Carseat Question

Carly - posted on 05/25/2011

I had to switch my son to a "convertible" style car seat at 6 months, he had way outgrown the infant seat, both in length (his feet were against the back of the car seat with both knees bent, thats when you are definitely too long) and weight, most infant seats are only rated up to 22 lbs.



Try a convertible car seat, you have to sit it backwards until she's either 1 or 2 depending on your state's laws, the you changed the settings and turn it around. I got one from Walmart for like, $30, it's a Costco seat. Works great and he's 2 and we are still using it, thats in my husbands' car and I have a Graco in my car that I got for like, $70 at Burlington Coat Factory's Baby Depot.

Karen - posted on 04/20/2011

Feet touching is absolutely fine. If you want to you can get a convertable seat and keep it rear facing. My 3.5 and 2 yo are both still rear facing and their legs are all over the back seat lol but they have convertables that go up to 40lbs.
So you do NOT even need to turn them at a year AND 20lbs because the seat will go much farther rear facing that way. You can use it until the limits of the seat. Even the lowest rear facing seats go to 35lbs. It will get you years of use, then you can flip it forward for a few more years until she needs to go into a booster.
The Graco My ride is a good option. My favorite are Radians.

Jessica - posted on 04/16/2011

As long as they can hold their head up, its ok to get her a big girl seat aws long as you keep it backwards. I put my son in his 1st big boy seat at 5 months n he loved it!!!

Crystal - posted on 04/09/2011

yes there feet touching the back seat is perfectly safe there have been no documented reports ofbabies legs breaking from being RF it is however the second leading injury in a FF child the 1st is a broken neck i would buy a convertible seat for her try her in a few and see which one offers her the most room as long as she's with in the RF weight limit and has at least 1in abover her head she is fine my little one is 20 months 23lbs 32in and ERF in a roundabout 50 it RF to 35lbs and FF until 50lbs

Catherine - posted on 08/25/2009

She is much much safer rearfacing than she will ever be front facing. In scandanavian countries children ride rear facing until around 5 years old because it is so much safer. In the case of an accident there is a higher chance of a broken leg, but a drastically lower chance of a broken neck or internal decapitation. The AAP reccomends children rear face for as long as possible, but at the MINIMUM until they weight 20 pounds AND are a year old. Currently the Graco My Ride 65 has the highest rearfacing weight limit on the market - 40 lbs - and once your child hits 40 lbs they can ride in the five point harness until they weigh 65 lbs or their head is less than 1 inch from the top of the shell. Here is a video that shows the difference between how the force of a crash acts on a child's body in a rear facing and a front facing car seat:



So long as your daughter is within the height and weight limits of her infant seat keep her in that, and then upgrade her to a rear facing convertible seat when she is ready.



I am a huge advocate for rear facing car seats. My best friend was killed in a car accident and the paramedics said the reason her daughter survived is that she was riding rear facing.

Lori - posted on 08/25/2009

You can buy a carseat that is both rear facing and front facing. When she turns a year just flip it around. It's a little less convinent cause you cant keep em in it if they are sleeping, and move them into the house. I thought it was ok as ling as their head isn't over the top, but not sure bout that