When did you turn the carseat around?

[mum2bee]

Hi,

Just curious when you turned your bubs car seat around. My DD is 18 weeks old and already her feet are touching the back seat of the car. I understand that she has to have good head control before turning the seat around, but just wondering how old your bub was.

Thanks

[Milliner]

19 months and still rear facing. 18 weeks is far to young to be thinking about turning the car seat around. It all goes on the weight.

Please have a read of this (http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm) website.

The longer bubs is Rear-Facing the safer it is for the child.

Infants don't have body parts that are strong enough to withstand crash forces, so the rear-facing car seat distributes the crash force along the entire back, neck and head, putting less stress on one part of the body. The infant's head, which is large and heavy for a still delicate neck to support, is also better supported with a rear-facing car seat. The incidence of severe head and neck injuries for babies is greatly reduced in rear-facing car seats. The baby's "ride-down time," or the time it takes to come to a complete stop, is also lengthened, which reduces injuries by reducing the body trauma from a sudden stop.

And here (http://www.gracobaby.com/customerservice/faq_category.aspx?catID=1#218)

Question: Why is facing rearward for at least one year so important? Answer: Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash (the most common and most severe type of crash), the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck.

Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones are soft and actually separate during a crash, and the spinal cord can tear. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires. In contrast, when a baby rides facing rearward, the whole body--head, neck, and torso--is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts.

[proud_mama]

DS was 6 weeks when we turned him around only because he just hated not having anything to look at and would scream all the way to wherever we were going till he got out. As soon as we turned the seat around he was happy again. I know it was too soon..although he did have very good head control early. It was a last resort we tried the hanging toys and nope not good enough for him he had to be able to see mummy and daddy.

[JackzMumma]

Hello, My MCHN siad to turn my 1st DS around when he was 4 mths because of his height and weight (9.310kg and 69.4cm), I wasn't sure about that because he didn't have great head support, but she said it was time!It worried me at 1st but he loved it.

[UmmInayah]

Question: Why is facing rearward for at least one year so important? Answer: Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash (the most common and most severe type of crash), the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not. The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck.

Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones are soft and actually separate during a crash, and the spinal cord can tear. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires. In contrast, when a baby rides facing rearward, the whole body--head, neck, and torso--is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts.


OMG i never knew this! Boy am I glad I read this post. Makes sense to keep them rearfacing as long as possible.

[bigglet]

Definitely keep them rear facing as long as possible.

My DD has just been moved to front facing in our car and she is 18 months old and just under 11kg.

[Areca]

DD will be 21 months on Sat and will be forward facing as of Thursday.
Milliner's post is a great one!

[Queen]

DD hated the car and screamed eveyr trip, so she was 9kg and about 6 months when I turned it round:yelclap: best decision EVER....

[Sheer Bliss]

I think DD was about 8-9months? Check the instructions that came with the seat, as i am not sure what to d if it looks like the baby is too long for the seat. 8kg in the MINIMUM that most say to turn the seat around, but as Milliner has said - thier safety is the reason to keep them rearward facing.

We plan on keeping DS in the seat until he is at least 1.

For those who have turned the seat around to keep the baby happy before the weight/age recomendations- have you thought about the consequences if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident? I wuold rather have a crying baby than one with serious neck injuries. DD would scream on trips too - but we considered her safety more important & kept long car trips to a minimum, she eventually improved.

[mim1]

It depends on your seat, but all the safe n sound ones don't need to be turned around til the bub is 12kg or 80cm long. The guy that fitted our car seat said that babies rarely reach either mark before 12 months of age, so we should consider 12 months a minimum for rear facing and longer if possible.

Babies should not be forward facing until they are at least 8kg according to car seat specifications, don't know if there is a minimum length, but I assume there is.

My MIL is wanting a car seat for her car and we have got her to wait til he is ready for forward facing, but we're not ready for him to do that yet (he is 9.25kg and 70cm long)

[sam's mum]

Just to reinforce

HEAD CONTROL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT

[Milliner]

For those who have turned the seat around to keep the baby happy before the weight/age recomendations- have you thought about the consequences if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident? I wuold rather have a crying baby than one with serious neck injuries. DD would scream on trips too - but we considered her safety more important & kept long car trips to a minimum, she eventually improved.

I often wonder the same thing. Safety is paramount.

DS went through an "I hate the carseat" phase but he got over it, I was never tempted to turn him around early.

[biscotti]

Just to reinforce

HEAD CONTROL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT

:yes:

12 mths old here and still rear facing :yes:

[*Sparkles*]

My bub is almost 7 mths old and we are just about to turn the car seat around. He still uses the head insert though and will keep doing so for a bit longer.

[Bibs]

When DD was 8 kg so that was when she was 11 months. I wish I hadn't listened to our CHN's advice and left her rear facing till she was 9kg because our car seat allowed rear facing up to 9kg. She's a little below average height so that wasn't a factor.

Next time I want to get one that allows for rear facing up to 12kg. The longer the better.

[~Mands~]

I know it was too soon..although he did have very good head control early. It was a last resort we tried the hanging toys and nope not good enough for him he had to be able to see mummy and daddy.

What about having one of you sitting in the back with your DS? Just a suggestion for you? :thumbsup:

[proud_mama]

What about having one of you sitting in the back with your DS? Just a suggestion for you? :thumbsup:

I will most definately be doing this seccond time around. DS is 20 months now so there is no point in changing him back to rearward facing. After seeing Milliner's post i am a lot more aware of it for this bub.

[Squeegee]

We turned our DD around one week before her first birthday. I wish we had left it a little longer. Live and learn:yes:

[~mia&ryan~]

We turned DD at 6 months, because she was heavy enough and because she was kicking the back seat when facing backwards, and while doing so shifting her capsule around...

[pegasus]

DD is still rearward facing - 12months and 7.8kg. DS was about 9months - would have been about 9kg too.

DD hates the car on certain days and I'm sure she'd be happier if we turned her, but if DH and I are in the car, one of us just continues to hold her hand or whatever, if I have DS, he will distract her, but when I'm driving to work after I've dropped DS at his day care and still to drop off DD and she starts getting upset, I'll pass through a dummy, or cruskit, but otherwise talk etc to her, not worth turning her round before she's ready.

I had someone rearend my car (wrote it off) when I was 6months pregnant with DD - the back end of the car was buckled so the straps to the anchor bolt went slack for a bit - hate to think what it would have been like if I'd had a child in the seat (was leaving work and hadn't picked up DS yet). - However, my DS at 3 and still in a the same car seat he went into after leaving hospital, would have had a better chance of escaping injuries than my 12month old.