To turn or not to turn car seat around?

[Lallas' Mum]

Just looking for a little advice on car seats.

My youngest son is three months old. He weighs 9.3kgs (he was a large baby at birth:rolleyes: and no he is not overfed). The dilema I have involves whether to turn his car seat around from rear facing to frontward facing. The manufacturer states that the seat should be turned to foward facing when the child is 9kgs but RACQ say to turn them when they are the weight the manufacturer recommends OR when they have full head control. My son has some head control but he is a typical three month old and still is wobbley.

I think I am inclined to leave him rearward facing but I am worried that this decision may affect the function of the seat in the event of an accident. Does anyone have any input or know who would best be able to tell me what is best.

[WeThree]

what a big beautiful boy!! even though the guidelines say to turn it around when baby reaches 9kgs, i would say that whether they have total head control would be more relevant than their weight. (unless their arms, legs etc are hanging out :p ) once the seat is facing the front and there is an accident or you are forced to stop suddenly that little wobbly head and neck will be jerked extremely violently so i would say wait another few wks till his neck is stronger and then turn it around, once they are 4 mths or so not only do they have much better head control they are sick of facing the back and want to be sitting up seeing everything! (your little one might be doing that already :) )

[Squeegee]

I guess the question is...what is the maximum weight that the seat can hold rearward facing? Most Safensound seats can hold up to 12 kgs...your's however, could be another brand. The seats are often tested with weights higher than the stated reccomendation IYKWIM:rolleyes: Therefore I don't think the performance of the seat would be too compromised...your son's wellbeing is what you're looking to ensure JMHO

I would leave him rear facing...as I think he's very young to be turned...however, it is YOU who have to be happy at the end of the day. Go with your gut feeling. God gave us mother's instinct for a reason!!:smiliedance: