Car Seat questions... large 9 month old

[daniandmeghan]

My son is nearly 9 months old and has pretty much out-grown his graco snugride. he's almost 24 lbs and 23 inches long. We are thinking that we might want to switch to the next level up on the car seats, but we're not sure what to do exactly and have some questions...

1st... all the books say that infants under 1 year should remain in an infant car seat, so is moving to a toddler seat safe?

2nd... if we move up, should we make sure that whichever one we purchase has a rear-facing option... most that we looked at indicated that above 20 lbs the child could be forward facing.... so is the rear- vs. forward-facing recommendation based on weight or age?

3rd... is there a specific brand or model that you would recommend? here's a little info about us that might be helpful... elliot is our first child, we're planning on having a second in a year or two... we own a 2004 Volvo XC70.

We'd love to hear any of your thoughts on these issues... we're first time parents and appreciate all the help we can get!

many thanks!
Danielle

[murphydog77]

Hi Danielle. Your son is absolutely not safe in his infant seat any more since his is way over the weight limit, so you must run to a store TODAY and buy a new convertible seat. I know that sounds like a dire message :), but really, these car seats are crash tested by weight and the top weight limit for your infant seat is 20 lbs.

1. Yes, moving to a toddler seat is very safe. These seats are called convertible seats. They rear-face, then can be turned forward-facing. The books are confusing and are written by people who are confused about car seats themselves!

2. The rear-facing recommendation is now based on weight, not age (though the minimum age for forward-facing is 1). You'll want to keep your son rear-facing until he reaches the maximum rear-facing weight limit of the new car seat. Check the stickers on the side of the seat or the manual to see what that limit is. The limit will vary by manufacturer--30, 33, or 35 lbs.

3. If you read through the posts, you'll find that a lot of people recommend the bigger Britax seats, the Marathon, Decathlon, and Boulevard. They rear-face to 33 lbs., then forward-face to 65 lbs. the advantage of these seats is their higher forward-facing weight limits and taller seat backs--they last kids much longer than standard car seats that forward-facing car seats that go to 40 lbs. But they are expensive! If you choose to go with a seat that goes to 40 lbs. forward-facing, you will need another seat, called a combination seat, before your child is ready for a booster seat. Combo seats have higher harness slots than than the standard 40 lbs. car seats, so they allow you to harness your son until he reaches that full 40 lbs., then he can go into a booster seat.

It can all be very complicated!!! I have a list of seats here: http://www.carseatsite.com/recommended_car_seats.htm . Take a look through them, then come back here to the board and look through the posts. You'll get the good, the bad, and the ugly ;).

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