WWYD?

[Rachels]

No flames, please...this really feels like a dilemma.

My daughter is 26 months and 23 pounds. My plan has been to keep her rear-facing in her carseat until the seat reaches its rear-facing limit. However, she has always, always been miserable in the car when we ride for any length of time (screaming!), and lately she tells me her tummy hurts. I think she's getting carsick. My mom and I both get seriously carsick, so maybe it's genetic. (?)

Anyway, we rented a car this week and I couldn't get a good install rear-facing, so I forward-faced her. She is infinately happier, and now I'm questioning whether I should turn her around in our car. It freaks me out because I know RF is safer. At the same time, she has been miserable in the car for 26 months and I don't want her to continue to feel awful. It's also very distracting to me when she screams in the car, so I'm not sure it's actually increasing our safety all that much. One other factor to consider is that I can't get a tight RF install in the center position, so she's outboard, but I CAN get a good center install FF.

So WWYD? This is a TOUGH decision for me.
-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/2/character39.gif

"We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are

[JElaineB]

Based on all the factors you mentioned I would just turn her around forward facing. You made it to 26 months which is a LOT longer than many people.

My DS is still RF at 22 months, but he is happy as a clam in his RF car seat (he actually tries to buckle himself back in when I try to take him out!!) I would not feel guilty at this point turning him forward facing though if I had as many reasons to do it as you do!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[amazz]

I'm not sure what car seat you have, but from what I can find online, it is ok to go to FF at about 20 lbs. Although I haven't yet had this experience, if I were you, I would go FF. You are right about the crying being a huge distraction. How can that be safe? So do what is best for YOUR baby!

Good Luck!
Angela
EDD 10/15/04

[Momof3Labs]

Rachel, I'd go forward-facing. You've given her body another 14 months to mature (on top of what most people do), so I'm sure that she'll do just fine in her seat.

[Momof3Labs]

Angela, 20lbs AND one year is the bare minimum to forward face, though in general it is actually safer to rear-face to the limits of the car seat (if you read the posts on this board, you'll find a lot of talk and links about extended rear-facing).

[murphydog77]

Hi Rachel. I agree with the others. You know, it's really easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, especially when it comes to the safety of our little ones. But, you also have to do what's best for *your* situation.

I'm getting ready to turn my almost 26 mo. old forward because she's nearing the top of her Roundabout. She's still below the weight limit though at about 27 lbs. I've thought about going out and buying a Marathon to keep her rear-facing for longer, but that would mean I have an extra seat sitting around in a closet that doesn't have space to hold it. The point that I'm having trouble arriving at, lol, is that we have to look at the big picture and make a decision from that.

Just make your dd as safe as possible by making sure her seat moves less than 1" when you tug on it at the belt path, tether it and use the correct harness slots for forward-facing.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.carseatsite.com

[shishamo]

I would forward face her and see if that helps. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but the reason she is happy may just be the novelty factor. (New car, new view, etc.)

I actually forward faced my DD at 13 months because she was absolutely miserable, and that made me (and my poor 3 year old) miserable. I kept flipping her periodically to see if she does better rear-facing again, and she's now a very happy rear-facer at 27 months old. I can't remember when I permanently flipped her, but it was sometime between 18-24 months old.

Just my thoughts,

[tippy]

Hi Rachel,

I bought my Marathon after ds repeatedly upchucked on my loner infant seat (we will be purchasing a new seat for our gracious and forgiving pregnant neighbor) and I just couldn't deal with cleaning it "just one more time!". DS was about 14 mo old and only about 22/23 lbs. I went to the fire department to have them install it and asked if I should put it in rear or forward facing (more for the "fit" than anything else). We don't have the latch system in our car and I wanted the best fit. The installer basically said it was my decision and either was fine. He really didn't try to talk me into it one way or the other. I decided to forward face. It's probably selfish on my part but I like being able to glance at dh in my rear view mirror, hand him his sippy cup etc..The one thing I am going to do though is move him from behind the passenger seat to the middle of the back seat. I put him in behind the passenger seat because we had a friend visiting from out of town and knew they would be a third (fourth counting ds) passenger in the car. Our car is tight with the seat installed in the middle (we tried it already) and we wanted our guest to be comfortable. Well, she has since gone back home and I think it's time to move the seat to the center again. Just safer!