When Should I Switch to a Forward Facing Car Seat?
Over a year ago I wrote about why we choose to rear face our car seat beyond the traditional 1 year and 20 pounds milestone.
Shortly after writing that post I found out that the recommendation changed to keeping your child rear facing until the age of two. Â That became my new goal for Grace.
Now here we are. Â This picture was taken this weekend. Â Grace is 2 years and 4 months old. Â She weighs about 24.5 pounds. Â Grace happily sits in her rear facing car seat, but I’m starting to wonder…
Rear facing is proven to be the safest position for young children, but at what point do you decide to make the switch anyway? Â When should I switch Grace to a forward facing car seat?
Pros for Rear Facing Car Seats:
- Safety!
- She doesn’t drop her books and toys on the floor often because the seat “holds them” in place.
- Grace can’t see me sneaking snacks while I drive!
- She can’t be a back seat driver. Â I’ve heard of kids making endless comments about red/green lights or getting upset when parents go the “wrong way.”
Pros for Forward Facing Car Seats:
- Grace may be happier in the car. Â She tends to do pretty well in the car, but everyone tells me how much she’ll love it when we turn her around.
- The seat won’t get dirty from her shoes anymore.
- Grace may be more comfortable. Â Her legs certainly hit the seat now and it doesn’t seem to bother her at all. Â Still, she may enjoy the extra room to stretch them out.
- I could see her!  We never put a mirror in our car.
- Grandparents could drive with Grace in their forward facing car seat and we wouldn’t have to worry about switching out car seats or swapping cars.
My thought tends to be: Rear is safer so why change it if she isn’t miserable?  Yet, the switch needs to happen sometime. So when??  (Note: her current car seat can stay rear facing until 35 pounds)
What made you decide to make the switch from rear facing to a forward facing car seat?
If you have questions about the recommendation for rear facing until age 2, the New York Times published an excellent article on the subject that you can read here.
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I always go by the state laws. In VA, you can turn your kiddo around at age 2. I would probably go by that. I’m not sure what PA’s laws are. It would be worth looking into, though.
My daughter is now 2 years 3 months, she made it until 1 year 3 months rear facing in the same carseat you have! Our doctor said we could leave her rear facing past a year (the law in PA) if we wanted so they were now suggesting two years. We left her rear facing until we had a 5+ hour road trip. The previous trip at a year she had been MISERABLE at least half the ride and we knew that wasn’t fair to her or us again. We turned her around for the trip and she was over all so much happier that we left we like that. She has also always been in the 95th percentile for height so her legs were getting pretty cramped. At this age, the same as your Grace, she comments on so many things and we have do many conversations about stuff outside the window that we would miss if she could see the same things I can. Good luck on your desision!!
I considered moving Grace before an 8 hour car ride, but we didn’t. I ended up sitting in the back with her most of the way. Maybe if we had turned her that wouldn’t have been necessary to keep her happy… hmm…
I didn’t have the option to sit in the back since I had to drive. It made the trip much better, along with a bag of tricks to keep her entertained. If you travel a lot i HIGHLY recommend a DVD player for the car too! She only gets it on trips, but we make 5+ hour trips at least 5 times a year so it’s a lifesaver
Personally, I switched my son around at 1, which is the law in TX. As with a previous commenter, my son is extremely tall and his legs were already half way up the seat. I didn’t see how that would be safe, so I chose to turn him around. I do feel guilty about that, but considering he is not quite yet 2 and is already as tall as some 5 year olds, I just felt it was safer and more comfortable for him.
Aw, I don’t think you need to feel guilty! As parents we all have to make the best decisions for our own family despite what other parents choose to do. Just go with your gut!
Think of it this way….. rear facing is safer but that doesn’t mean forward facing isn’t safe. Forward facing is safe otherwise it wouldn’t be allowed. As for the backseat driver—it provides a lot of learn experiencesxccccccccccccccccv
This is a contentious issue and I don’t want to get involved– ha! Really, I just wanted to comment and say that I think you’ve done a wonderful job making informed choices and I’m confident that, whatever you do, you’ll be doing it in Grace’s best interests and with sound reasoning. 🙂
Thanks for your vote of confidence. 🙂
Our daughter is 21 months old and still rear facing in our van. We had to turn her car seat around at 20 months in our jeep because she just wouldn’t fit. She is over the 100% mark for height and the jeep seat has no recline. She isn’t any happier front facing and it is frustrating that she looses her toys all the time. We are planning to turn her around in the van at 2 years old. We have a mirror for her and will need to use that for our new baby who will be born when she turns 2. It has been a fight with my husband to keep her rear facing but I have seen the scary youtube videos. I think anytime after 2 (and depending on your child) they are stronger and more sturdy. I’m looking forward to her seeing more, but not her toys falling all the time. Good luck with your decision. She is super cute!
Susan, those YouTube videos ARE scary! As parents, why do we torture ourselves watching that kind of stuff??
Did you like the extras at the end of my last comment? Those were my remarks from my rear-facing passenger. I had no idea so added that and I had know idea she published my comment. Anyway….. the whole learning experience thing….. I enjoyed listening to our son name animals and anything/everything he saw out the window. Now that he’s almost 5 he can tell me how to get places. He enjoys learning what the signs mean and being able to give me directions (which over course, I pretend not to know so he thinks I’m relying on him) Our daughter is almost 17 months and still backward purely because she wasn’t 20 at age one and now that she is 20 pounds we’re too lazy to turn is around in the cold weather.
Who wants to be messing around with car seats in the winter?? Ugh! Not me! That might be a good enough reason for me to keep Grace right where she is.
Both my children are still rf. my daughter was 4 last month. She’s big for her age, over 3 feet tall and 19kg. Her seat is a britax Multi tech. I intend to leave her as long more as possible, it’s just so much safer. She can see out the side window and back window and is usually content to read her books or play. I don’t see any reason to turn them unless theyre miserable 🙂
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Carla. I think you are right in saying that if it is working don’t change it.
just getting caught up around here! You probably already know my thoughts. We flipped Buggy just about 2 months ago in daddy’s car. He still asks to ride rear facing – forward kinda freaks him out with everything coming AT him. I was tied in knots. Turns out – it’s ok. He is still rear facing in the van and for long trips. I figure that we’ve done well keeping him rear facing well into his third year. He’s a tiny guy so he’d fit rear facing until about 6 if we wanted. The reason the new guidelines say 2 is because that’s when bones really start to solidify in the spine. The most important thing is that the seat fits the child and the car and is installed and used correctly each and every time.
Basically, we do the best we can and know that, ultimately, God is in control! If we worried endlessly about every parenting decision, we’d be miserable and not fit for parenting!
Thanks for your input, Audra. It is really interesting to hear that bones are the reason behind the 2 year recommendation. I still haven’t decided when we’ll switch Grace, but for the time being we’re keeping her put.
Keep her rear facing until she is too tall or too heavy for the rear facing mode on her seat. Most seats now have a higher weight limit for rearfacing, due to new research, some as high as 45 lbs! I got this advice from firefighters/car seat techs who install car seats for a living. Stay rear facing as long as possible, because its 4 times safer in an accident due to spinal injuries, particularly internal decapitation which is a much greater risk in front facing. Go to thecarseatlady.com to read more. She is a pediatrician & expert on car seat safety. She has a long article on rearfacing research. (Just be sure to read beyond the first page on rearfacing, there are Many pages!) good luck!
Thank you for your feedback! You are right that it is SO MUCH safer to have kids sitting rear facing.