Knowing when to turn your child’s car seat around and allow them to sit in a forward facing seat can be a difficult decision and there are lots of different sources that give conflicting information. Some parents may never put their children in rear-facing seats, preferring, instead to be able to keep an eye on their child while in the car. The truth is that small children, are much safer in rear-facing seats. At some point, however, they do become old enough that a forward seat is the safer option.
But how do you know when to turn the seat around? The American Academy of Pediatrics says that a child should be in a rear-facing car seat until he is too big for the convertible car seat anymore. This is usually around the age of two or until they reach the top of the height and weight recommendations for the seat you are using. Many parents might be wondering if there is a way that a two-year-old can comfortably ride in a rear-facing seat, and the answer is yes.
There are some sources that recommend keeping your child in a rear-facing seat until the age of four. While it is true that many organizations recommended turning around a child’s seat once they were over twenty pounds, most studies have shown that keeping the child in a rear-facing seat until they are much older is actually much safer for the child. Many seats on the market today will continue to accommodate a child up to fifty pounds. Depending on the child, they could be sitting in a rear-facing seat until they are six years old, if you decide to leave them in that seat until the exceed the height and weight recommendations.
