Car seat tech... break the 20 lb RF requirement down for me

[american_mama]

Today I was musing while driving. You are supposed to keep kids rear-facing until they are 20 pounds and one year, but doing it for longer is better. But if you do turn them forward-facing, is it the child's weight or the age that affords more protection? Just to make up an example, if you had a very small child who you turned around when she finally hit 20 pounds at age 18 months would that child be better off than a big child who weighed 25 pounds or more and started FF at age 13 months?

Not sure I am asking this well. I'm happy keeping my DD rear-facing for as long as it works for all of us, so this is just hypothetical. I just wonder if I turn her when she's a few pounds past 20, is that actually akin to turning her FF when she was 13 or 14 months old?

Again, I know RF as long as possible is best.

[DebbieJ]

Karen,

I'm not a tech, so I don't know the "right" answer, but I'll tell you my feelings.

My son is 28 mo and only 25 pounds. The thought of turning him FF makes me very nervous because he is a little kid. He the weight of his head compared with the weight of his body is disproportionate.

So if he were FF and we were in a crash, his heavy head would fling forward and his little neck and body wouldn't be able to hold it back and he would be hurt. I just can't let that happen.

He will be RF until he hits the limit, which isn't happening any time soon.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[Splash]

It's the age. The older a child is, the more developed his bones and muscles are.

[Joolsplus2]

It's age... The bones need to be strong enough to hold the spinal cord from stretching. Why 20 pounds? Because that was the top limit of RF seats when they came out with the recommendation (based on the 9 month old dummy, and the UMTRI research that neck injuries go from severe to moderate at age 1). Now all seats go to at least 30 pounds, and we are still stuck with the 'common knowledge' of 20 pounds, even though weight has nothing to do with development (at least we moved from 1 or 20 pounds, to 1 and 20 pounds...).
I'd love if we started saying '2 or 30 pounds' now that there are seats plenty big enough to accomodate that, or simply 'to the limits of a convertible seat' and not give any age at all. Infant seats are also tested with a 12mo, 22 pound dummy now, so we could *at least* start saying age one and 22 pounds.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

PS, Karen, I totally didn't mean to blow you off when you asked if I'd come to Charlottesville for a meeting with the MOPS, I just put it low down on my 'to do' list and then the baby came!

[american_mama]

Thanks everyone. I don't love car seats the way you do, but I always appreciate your deep knowledge of the subject.

Julie, thanks for letting me know. I knew you were busy with kids, pregnancy, and then one more kid. I'm still happy to host you sometime in Cville or to meet up in Richmond, if I ever plan a visit instead of doing it spur-of-the-minute.