I’ve always put my children in a car seat. From the moment we left the hospital until their feet can touch the floor. My daughter was in a car seat up until her 8th birthday and my boys are still in car seats. The other day I was driving in the city and it made me sick to my stomach to see a mom with two small children jumping around the back seat not even seat belted in let alone have a car seat for them. That’s a totally different issue all together but what I’d like to focus on is rear facing versus front facing car seats and what age should you use them. This issue has been a debated issue for several years.
Up until the age of 2 yrs old my children have sat rear faced in the car. I shared my thoughts and views on car seat safety in the past and the type of car seat we use is our Evenflo carseat review. I usually will put up a mirror for them to look at themselves or so I can see them with the reflection of my mirror. Usually there’s some kind of toy or flashing blinky lights for them to play with that is attached to keep them occupied. I think it’s the law here in the U.S to have children facing rear until the age of 2 or reaching a certain weight. I would never do otherwise regardless. I was looking at a info graphic on rear facing car seat and reading up on a few facts and seen that in the U.K they have common practice to put the child in a front facing position after the age of 18 months to four years old. A few years ago I remember reading a blog post about a little boy who was front facing at the age of two. He was involved in a car accident that the car had stopped suddenly and it dislocated his neck and spine leaving him paralyzed for the rest of his life. I think sometimes parents don’t realize how things like this can happen and that their little necks just are not strong enough to sustain this type of impact. When facing rear and a car stops suddenly they are protected by the back of the car seat that they are sitting.
It’s not up to us as parents to use or best judgement if a child should be turned front facing. The fact is that tons of studies were done to show that our children are just more safe in a car seat properly secured in the back seat facing rear or facing front at the appropriate age but they do need to be in the backseat in a car seat regardless of age, weight, and height. We need to help manufacturers spread the word and the safety of car seats in the U.S, Canada and the U.K. so we can keep our children safe around the world.
Have you always used a car seat for your children? What age did you turn them front facing?
disclosure: Compensation has been provided for sharing information in this post. Thoughts are !00% my own.
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I followed the AAP guidelines of 2 years for rear facing. We turned her forward facing at 2. I will keep her in a 5pt harness as long as safely possible!
I can’t remember with all the boys, but we always followed the manufacturer’s guidelines.
We did not face our little guy forward until he was 3.
I like front facing 5-point harness.
YEs we always put them in car seats. We followed state laws.
I would probably abide by the manufacturers recommendations.
I feel like however they test and feel safe is how I should be putting my baby.
Wow — I haven’t seen anyone drive without kids secured in YEARS … here it is the LAW that they be in a safety seat till they meet both 9 years old and 40 pounds.
My kids are all very tall so they all had to be faced forward a bit earlier than other kids. Thankfully, there was never an issue of safety, but I agree with keeping them rear as long as possible.
I think it’s important to follow the research and make sure your children are safe. I often see people drive by without having their children belted or having way too many people in the car.
Goo is smaller so we intend to keep her in a car seat until she’s at least 5 maybe 6. Just depend on how she grows.
I don’t think car seats should be an age thing- I think they should be a weight/ height thing. Same with medicine. My kids are both tall and they were turned around by their 1st birthday because they wouldn’t stop screaming. And my 7 year old is as tall as a 9 year old and he can’t WAIT to get out of his car seat at age 8 because he is a little uncomfortable. We drive mainly in a smaller car, not a larger family one, so I think that contributes to the discomfort in my tall 7 year old.
Thanks for posting! My baby is only 5 months so yes she’s always been in a car seat…I was always a little fuzzy on when to turn her though, so this has been really helpful! Thanks for sharing.
I have seen some booster seats that go up to 120 pounds, so I plan on keeping my tiny kids in car seats until they go away to college!
Seriously, though…my daughter was rear facing until she was almost three, and my son until he was two. It is the safest way for anyone to sit. My daughter crossed her legs and she was perfectly fine. But like Emily said, I would rather have my kids safe than comfortable. And really…kids can get comfortable just about anywhere. Have you seen some of the positions they sleep in???
The law in the state of Florida is 1 year AND 20 pounds before you can turn your child around, but that does not mean you SHOULD turn your child. I can’t stand to see parents turn their children so young just because they can.
Great topic and great post!
my son was/is very tall, but he rear faced for a while loner than two. I don’t care if he wasn’t comfortable, I’d rather have him safe. Plus he didn’t know there was another option! I will keep him in a chair as long as possible and will not have him in a booster until absolutely needed.
We put our son front facing around 18 months. He was/is long-legged, was not comfortable rear facing.
Great post topic! We had our son in a rear facing seat until almost his 3rd birthday. Several pediatricians had told us to keep it rear facing as long as you can. Don’t go by weight or age, but turn the seat when their legs just can’t fit anymore against the back of the seat. We had a mirror and light, so we could even see his face in the dark (and he could see us). Just when I think everyone knows the info on car seats, I see kids bouncing around the back seat without childseat or belted in, and like you, I get that awful feeling in my stomach. And don’t even get me started on no seat belts in school buses!!!!!
I don’t have kids but if I did they’d be in rear facing seats in the back seat.