I know the age limit is around 6 months, but I have chosen not to turn DD just yet.
Do they have to be turned by 8kgs, or can they be bigger. I don't think she weighs 8 yet, but I just want to see if there's a limit...
She's 6.5 months now.
TIA
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I know the age limit is around 6 months, but I have chosen not to turn DD just yet.
Do they have to be turned by 8kgs, or can they be bigger. I don't think she weighs 8 yet, but I just want to see if there's a limit...
She's 6.5 months now.
TIA
Hi hun, I turned DS around at about 9 months, he was over 8 kg and his legs were touching the back of the seat so I had to turn him around.......
Most car seats are 9 or 12kg limit for rearfacing. Mine was 12kg and I just turned it recently at around 25months as she reached the 12kg limit, wish I could have kept her longer.
it depends what your car seat is rated to some these days are 12kg rearward others are rated 8-9kg turn
i turned mine both after 8months as they were trying to break there necks to see us
just because their feet touch the back of the seat..doesnt mean you have to turn them around!
DD is doing that now :lol: Staring back at me while I drive.:
I'll have a look & see what the weight range is for rear facing.
Cheers :)
DS was around 12 months I think (minimum) I could have kept him longer, I cant remember the reason why I turned him so soon, it was too long ago LOL
Well a friend of mine told me that if their legs are getting squashed turn them around.....oops already done! Thanks Olive, will remember that next time!
Our car seat is rearfacing to 12kgs and DD is almost 11 months and still rear facing. We aren't in a hurry to turn her......
We turned DS at about 14 months from memory, as our seat (Meridian AHR) had a rear facing limit of 12kgs. I would've loved to keep him there longer, and I was amazed at the number of negative comments I got for keeping him there so long...
Dd1 was 18 months before she was turner she was just too little before that, dd2 was 12 months and Ds has just been turned at 8 months he is much heavier, longer and was screaming facing backwards.
i wish mine stayed rearfacing longer as weve got a 12kg rearfacing
but as i said they just wanted to see us
im hoping this bubs having a sibling on either side will stay rearfacing for alot longer
Our weight restriction was 12kgs so we turned DS around at 14months. We had a mirror attached to the rear seat headrest that meant we could see DS & he could see us so we never had a problem with him rear facing.
DS was about 15 months, our car seat was 9kg, wish in hindsight we'd bought a 12kg one, he hasn't reached that yet at 2 years so we could have had him rear facing for much longer, its so much safer
Clover - If DD is straining to look around - how about one of the mirrors you can attach for them to see?
Mr C is 15 months and around 10.5 kilos.....we still have him rearfacing and won't turn him until we absolutely have to...there are some really good YOu tube vidoes on rear facing versus forward facing that might help you make your decision.....
YouTube - Front facing or Rear facing? Car seat safety TRUE STORY crash test videos
YouTube - The Importance of Rear-Facing
YouTube - Rear Facing vs. Forward Facing Car Seat Safety
In A lot of the european countries they have seats that rearface until 4 years of age...the kids just fold their legs like when they are sitting on the floor....comfortable for them and so much safer for their developing spine. I only found this out the other day but did you know that when a baby is born their spine is made of cartilage not bone and it is not until about four years of age that it is fully formed into bone? same with their feet, thats why they have all that fat on their feet, protecing them as the bones develop...fascinating really......
ETA: MummyNaomi we have a mirror with lights and sounds on it..works really well for us!!
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll start getting comments soon. All my older ones were around 6 months. I just knew what the recommendations were & didn't think much more into it.
I've had my mum say something along the lines of her being bored backwards & wanting to see us when she's upset, but she'll watch me if she wants too.
I've thought about the mirrors, but I'm tall enough that my seat sits back far enough that she can just look up at me IYKWIM. I will have to get something like that though :)
I've had more of a think about it over the past few weeks, after hearing other countries don't turn til 4 years & realising just how much sense it makes. I just wish I'd though all this through when the others were little.
DS1 was 17 months needed seat for DS2.
DS2 is 15 months and rear facing still.
Our car seat is rear facing until 12kg or it can turned if the baby gets too big. We turned DD just before her first birthday. She looked a bit squished and she was grumpy rear facing by then. Not a great reason to turn her but we felt the change was necessary and positive. I can't remember what weight she was then but she's 11.5kg now at 19 months.
only once they reach the weight limit on the seat, DD1 was 19-20 months before she hit the limit on her seat, we just had a mirror for her to look at and toys, after watching the links a couple of years ago that Melbel has put links to we wanted to keep them rear facing for as long as possible. I think their safety is paramount, rather than a change of view, if they are "bored" or what "other" people expect or think you should do. The video evidence really says a lot.
i turned bilby around when she hit 12kgs, i think she was over two then. she was (and she is) a shorty. i would have kept her rear facing up to four years old, if i had the right carseat to do that. I saw a video on youtube, that convinced me of the safety benefits, for keeping a child in a rearfacing seat, as long as is possible, so that's what i did.
in scandinavian countries, baby car seats are manufactured so that children can be in them from birth to four years old.
no matter WHAT we do with our bubs/children, other people will ALWAYS make comments. often unfounded, based on nothing or hearsay, and not with the same amount of concern, that we have for our children.
No matter how you feed, clothe, protect your kids, stickybeaks will make comments, that is guaranteed. but i know, when they're doing it, it does your head in, takes a while to grow that thicker skin, i remember it really getting me down, so i'm not being flippant, but you do have to develop that thicker skin (to cope with the comments).
