsafe, then there wouldnt be forward facing car seats :dunno What would be the point in making them for that age/weight category if it was unsafe? With Arianna i felt we didnt really have a choice tho, even tho she was age and weight appropriate to turn around. She would push and kick against the seat. When she did that it loosened her belt which was VERY unsafe.

I knew the benefits of extended rear-facing but we turned DD around at age 1. I don't know if it's the shape of the seats in our car, but it's really hard to get convertable seats to be snug/safely secured in our car. Belting the seat in forward facing gets a snug/safe fit no problem. I think part of the problem is the rounded front edge when rear-facing and that the front of the carseats aren't really shaped to fit well to the back of a seat. Another part of the problem I think is it's hard to get in a position to kneel in the seat when it's rear facing when strapping it in (we don't have the latch system and used rolled up towls and such to adjust the tilt properly) as the carseat back is in the way of ur leg and foot.

Anyway, we felt it was safer to turn her forward as soon as it was safe to do so as we felt better about the way we could belt in the seat when it was forward facing. If we had a different car (we tried different convertable carseats and they fit the same in our car when rear facing) where we could have easily gotten a secure fit [in terms of the carseat secured to the seat] we felt as comfortable with as we do the fit forward facing, I WOULD have left her rear facing longer-I wouldn't have turned her forward facing until she exceeded the weight/height limits of her seat. But we don't have a different car, so in this case, we felt she was safer turning her around at one (she'd hit the weight requirement well before she was one) when her body was capable of handing impact forward facing.

We should have a different car when we have our next child with the latch system. So I plan on leaving our other children rear-facing until they exceed the limits of their carseats in the rear facing position.

I made sure at the time, she was at the weight requirements AND 1 yr old before she was forward facing.

this little tyke is from Norway where it is common to rear face well past toddlerhood. He is 6 years & 4 months old. Of course they don't sell seats that rear face that long in America but for those wondering he is using a Britax two way elite which has a rear face lb limit of 55 lbs.

From that pic, it looks like he has his feet between the seat and the carseat. If that's really where his feet are, how can that carseat have a secure enough fit/be installed correctly to be safe?? It'd have to pretty loose for him to fit his feet there like it looks like in the pic...

For anyone that turned their young child prior to one year it is against federal law. If the seat you have does not allow proper fit RF while under one year then you need to get a new seat. There are grants you can get if you need a seat that will fit correctly into your car. The reason for RF has nothing to do with their height and everything to do with their spin. Their head is 25% of their body mass the adult head is only 6% so think of the weight their head is in a crash. When they are RF their seat is in a completely different angle then when facing forward.

OK now I am really done because I don't want anyone to feel bashed or anything of that nature I am just putting the info out there. One last thing the AAP has said that they believe it is best to RF well into the second year of life. So if your pedi is advising you to turn your child prior to one year of age they are advising you to break the law and ignoring the fact that no matter how tall or how much a child weighs they are still most likely not fully developed in their spine to withstand a crash FF.

I find it a bit odd that you say that, because our ped told us to get a convertable carseat once Preston's legs hit the back of the seat because it would damage his spine if he were in an accident if his legs were already touching or sitting on the backseat. I actually need to call them to see if I need to turn him because he is touching now in the bigger carseat, and he won't keep his legs crossed.

If they say to wait on turning the carseat, then we will turn him rearfacing when he's 20 lbs. That should be at or a little after the one year mark.

With Jacob ,he was 12 months

With Joey , We are thinking about keeping him rear facing. He is 20 lbs and 30 inch. and 9 months old.