Need help with a car seat problem?
My 6mo old baby boy is in a convertible car seat right now but will outgrow the height guidelines for rear-facing before he is a year old. In our state they are to be rear-facing until 1yr and 20lbs. Would you turn him forward facing after he exceeds the guidelines or would it be better to keep him rear-facing just a little while longer?
Or does anyone know a car seat that can be rear-facing with extremely high height guidelines?
He is 6mo and is at least 32in long already the manual says it only goes up to 36in rear-facing. It's the Maxi-Cosi priori. His head is already really close to the top of the seat.
Are the new evenflo's better then the older ones, because I hated those.
Comments
9 Responses to “Need help with a car seat problem?”-
infant car seat Guides
Right Now On eBay
Baby Car Seat Ratings
Loading ...
Custom Search
The height limit on car seats is only a guideline, not a rule. Rear facing car seats are not outgrown until:
1)there is less than 1" of seat above the child’s head
OR
2)the rear facing weight limit is reached.
So he may have more time in it than you think – I know it would certainly be an incredibly rare child who would outgrow any convertible seat at 6 months! I would also go to a Dr.s office and get him measured: its also doubtful that at 6 months he is 32" long. My son has always beein in 99% for height and weight, and was not that tall at 6 months.
So he can stay in his seat longer than you think. But worth mentioning, too, is that he NEEDS to stay rear facing longer than you think. The old 20lbs/1 year rule is just that. OLD. It came about in the 1980′s when our seats were only capable of rear facing to 20lbs and we didn’t know any better. Now we definitely know better and all current convertible seats rear face to at least 30lbs, but its hard getting people to realize this.
Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year is an outdated practice that could cost you your child’s life!
1)A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 5 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash than a rear-facing child of the same age.
2)A child’s vertabrae do not fully fuse until 3-6 years old, before then, she is at great risk for internal decapitation. The spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches in a crash BUT the spinal cord can only stretch up to 1/4 inch before it snaps and baby is gone.
3)Current research suggests that children under the age of two years are 75 percent less likely to die or be seriously injured when they are riding rear facing.
4)In a recent article from Injury Prevention, it was found that the odds of severe injury to forward facing children age 12-23 months old was 5.32 times higher than a rear facing child. (Car Safety Seats For Children: Rear Facing For Best Protection; Injury Prevention 2007; 13:398-402.)
It works this way: when you get in an accident and run into something, the car stop suddently, but everything and everyone in the car keeps moving in the direction the car was moving when it stopped, in most accidents, this is forward. So in an accident with a child in a forward facing seat, his head, the heaviest part of the body on babies and toddlers, flies forward very forcefully and easily snaps. If that same child is in a rear facing seat, his head tries to fly forward but is supported by the back of the rear facing seat, so there is no stress put on the child’s neck and spine.
Check out this photo album exclusively of rear facing kids, many of them much older than 12 months: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx There isn’t a single documented case of a child breaking their legs b/c they were rear facing in an accident. There are, however, lots of cases where children have been killed and seriously injured where a rear facing seat would have protected them better. And most kids actually prefer to be rear facing b/c they can rest their feet on the vehicle seat back. When they are forward facing, their legs don’t receive enough support and will frequently fall asleep.
WHY REAR FACING:
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf
In the foreground is a forward facing seat, in the background a rear facing seat. You can see how much trauma the forward facing dummy has to endure. The rear facing child simply rides it out.
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/maxicosipriori.mpg
Here’s another video. You can see how there is NO trauma to the baby, it simply sits there waiting for it to end.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view¤t=video06A_MGA_213_RearFace-Convertib.flv
The story of a child who suffered severe injuries from being forward facing when he could’ve been rear facing:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59783
P.S. The Priori really can be a pain in the butt seat – and won’t get you very far since it only goes to 40lbs. If you’re going to be shopping for another seat anyway, here’s the best picks of convertible seats:
The Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathalon (These 3 are the same seat, just different features. The Marathon a wide open easy to route belt path, which makes using it correctly a lot easier, as do the built in lockoffs, which mean you never again have to use a locking clip. Because of the way the base is made, it fits in most cars. And, it is worth the money, b/c it lasts usually twice as long as most other car seats lasting a baby till they are 5-6 years old, where most at Walmart will only last till 2-4 years old. Rear faces to 33lbs, then forward to 65lbs. and top slots 17inches tall, lasts most kids to ages 5-6 years old.
The Evenflo Triumph Advance (not the original Triumph, make sure it says Advance) is a great seat. Top slots 17", harnesses to 35lbs rear facing, and 50lbs forward facing. Wide open belt path, easy to install. The harness adjusts at the front of the car seat, you don’t have to take the car seat out of the car just to raise/lower the straps. It has infinite harness adjustment so the harness always fits perfectly until its outgrown. You tighten and loosen the harness using knobs on the side of the seat. It can be used in a recline position even in forward facing mode.
