What’s the earliest you’ve put your baby in a car seat in the upright position.?
My baby is 13 weeks old and 6kgs. He has a strong neck so he can hold his head up really well. How early have others turned the car seat around to face the front.
Is it safe??
I am assuming laws are different in Australia since I did more research. I had found that In oz the baby can be 6 months old and 9kg.
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9 Responses to “What’s the earliest you’ve put your baby in a car seat in the upright position.?”-
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It doesn’t matter where you are – the laws of the land are NOT the important factor to consider here. The laws of physics are the same everywhere and are more important. Kids should be kept rear facing as long as possible, no matter where you are.
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
Turning kids forward at 20lbs/1year or 6 months is an outdated practice that could cost you your child’s life!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.
i heard your supposed to wait until their legs are crossing because they hit the back of the seat…holding his head up has nothing to do with it and 13 weeks is way too soon…contact your sherrifs office to see what the law is where you are:)
The baby must be 20 lbs AND 1 yr old before facing forward. So no, it would not be safe for your baby. I would talk to your pediatrician, they will be able to guide you on the laws where you are, and when it is ok for your baby. Be safe, and happy riding!
At age 1 so I’ll say if he is doing good with keeping himself up and his neck is strong than he can probably sit upright
In the states you are not to turn that convertible car seat around until the child is both 1 year old and 20 lbs. It’s not about anything other then what they have found about the forces of collision on infant bodies, no matter what their skill or size an infant’s body is different then a toddler, preschooler, etc…
If you can legally that’s one thing, sort of. If it were me I’d keep him facing backwards as long as he’d fit since that’s the safest position for him.
Research shows that rear facing as long as possible is safest. At 13 weeks it is DEFINITELY not safe. I would not even consider it until your son can sit up unsupported AND has reached the weight limit to be turned around (that is if you are very eager to turn him) but like I said, it is much safer to keep them rear facing as long as poss. My daughter is still rearfacing at 7 months (8kgs) (which is perfectly normal) but my cousin is front facing… he is two weeks older than Lucy and only a little but heavier… My aunty is MUCH more relaxed about things though… his car seat is on the side, she smokes around him, let her 7 year old daughter carry him around the house from day one… etc etc
My theory: is it really worth the risk just to make things that tiny bit easier
EDIT…. this is in Australia by the way, where I am there is no law about age just weight
8-10 months old (even with a really strong neck)
Forward facing a 13 week old is sentencing that baby to death if you were to be in an accident. Even one year olds (the recommended age) do not have the ability to withstand well a crash when they are forward facing.
You need to understand what happens to a rear facing child and a forward facing child when you’re in an accident. Have you ever had to put on the brakes really hard and fast for some reason? The car stops, but your body takes longer to stop than the car so you get pulled forward a little bit and the seatbelt locks, right? When a baby is forward facing they experience the same thing. The car will stop moving suddenly but it takes their bodies a bit to stop moving too. They are pulled forward away from their seats. All of the force of the impact is only restrained by their seat belts. These are pretty lousy at distributing and dispersing force. They do, however, restrain the body pretty well if they are adjusted correctly. The problem is that seat belts only restrain the body, not the neck and head. This will keep moving forward while the body is restrained. While muscles and ligaments can give, the spinal column can’t. A baby that is forward facing during a crash will have her head pulled upwards and forwards away from her body while her body remains more or less where it is restrained. This can cause the spinal column to sever, causing the child to be internally decapitated.
A baby who is rear facing is much safer because the car seat will catch and disperse the force of the impact. Instead of being pulled away from her support she’ll be pushed back into it. Rear facing restraints also keep the head in it’s same relative position to the body so that neck injuries are avoided.
Just because your baby has good head control does not mean by any means that she is ready to face forward. Depending on the speed the car is moving when it is hit and how fast it comes to a stop, military volunteers didn’t even have strong enough neck muscles to with stand the force.
Is it safe? What do you think?
FTR, my son was rear facing until he was 17 months old. If he would have been willing I would have left him rear facing much longer. There is no fact to the idea that babies will break their legs if they touch the back of the seat. Besides, even if they did, would you rather deal with broken legs or broken necks?
My son is 8 1/2 months old and was told by the MD two months ago to put him in the big seat because of his length. BUT, she said to keep him facing backwards until he was 1 year old!!!