My Son is 8 months and 20lbs. he seems to be outgrowing his carseat. when can he go to a toddler seat? forward

Question

My Son is 8 months and 20lbs. he seems to be outgrowing his carseat. when can he go to a toddler seat? forward

Answer 1

My son outgrew his carseat at 7 months (he weighed 22 pounds). We purchased an Eddie Bauer carseat. It is for babies 5-100 pounds and can either be rear or front facing. it also reclines. We will definitely be hanging on to this carseat for our next baby. We purchased it at Target and it was about $170, but very comfortable and safe.

He can sit facing forward at 1 year old. Maybe a little sooner if he has good enough head control, but 1 year is the general rule.

Answer 2

He shouldn't go into a forward facing seat until after the first 2 years. He is ready for a convertible carseat that rear faces to 35 pounds and front faces up to 65 pounds.

Britax Marathon, Evenflo Triumph Advance, and First Years TruFit are really good carseats that all rear face to 35 pounds, and will last for awhile.

The longer you keep him rear facing the safer. A child's vertebrae are not fully developed to handle a crash front facing until at least 2 years but longer is better, as long as he's still in the weight limit.

Answer 3

Not until he is one year old. His neck just isn't strong enough yet. Plus it wouldn't be cool to get a ticket for it.

Answer 4

he can only be front facing at one year AND 20 lbs.  get the cosco alpha omega elite.  its 150 at walmart and is convertible.  rear facing until he turns one and then you can turn it around -- we love it!

Answer 5

They have to be a year old and at least 20 lbs. If it's uncomfortable for him, they make convertible car seats that you can use as rear facing until he's a year old and then it converts to a forward facing car seat.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/family...

Answer 6

Infant seats are outgrown when a child reaches the weight limit, or more commonly when the child has less than one inch of plastic shell above his head.

Infants then move to a rearfacing (RF) convertible seats and MUST remain RF until at least 1 year AND 20lbs, but should remain RF until the limits of the seat (30-35lbs in the US).

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.

Highly recommended convertible carseats are the Britax Decathalon, Boulevard and Marathon; Sunshine Kids Radian; Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE; Cosco Scenera and Safety First Uptown.  Stay away from the Alpha Omega 3-in-1 seats only harness to 40lbs and most 40lb weight limit seats are outgrown before a child is mature enough for a booster seat.  They also have very low top harness slots, so are outgrown by height at around 2 or 3 years old.  The Graco Comfortsport also has very low top slots.

Answer 7

depends where you are. the uk guidelines are different to the usa ones.

go into a mothercare or somewhere and check the range of seats. see what fits into your car.

they will also give you the correct advice regarding the law.

in the uk, i have never seen a seat that faces rear for a 2 year old.

my son went forward facing at 6 months. he was too long for the other seat. he had good head control and had been sitting unaided for weeks. i put the seat in the reclined position for ages though.