The Compass True Fit, same as First Years True Fit, is great too. 16.5 inch top harness slots, half inch shorter than the Britax Marathon and Evenflo Triumph Advance. Rear faces to 35lbs, forward faces to 65lbs, has built-in lockoffs, and you never have to rethread the harness to change harness height. The headrest is removable to fit better in smaller cars.
A 3 in 1 convertible car seat should do the trick. I live in Canada and the same rules apply here to. I have had my son in forward facing since he was about 7 months though. I know I know…but serioulsy he is strap in safely and he fits it perfectly and is much happier looking forward.
A friend of mine was in a car accident with her baby that was rear facing and the babies leg were long and hitting the seat and they broke. Very scary. Anyway taht’s my 2 cents.
The height guidelines are just guidelines, the real rule is that its unsafe when their head is less than an inch from the top of the shell (not padding, and not any movable bits) or the top harness height is no longer at or just below the child’s shoulders (check the manual as sometimes there are harness heights that are only for front-facing)
Heights of seats:
http://www.carseatdata.org/cnt/resources/car-seat-measurements?tun=home#forward
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=11311
For rear-facing, the top of the child’s head should be below the top of the shell, and a margin of at least an inch is recommended, so that the head will be supported and contact with the vehicle minimized during a severe crash. For forward-facing, the top of the child’s ears should be below the top of the shell, to guard against neck injury (whiplash) in a rear impact. In addition, the child’s shoulders should be below the highest strap slots to minimize slack in the harness. The only way to determine these height limits is to put the child in the CR and see if it fits. Note that many combination seats have higher strap slots than convertibles, even though they are both for children up to 40 lb.
http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#heightweight
You don’t mention which direction he will outgrow it. If it is his legs, the guidelines have been revised and legs touching the seat back do not qualify as too long for the seat. The only length issue with outgrowing the seat is when the head comes within 1 inch of the top of the seat.
From: http://www.carseat.org/Resources/FAQs.htm#rearfacing
Is it safe for my rear-facing baby’s feet to touch the vehicle seatback?
Some older convertible safety seat instructions said that a child should face forward when her feet touch the vehicle seatback or if the legs must be bent. However, there is no evidence that longer legs are at risk of injury in a crash, and these instructions have now been revised. Most children learn to fold up their legs for comfort when their feet touch the back of the vehicle seat. The only physical limit on rear-facing use is when the child’s head comes near the top of the safety seat. At this point, the child should be moved to a rear-facing convertible restraint, or, if the child is already using one and is over one year, he should be turned to face forward. For taller rear-facing children, the concern is not potential leg injuries but possible head contact with the vehicle interior in a severe rear impact or during rebound from a severe frontal collision. This can be controlled by using a rear-facing seat equipped with a rear facing tether http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#toptetherRF
I would absolutely NOT turn him around before a year. Not only is it the law, but it’s much much safer to leave him rear facing. All car seats have a height restriction, but that isn’t just for rear facing (if your car seat does, it’s one of the few, most other car seats would work). Most car seat’s have a height limit of 40 inches, if your child reaches 40 inches before a year (I can’t imagine that, but if it somehow happens…) then there are a lot of options. This is the one that we have for our daughter, it goes up to 47 inches:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10151273
Good luck!
My son did the same thing befor he was one!!!
Luckely i found a wonderful car seat at target.com that can fit a newborn rear faceing, a bigger infant rear facing, yet slides a bit so they can have some leg room(but sitting in front of them is a rough job to do.
Here’s the link.
http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=51755080/search=Graco%20Comfort%20Sport&mode=about_pediatrics&
Keep him facing backwards until he hits 1. The reason for him to be like that is because his neck muscles aren’t ready for an impact. If you get in an accident he could break his little neck.
Please do not turn your child forward facing. It’s 20lbs AND at least a year old for forward facing, not either or. In fact, many experts recommend keeping children rear facing as long as is possible, until they exceed the weight limit for the seat.
A really good convertible seat that will keep your baby rear-facing AND harnessed in a 5-point for a long tim is the Britax Marathon.
I kept my daughter rear facing for as long as possible. Now she just sneaked past the rear facing weigh requirement on her Britax Marathon, so its FF all the time.
At that height you may have similar problems as what we faced. our DD outgrew her infant seat at 5 months by height.
We went with the Britax Marathon, but I recently learned the harness height difference between the 65lb weight limit Marathon and the 40lb weight limit Roundabout is 1 inch!
The First Years True Fit is getting good reviews so far, for height as well as use, but the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 is fantastic too, and has a weight limit of 80lbs.