Forward facing carseats

When we were up on the Gold Coast the gremlins were forward facing in their carseats coz I was too lazy to turn the ones in the rental car around. They loved being able to see what was going on, and Mum almost had me convinced to turn their ones at home around soonish.
But then I was sitting in the back seat with them and they were asleep and Dad stopped suddenly, and their poor little heads bounced around like rag dolls. So definitely not turning them around any time soon, will probably keep them rear facing till 12kg which is a good while yet.
Makes me feel guilty about turning Maya round at 5 mths tho

I turned Maya coz she screamed every single time she was in the car from the day I brought her home from Birthcare, and when I turned her around she magically stopped screaming, and I figured it was safer her facing forwards and me not having to drive with the added stress of listening to her scream, than having her rearfacing and screaming blue murder. But when I saw the little gremlins heads bouncing ...

eek

Guess it just shows how important it is to just take that extra few seconds to keep them rear-facing!

Bombshell wrote: bonnie i clipped out a cartoon for you while in oz re carseats - will scan and post later for you! seeing you on reminded me....

Yeah? That'll be interesting to see!

Andie wrote: so hang on... what's the difference between a 10-month old and a 1-year old in a forward-facing carseat? Ella's still rear-facing, but she'll be a lot happier when it's forward, I'm sure.

The longer you rear-face, the better. The more time you give for the spine/neck to develop. It's also because through research on this exact topic, the data collected http://www.carseatsite.com/rear-face_article.htm seemed to break at about 12 months between severe consequences and more moderate consequences in an accident. I.E. it could mean the difference between paralysis or it could mean the difference to death. The longer you rear-face the better however. Everyone (except the driver, gotta see to drive!) is better protected when rear-facing. Unfortunately even children one and over are still at risk of internal decapition and other sever head and neck injuries. Like this girl http://www.stuff.co.nz/4144421a10.html in Rangiora, she was two, in a forward-facing seat in a head on crash and her head was literally ripped from her neck :( Doctors at Starship said that had she been in a rear-facing seat which is common practice in countries like Sweden etc (and it's really catching on in the states too) those injuries most likely would have been avoided. It's really tragic :( Breaks my heart to see babies forward-facing when they could be rear-facing :(

[QUOTE=SMoody] McKayla's small capsule was backfacing up and until 13kg. But this madam decided to just before her first birthday to start escaping from the thing. QUOTE]

I'm thinking that was probably a 3 point harness? You can get rear-facing convertible car seats with five point harnesses :) And if need be, there are ones with chest clips :)

Bombshell wrote: bonnie i might mail it to you.....photobucket is down and i have NO patience right now!

sounds good! :)

Thanks for all the information. I had been thinking about when to turn Ollie around. Is there any weight that you HAVE to turn them front facing at? He is only ten months now so will just keep him rear facing until have to change - he is really happy as he is.