Make your decisions FOR your child, FOR what suits your family - , not to shut down the comments, cos in my experience, the comments NEVER stop coming! regardless of what you do.
in years to come, what you do now, will become standard.
the first people that wore bike helmets were ridiculed etc etc.
people that recycled decades ago were called crackpots, etc etc.
now these things are standard
DD was just over 19 months when we turned her. I would have quite happily kept her rearward facing until 12kg as per the seats specifications but DP had been hassling to turn her for a while (since she was 6 months!!). There was no way I was going to turn her at 6months as she was very petite - still is but is now (finally) over the 9kg mark.
Also, we had just bought another car seat for my SILs car (we live with SIL) and we bought the next stage seat which is only forward facing and we thought we might confuse her by being rearward in my car and forward in SILs car so we turned the meridian in my car at the same time we had the maxi-rider installed into SILs car.
DS is 16 months and still rear facing, only just, I must weigh him I suspect he is probably at 12kg now. Although they do give a little leeway for over I can't remember exactly how much. I have heard of people buying European car seats to keep rearward facing longer. You would get a fine if pulled over tough :( Sux that making your child safer can get you in trouble :wall: I'm going to look into it still.
I am fighting with DH over this at the moment as he is complaining of 'adult' leg room in the front! Will show him the videos tomorrow, thanks Mel
Thanks everyone. I'm not too worried about what others think/say. I usually have my vent & get on with it, doing things my way. But when it comes to DH it gets harder. Will definetely show him the video's. He hasn't said anything yet, but next time he's up here he probably will...
another site with great info:
Rear Facing - the way forward
We just turned Pie last week at 21 months - she has just hit 12kg.
I found a couple of practical reasons for keep bub rear facing that aren't fear based (i'm not having a go, i just like having positive reasons for choosing one option rather than just negative reasons for not choosing the alternative).
I can settle bub easier when rear facing because i can reach back to rub her face and hold her hand. When she is forward facing i can only reach her foot and leg.
If bub is facing forward she can see everything and i can't sneak any chocolate cos she knows! Rear facing she has a mirror but she can't see my hands.
I thought themost important reason to stop rear facing was if the top of their head was less than 5cm from the top of the seat. Rating or no rating, if the back of the front seat can move back (in an accident) and contact with the top of their head, then you have a real problem.
So its kind of torso length+ the ability to push against the back of the seat with their legs and come within 5 cm of the top of the seat.
Thats my understanding anyhoo..
Thats interesting LTD. My kids are all pretty tall...
What did those with long babies do? DS is quite tall already and his legs almost hang over the edge of the capsule. If he keeps growing the way he is he will be kicking the back of the seat. Sorry to take over clover.
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You're right, I wanna know the same :)
My car seat instructions say the bottom 2 settings for the shoulder straps are for rear facing and the top slot (so the highest one) is for forward facing only. This would fit with what living the dream said
:
I thought the most important reason to stop rear facing was if the top of their head was less than 5cm from the top of the seat.
the newer seats it doesn't matter which slots you use for rearfacing, the standards have just changed. For example the meridian tilt and adjust you don't actually have to move the straps in slots cos the whole headrest has multipleadjustments and the straps move up and down with it automatically...there is a shoulder mark on the seat and as long as you keep the shoulders at that level you are fine.
re the back of the front seat impacting, that is why there is a clear zone needed between the car seat and the front seat....if yu look at the installation nstructions for a car seat it specifies you must leave a gap of x cms between the carseat and the frontseat. This allows for movement in a crash situation. But yes you wouldn't want the head above the seat rearfacing, which is highly unlikely to occur in a convertible seat as they designed to last up to four years old. If the seat is forward facing it is okay for the top of the head to be above the top of the seat...the indicator in that situation is if the top of the seat gets to eye level it is time to move up to a bigger seat.
10 months, as she had reached the height/weight limits, and was HATING RF.
Unfortunately FF hasnt mad ethe long trips any better :(
DS4 is still rear facing at 15.5mths and he will be for some time yet as he is not quite 6.5kg.
I turned DD3 at about 17mths she wasn't quite 9kg but we were bringing DS4 home and I could fit three seats across the back with two rear facing...so we turned her.
My car seat is only a year old.:
I am talking even newer than that HotI...the design standards have just been changed late last year and the new carseats coming out are made to different standards and regulations...we had a capsule when C was born and bought a new convertible carseat when he was 9 months olds so just before Christmas....it is multi adjustable. The newer ones like that and with the shoulder markings are still filtering through to the market even now and there are new bigger booster seats coming because you now have to be in one till 7 years......it is changing very rapidly at the moment in the carseat world.
I haven't read through all the replies but I purchased an overseas Britax model (Safe And Sound maker) via Amazon and had a friend ship it over so that DS can rear face for much longer than the seats in Australia allow for (oh - and even with the shipping, it cost much less than the equivalent seat here - and the seat I purchased is an excellent seat). Technically, the seat doesn't meat Aus requirements, but I've researched it's safety and am willing to risk being ticketed as DS will be so much safer rear facing for longer than any Aus seat would allow.
Our seat was also up to 12Kg but we changed DS at sometime between 12-15 months. Can't remember his weight when we changed him but he's not 11kg yet and is 19 months. He was complaining a lot about being rear facing and his legs were also touching the back of the seat which is why we changed him. He is also quite an escape artist and wriggles out of the over the shoulder straps so is better that I can see what he is up to and pull over and restrap him in if necessary.
I was just wondering how that works with insurance as I would look at getting a seat from OS if we are lucky to have another baby by the time DS needs turning in his current seat.: