When should you change to forward-facing car seat?

[Tinkerbell]

DS is now 1 yr old and am thinking about changing his car seat. Still using a rear facing one as have been told by many that they should stay in this for as long as poss as much safer in an accident. HOWEVER, also recently been told that rear facing seats are designed to tip to the rear in a crash to cocoon the baby which is why they are safe, but which means that if your child's feet are slightly sticking out, their legs could break. (hope this makes sense!)

What advice to follow? Gut instinct is to change him to forward facing seat asap...

I'm amazed you've managed to continue with it this long! We had to move ds out of his at 9 months because he was getting so difficult to amuse during car journeys. With his forward facing car seat he was higher up and could see out of the window - a big improvement as far as he was concerned. We did make sure that we bought him a seat that would recline, though, as he was still falling asleep in the car on a regular basis.

The main issue is weight, as I understand it. If a baby is lighter than the recommended weight for a front facing seat the inertia reel seat belt may not lock in an accident and the child could be catapulted into the seat in front or the dashboard. So long as your baby is big enough, I think a front facing seat would be fine now.

I think you're right SueDonim. Ds was a large 9 m.o., and the seat we bought him was a very heavy thing.

I think most car seats come with explicit directions on when you should switch to a forward facing one. It's usually a weight and age factor. I switched my son at around 8 or 9 months as his legs were pushing on the back of the seat and he just didn't fit backwards any more. He was also somewhere around the 20 lbs that my car seat recommended as the age for turning around. I would have thought that a year old was more than old enough to switch, but double-check with the instructions on your car seat.

Definitely time to switch it I think! He will probably be happier being able to sit up properly and look around, as well as see you in the front! I'm sure there must be some safety aspect to it too, as has been said, weight and length wise. My 2 were struggling to get upright in theirs as soon as they could sit up alone! If you are worried about the comfort angle when they fall asleep in the car, I've had no trouble with ours as the seat has sort of "wings" at the top-sides IYKWIM, which they just lean into like a little pillow. They always look very comfy! Hope you make the transition smoothly!

Thanks! My little mite was low birth weight so has only just hit the magical 20lb mark so the weight factor has been a big issue.

I think a trip to the shops this afternoon is on!! I'll look at the best buys first although the maxi cosi one does look good.

Tinkerbell,

We had the same problem - ds still fit into the seat at 11 months and was under the maximum weight limit, but his feet stuck out and so for long journeys he was sitting with his legs bent.
Not v. comfy so that was when we changed.