5 Month old - long legs, car seat prob. Advice please!!!

[STORM01]

Hi

My DD is now nearly 5 months old (19 wks)& at last weigh in was 16lb 9 (2 weeks ago) She is a long baby, especially her legs.

I am concerned about her car seat - graco general rear facing jobby suitable from birth etc etc her legs are now too long & her feet are touching the back seat.It will probably only be another couple of weeks until it becomes uncomfortable for her.

Im not sure of the next step regarding car seats - she is not sitting up un aided & I seem to think that the next seat needs her to be able to be a bit more steady. I have been looking on the mothercare website at the forward facing ones - they are suitable from 9 months - 20lb....were nearly at the 20lb mark at 5 months.

Advice please!!!!
PS. if anyone is wondering about her weight I have been advised by all healthcare providers that she is fine due to her length.

She can't go into the next seat yet and will just learn to bend her legs to fit. Broken legs are better than a broken neck.

Keep her rear facing for as long as possible
It is not just about weight it is about head control and at 5 months her neck muscles are not strong enough

Don't worry about her legs touching the seat - it is ok

It is really much safer for your baby to be kept rearward as in an accident this position would offer ehr the best protection. If she has to fold her legs then it wouldn't really matter. I kept DS facing rearward as long as possible, and he folded his legs to fit in. It is not uncomfortable for them. Throughout the rest of Europe they make car seats that keep the child rearward facing until they are 4-5yrs old!

it doesn't matter if her feet touch the seat. it won't be uncomfortable, she will just bend her legs if necessary.

there are sooo many reasons why you need to keep her rearfacing
this site will tell you more

Don't worry about it. All babies appear to outgrow these seats for leg-length, but they are in fact designed to protect babies even when their legs stick out and press against the back of the seat. The babies bend their legs and are perfectly comfortable. If you watch your baby sleeping in her cot you will see that her legs are never straight. Well into toddlerhood a baby's relaxed position is with legs bent at hipsand knees.

BTW , please don't put your dc into a firward-facing seat at 9m. Britax, who make excellent-quality carseats, don't recommend moving to Group 1 chairs until the baby is at least 12m, preferably 15m, even though Group 1 chairs are considered suitable from 9m. They say not to worry about leg-length, it is the position of the child's head relative to the top edge of the carseat that matters.

The reason that car seat companies don´t make forward facing seats for childrn that young is because this is both very unsafe and therefore an illigal act.

The ideal age is really 4 years minimum.

Babies and young children can sit in positions that look uncomfortable to adults. Bent legs is not an issue for them. So dont worry about that.

IGNORANT healthcare provider you got there. That person should seriously know much much better than that!!!! She is NOT fine in a forward facing seat and won´t be until she is at least 4 years old

No, I would get a bigger rearfacing Swedish seat for her. Several of those are good to go with your daughter:

Britax Hiway
Besafe X3 (possibly)
KISS
Fair G 0/1 (Only if you have isofix)

Lena

You´d be seriously hard pressed to find a car seat company that would recommend FF over RF before the age of 4 years. No-one does!

Lena

Thanks everyone.....all very new to me

Lena....re the health care provider, I ment that she is not over weight due to her height to weight ratio not that they advised it was ok for a FF seat - sorry for the confusion