Maximum rear-facing?

Question

My son's car seat says he can be rear-facing up to 35 lbs. I just saw some videos though showing the difference between what happens in a crash when the seat is front vs rear-facing and it is beyond dramatic. I now want to keep him facing backwards as long as possible.

So I'm wondering why at 35 lbs it's safer to be facing front than rear? If he's 36 or 38lbs, could a pound or few really make that much of a difference in terms of HAVING to turn him forwards? Surely the benefits from facing rear don't automatically go away at 35 lbs. What makes the car seat safer facing front after 35 lbs?

After seeing those videos it would take a lot to convince me to turn him around until he just didn't fit rear anymore.

I also read that in Sweden children face rear until age 6 or 7 regularly, and they have only had like 9 deaths in 10 years, and those were just from accidents where everyone died. 9 deaths! That's it! Where can I get a rear-facing car seat that will fit him for that long!

Answer 1

The seats are only tested to 35lbs RF so to go past that could be very dangerous for your child.  Hopefully we will have higher weight limit RF seats with tall enough shells to keep them RF for longer!

Great job keeping him RF longer than the required 1 year AND 20lbs.

My 3.5 year old is still RF and prefers if over FF.

Answer 2

It has to do with the seat itself. That car seat is rated for 35 lbs. After that the manufacturer cannot say that it would hold in an accident. Can u find a seat which is rated for more weight?

Answer 3

A couple of pounds wont make a different and I would just leave it alone....