How old or how much should a child weigh to change from a rear facing seat to a foward facing seat?

Question

How old or how much should a child weigh to change from a rear facing seat to a foward facing seat?

Answer 1

Legally, you can turn them at 20 pounds AND a year old; however, as the previous poster said, you are much better off keeping them rear facing for as long as possible. There are seats on the market that can accomodate a rearfacing child up to 33 or 35 pounds. The 35 pound seat is the Cosco Scenera and is pretty affordable.

Answer 2

1 year AND 20lbs is the bare minimum, but...

The recommendation from safety experts and the American Academy of Pediatrics is to rearface (RF) to the limits of the seat which is 30-35lbs on all seats sold in the US. My 3.5 year old daughter still rides RF and prefers it over FF.  

I have included several links with great pictures and videos of what happens to children’s necks when they are FF in a crash.

Most people are concerned about their child's legs being scrunched or broken in a crash. There is absolutely no evidence that shows a child's legs are in danger and I would much rather deal with a broken leg, than a broken neck.

Answer 3

Each state is different, and there is also, in GA, a height requirement..

Answer 4

The minimum is 1 year old and 20 pounds. It is highly recommended that you keep your child rear facing to the maximum weight listed on the child restraint. Usually 30-35 pounds. Or when the childs head is within an inch from the top of the car seat. I was in a car accident forward facing in a car seat when I was 18 months old and still suffering today from back and neck pain. It wasn't that bad of an accident. We were rear ended though.

Answer 5

check most of the car seat weights that come on the boxes they are really helpful