baby carseat....when do you change them to the forward position?

hello everyone

When do you change your babies car seat to the forward position. My DD is 5months old and she is still in the rearward position in her carseat. I personally find this more safer and would prefer to keep her this way as long as I can. My mother inlaw thinks otherwise and is hinting to me and DH that she should be going into the forward positon very soon as dd is a very long baby for her age. Well thats my mother inlaws opinion, shes had lots of those since dd was born, and has been hinting about the carseat for over a month now. So when she started hinting my dd was only 4months, it sounds very early to be thinking about changing her to the forward position. This is coming from a lady that was trying to tell my DH that we should try solids on our dd at 5 weeks, so I dont really think that my mother inlaw knows what shes talking about and whats right for babies these days. :confused:

Usually it states on the individual seat
BUt generally at 8-9 months.

I found DD was about 9 months when i changed her around because we were driving long distances and she was more inclined to sleep reverse and now she is bored reversed.

IMO 5 months is too early to turn around

MILs are to be ignored ;) JK! (or am I? LOL)

I'm actually not sure of the official recommendation, but the guys who do our car seat installations recommend 12 months or 12 kilos. Our DS is 12 months and almost 10 kilos, and he's still rearward facing. I plan to leave him that way a bit longer yet, despite people telling me I should do otherwise. Fortunately it's just friends, family are very supportive of this move :)

Someone posted a great link to a youtube clip about this, I'll see if I can find it.

I'm not sure if it was just VIC but isn't it now law to have them rearward facing until at least 12 months?

And no, your MIL sounds like she hasn't got a clue!!! Solids at five weeks??!

I think it depends on the manufacutures specifications. Our says 9kgs so we have turned our seat around as DS is over this now. You can usually find this info on a big sticker on the side of the seat.

IMO 5 months is too early so just do what feels right for you.

HTH
Spring

i hired a baby capsule from the Qld ambulance, and their recommendation was that babies can move into a forward facing restraint when they are 8kgs.

The law in Aus is that they can't be turned around until 8kgs, and with most seats they can only stay rear-facing until 12 kgs. Rear facing is MUCH safer so I highly recommend you leave them that way until 12 kgs. This is your choice, but you really shouldn't turn before 8kgs, it is just not safe. In Sweden (I think, it's one of the scandanavian countries), they make bigger rear facing seats and by law all children travel that way until 4 yo.

We only turned DS2 around recently, he was nearly 18 months then.

The law (in NSW at least) is 6 months old, 8 kilos with no head lag. If they still ahve head lag and are in forward facing, and you are hit from behind, it can snap their necks as they don't have the strength to keep them steady.
I agree with Janie- MIL's are to be ignored!! ;)

Izzy is 1 on Monday and still rear-facing. She weighs nearly 9 kg, and I just feel safer with her facing rearwards.

The clip that Janie was talking about is HERE on a great thread about it all. Show it to your MIL!!

Good luck!

Thanks Tan! I knew you'd posted about it, I just couldn't find the damn thing!

I just looked at the carseat again and it says you can change to the forward position after 8kg.
DD was 7910g at her 4month check-up, so she would be around the 8kg now I suppose. But I wont tell the MIL that, or she will just think shes always right. I don't think I could do harm by leaving her rear facing for now until I feel shes ready.

Its hard to take advice from someone in the family like my MIL that suggested that I give my dd solids at such a young age. So when she started about the car seat, I just freaked-out

Holy smoke, I've just watched that video. I feel so guilty, I had no idea. I will be getting DH to change our seat back to forward facing when he gets home from work before DS and I go anywhere.

Why is it that the sticker says 9kgs and doesn't say as a minimum? You think you are doing the right thing following the instructions. Those videos seem to make the choice clear, why then is it so confusing?

Spring

ETA I've just gone out and looked at the seat and it says

To be used forward facing for 8 -18 kgs but in the little booklet that comes with it in fine print it says, can be used reward facing up to 12 kgs. I am so angry at myself for not looking into this. We got it professionally installed so I just trusted when the sticker on the side said 8 kgs. DS isn't going to be happy as he isn't fond of reward facing but safety always comes first.

Tanstar/Janie - OMG... thanks for that video,it brought tears to my eyes seeing what happens to a child in the forward position. I can't wait to show it to DH and maybe my MIL. I will be keeping dd in the rear position as long as I can and as long as its safe.

No probs hun - I had no idea either until I saw it, and it strengthened my resolve even though it would be much more convenient to have her facing the other way in the car.
Europe and the US have a law that says kids should be rear-facing until 12 mths - not sure why we are so far behind in something that is so important for our kidlets.

Oh. My. God. That video is so full on. We.re staying rearward for as long as possible. Thanks so much for that.

I know, I wish I could show it to everyone.

Spring, DO NOT feel guilty hun. You did, as always, what you thought was best, you weren't to know unless someone made it clear. What matters is that you know now, and that you want to do something about it. Good luck with DH, just show him the video ;)

Thanks Janie, I didn't even question it at the time but after watching those videos the proof is obvious.

DH will be fine with it, it's DS who won't be happy, he'd much rather be forward facing but I'm sure he will get used to reward facing soon.

Both my MIL and Mother wanted to turn my ds front facing. I just said no he's too small (mind you this was months ago). He may get bored and go to sleep rearfacing, but its safer. My mother has a baby seat in her car for my nephew whos 10mths older than my ds thats front facing and I hate putting him like that.

My car seat says rearfacing to 12kg (or so many mths) but ds is apparently ''light'' for his age, so he'll be that way for a while. Some of the mothers at mothers group comment that he's rear facing, coz their kids aren't. Doesn't bother me. If I have an accident, least I know his little neck is safer.

Show mil the tag on the carseat that has the ages/weights for front and rear facing. Say when DD is closer to that point you'll think about it then... get dh to back you up, they're more inclined to listen. Good luck!