1year old hates car seat, should I turn him

[mblukas]

Hi Everyone,
I am a lurker and have a question. My 25lb. 27inch son, who is 1 year old this month, hates his car seat. He cries everytime I get him in it. (he is rin the middle back seat and has a mirror so I can see him) Always has been this way. He is doing a little better, but forget night trips. I have the Britax Marathon car seat. Here are my questions:
Do I have to wait until he is 33lbs, before I can switch him to forward facing?
His feet touch the back seat, how long is it safe to keep him rear facing?
What is more important my sanity while driving or his safety by keeping him rear facing?

Thanks so much for your help, you guys are the greatest!!!

Beth

[Momof3Labs]

That's pretty common at this age - Colin was miserable in the car seat at that age, and it had nothing to do with his position per se. DH got a lot of mileage from removing the headrest in the seat Colin's Marathon was installed in - it gave him a better view out of the car and calmed him down quite a bit.

Technically, once your baby is 20lbs AND one year (which he is), you can turn him forward facing. It has nothing to do with feet touching the back seat; his legs are equally safe in either position.

If I were you, I'd probably try forward facing after eliminating other options (like giving him a better view while still rear-facing), but don't expect that it will fix things because it might be the confinement that he hates. If it doesn't, I'd turn him back to rear facing.

[Joolsplus2]

It probably IS the confinement issue...he'd rather be up and running, rather than strapped down!
The link in my sig has even more information on why his legs are not in danger RF (and other safety benefits).
If there is truly, truly nothing you can do to keep him happy in the car, then turn him FF as a last resort. Does your car have tether anchors for FF seats? If not, definitely get them installed prior to turning him, they are really good for helping to prevent head and neck injury, especially in such a young baby.
Good luck, I hope he gets over this phase soon (and it IS a phase, I promise!)
:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[mblukas]

Thanks for the advice, I guess I will tough it out as long as I can and try all the suggestions. At least I know it is safe to turn him and I do have ff teethers.

Thanks for the help,

Beth