[Rain]

I have a Britax convertable carseat. It is still facing rear. When are you supposed to face it forward? The instructions say at 30 pounds, but my ds's feet are hitting the backseat. He is 17 months old and not 30 lbs yet. I want to keep him facing rear as long as possible, but is it time to turn it around?<br><br>
I know they have to stay rear for at least one year, but generally how old were everyone's toddlers when they started sitting facing foward?

 

[mama2m&m]

i started my ds just after 1 yr and hw was well over 20 lbs. he just didn't fit anymore

 

[peacemama]

Hi Rain!<br><br>
I had the Britax Roundabout, and what you read in the instructions is a little misleading. The baby can be turned forward when he is 20 pounds and 1 year old, but if you prefer, he may remain rear facing until 30 pounds. My dd was about 24 pounds at a year and I turned her around at that point. I think most babies would be way too tall once they weighed 30 pounds to face rear - I guess they are just trying to accommodate heavier babies, because there are parents who will mistakenly turn a 20 pound under-1 baby around. It's about neck muscles more than it is weight.

 

[mamaMAMAma]

We have a Britax Roundabout too, and turned the seat around this past weekend. DD is 15months and 28-9 lbs, so we thought we'd flip the seat around. We wanted to keep the seat rear-facing as long as possible since its a little safer that way. It turns out there is a height restriction of 30inches for rear-facing.

 

[KFH]

We have the same seat. We turned it around at 15-16 mos. and she was a little over 24 lbs.

 

[TiredX2]

it doesn't matter if their legs *do* hit the back seat. That has been found to be perfectly safe.<br><br>
We also have the roundabout and turned DD ffacing around 20 months (she was probably 33 inches). Her nana and poppa ffaced her one day and she WOULD NOT go back. If your son will put up with it, go with it. Otherwise, at least a year is the minimum. In some countries (Sweden, etc...) I have heard they rear-face for much, much longer. Rear-facing is safer at any age, it is just not always feasable.<br><br>
Also, don't you just *love* that car seat. We moved DD out of it (to make room for DS) and after the Roundabout/Advantage no car seat stacks up!<br><br>
Kay

 

[Rain]

Thanks everyone! Hi Peacemama!<br><br>
I do love the Roundabout! Everything was fine with ds facing rear until one day last week, when I tried to put him in and he put his feet up against the back seat and I couldn't get him in. He thought it was very funny, I didn't find it quite so amusing. So far, since that one time he hasn't done that again, but he is over 30 inches, probably closer to 32. I think the time is coming to turn it around. I think he will enjoy facing forward!

 

[NicoleElizabeth]

I have read that the one hard and fast rule besides the weight maximum is that there should be at least one inch of carseat above the baby's head when they are rear-facing -- it doesn't matter if the legs are touching the seat or are bent. But it sounds like maybe your ds just doesn't fit anymore, LOL!

 

[MamaMae]

We LOVE that carseat too! I totally splurged and got one for our second car too, because I don't want to use another seat after using the Britax!<br><br>
I just turned ds around front facing, he's only 12 months...but HUGE (28 lbs)....<br><br>
But I must admit, my biggest motivation for turning it around was that he is soooo much happier facing front! It makes a world of difference in our car travelling!

 

[kezia]

Can someone give more info, or maybe a source for the height thing? We have the Alpha Omega, which says it can rear-face up to 35 lbs, but it doesn't say anything about how tall the baby is. Ds is 20 months and about 30 lbs, and still rear-facing. The manual says to keep them rear-facing as long as they're comfortable, as it's safer.<br><br>
I was planning to keep him rear-facing until he's two, as long as he doesn't hit 35 lbs before then, but now I'm worried about his height. At 18 mos, he was 33 in, but he still has plenty of legroom and headroom in the seat. What do you think?

 

[mamamoon]

something else I learned in my car seat safety class last year about turning foward facing is that the child should be tall enough to have the straps in the top slot. The top slot is the only slot reenforced for having the child foaward facing. You actually run the risk of having the strap sytem break in a mjor accidient if they are foward facing and in the lower straps. Something I would have never thought to check out myself! This goes for all car seats used in the US. There is only one car seat with all three slots reenforced for foward facing but it is not sold in the US.

 

[Rain]

Well, I haven't gotten around to turning the carseat forward yet. I'm just trying to get as much time facing rear as I can. He hasn't given me any trouble recently.<br><br>
That is very good to know about the straps! I would love to go to a car seat safety class. I think that every so often they have car seat checks to see that they are installed properly, I am on the lookout for one.<br><br>
Kezia-if there is still room in the seat, I would keep it rear. It sounds like you still have time.<br><br>
I'm going to reread the instruction manual tomorrow.

 

[bebe luna]

we need to buy a new carseat for ds. He is 14 mo, 25 lbs, and long/tall...<br>
I hear great things about britax and am seriously considering it. But what is the next best, and where to buy, how much $$$, etc??? Thanks!

 

[Mom2Luke]

I love my Britax! I'll share a brief story. I bought a Britax for my vehicle and a Century for my husband's car (I forget the type name, I think it was Turnabout or something, at the time it was supposed to be the second best rated - 2 years ago). My logic being that I'd splurge on one carseat since I did most of the baby transporting and we'd have a cheaper backup. A good friend decided to forego spending the extra cash on a Britax and purchased a Century. When her son was a few months old they were in an accident. No one was hurt, but she immediately decided that it was worth it to spend the extra cash on a Britax. I followed suit and returned my second Century and forked over the cash for another Britax. I've never regretted my decision. Not to mention, they are easy to install and seem to fit most cars really snug! I had both seats inspected by carseat professionals, and although they aren't suppose to say, they love the Britax and called my Century "the beast" because it was hard to install.

 

[beanma]

we have a britax and we all love it, dd included. i would never have another kind again. (we had an evenflo infant seat she hated.) to my way of thinking, there's plenty of stuff to save money on like clothes, toys, etc, but i wasn't interested in saving for the sake of saving on something as important as a carseat. i think we ordered ours online from <a href="http://www.babycatalog.com" target="_blank">www.babycatalog.com</a> -- just checked and they have the roundabout for $169. i know it ain't cheap, but if you can swing it i can't say enough good things about it.<br><br>
-beanma.

 

[TexasSuz]

We ended up buying an Evenflo Odyssey (convertible seat) and really like it! I got it at Babies R Us for $70! It has a really good safety rating and the anchor makes it really tight! My son is using it rear-facing now since he is only 7 months.<br><br>
Check out the the car seat board at ParentsPlace.com. The people there have so much information! Many are professional carseat inspectors!<br><br>
Also, the Odyssey was rated the best car seat for under $100!<br><br>
Hope that helps!<br><br>
Susan

 

[Sahara]

We use the Britax, too, and it is great. We have travelled a lot and been in a lot of rental cars with it and have yet to find a car it doesn't fit in snugly. DS has never had a problem with it, but its the only one he's ever had.

 

[PM]

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I bought this one for Iris when she was 18 mos and we needed one for my mom when we visit in the States. I REALLY LOVED it. And so did Iris. I read some reviews where it said it was hard to figure out the straps, but I had absolutely no problem. I also read that it's one of the safest. The only problem is that the child is very upright, so when he/she falls asleep, her head kind of flops around, but I think you can buy those airplane type neck cushions for kids.<br>
I really think that the price/quality ratio on this one is great!