Baby on Board
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
So Hank is now over 20 pounds, 30 inches long and too big for his infant car seat. Kind souls lent us two bigger car seats (an Even-Flo obviously named after the Pearl Jam song and a Britax, thank you very very much) and so we installed ‘em in our cars.
The question is, can he be forward-facing or not?
The rulebooks say that if the kid is over 20 pounds, he’s OK for forward-facing, but some spoil-sports like the American Academy of Pediatrics say the kid has to be a year old and 20-22 pounds. The freaks in Sweden often keep their kids rear-facing until 3 or 4 years of age.
As it is now, with Hank rear-facing, his feet are all jammed against the backseat and it just doesn’t seem to be a good fit.
Any advice? Can his little neck take my horrible driving if he is facing forward? Or should I get one of those little “Baby on Board” signs and let that solve all of my problems?
UPDATE – See, this is what I love about the innerwebs: I have a question and expert parents answer it with facts and personal experience.
We now have two car seats that are rear-facing and have them adjusted so that the kid doesn’t look like a contortionist in a wicker basket. We will leave him rear-facing until he is at least 1, and maybe beyond. Thanks guys.
- Zac
