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Kazzle 
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 Topic: rear facing or forward facing
Posted: 08 October 2006 at 2:51pm |
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Okay, Kent and I are in a dilemma, Rhiannon is now 6mths old and is rear facing, but now that she is awake for most car trips etc we are wondering when most ppl turned their babes to forward facing.
I know that plunket likes the bubs to be rearfacing till either 12mths or 12kgs, but we are concerned about things like, not being able to see her when she starts crying, (so that means having to stop the car), what if someone smacks into the back of the car and smashes the rearwindow.
just wanting some opinions
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mummy_becks
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:02pm |
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If she can sit up by herself then forward face. otherwise wait till she can do that and keep her rearfaicng.
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I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived!
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Bizzy
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:19pm |
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i think abut 9 months was when we turned ours around. they can still see out the windows and i'm sure you'll hear if she starts to cry.
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Rachael21
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:27pm |
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Personally I'm going to wait until 12 months as their neck muscles aren't strong enough for if there is a crash. You can get wee mirrors to put up so you can see her.
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Maya
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:34pm |
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I turned Maya at 5 mths but only because she was so evil in the car, even as a newborn she screamed the minute she was put in the carseat, and it seemed to help.
But assuming the twins aren't so evil, they will stay rearfacing till they hit the 9kg minimum weight for turning their seats around.
Your carseat manual will tell you what the minimum weight is for having it forward facing,
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 Maya Grace (28/02/03)
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AlyAyde
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:39pm |
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I turned my girls around at the minumum weight for their car seats i think it was 8kg. And that was around the 6 month mark for lissy prob a little later for Jayde as se was teeny weeny, actually if i tell the truth she probably wasnt at the min weight when i changed her around.
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Jayde 25/12/04
Alyssa 08/04/03
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Maya
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:41pm |
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Maya definitely wasn't. The weight limit for hers was 9kg and she was 18 mths before she got to 9kg.
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Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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AlyAyde
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 3:45pm |
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lol Jayde is just 10kg now. Not that im worried at all about her.
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Jayde 25/12/04
Alyssa 08/04/03
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meow
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 5:16pm |
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It is safer to leave them rear facing as long as possible. And not because of what Plunket says - in a crash it's much safer to have a young baby facing towards the back - as their spines are so fragile.. the back of their carseat supports them.
It all depends on the weight your baby is, not the age. Ella was only 10kg at one, and stayed that weight for a year.
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Jennz
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Posted: 08 October 2006 at 10:55pm |
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We turned Charlotte as late as we possibly could- I think she was about 14 months. My Mum knows an ER nurse and she said that the first thing they ask when a baby comes in after a car crash is whether they were forward or rear facing- and that its always significantly worse if they were forward. Basically their little insides get mushed through their ribs, and the whiplash is like the worst shaken baby if the impact is strong because they have only certain points of support from the straps. If they are rearward their whole back/neck/head is supported and they have such a better chance. Sorry if its TMI but its something I feel really strongly about.
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meow
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 8:15am |
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same with me Jen.. and I think people need to be made aware of what the risks are. I didn't find out until I considered switching Ella - for the same reasons - that I wanted to see her if she cried & could talk to her. But when I did some research I decided to leave her rear facing as long as possible.
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lizzle
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 8:36am |
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Taine was 10kg when we switched him over, and his head was more than halfway over the top of the capsule. I was pretty reluctant to move him, but the capsule wasn't supporting him properly anymore. He was about 6 months I think.
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Tastic
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 8:42am |
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By NZ law they have to be rear facing untill they are 12 months, even if they can hold there heads up etc, as If you are in a crash her head will be jolted forward and as her neck is still fragile it can break!
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ellabellame
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 9:56am |
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i have only just turned mikey around so that he is forward facing. i wanted to leave it as late as possible but he's a bit of a giant baby and there was starting to not be enough room for his legs. i wish i could have waited until he was at least 1 but he was starting to get uncomfortable on longer trips.
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aimeejoy
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 10:50am |
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I have only just turned Hannah as well at 11 months and around 11kg. I used to have a mirror pinned to the back seat so I could see what she was up to. I would leave it longer if possible...
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Aimee
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AnnC
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 1:01pm |
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My son was in a front facing carseat at 4 1/2 months he was a bigger baby and could sit up by himself at that stage though. I think my daughter (a little daintyer) was 6 months when went into a front facing one.
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Ann
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nikkitheknitter
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 2:52pm |
I got a carseat that could be used both forward and rear facing as Han was pretty big and outgrew her capsule at about 4 months.
Kept her rear facing in that until about 13 months.
Mostly due to laziness... but because of the advice from Plunket and because I remember my little brother falling asleep all the time in the carseat with his head in the most uncomfortable position... and atleast when they are rear facing they aren't so prone to their head falling over.
(And I think Janine scared me by saying that they can stop breathing like that  )
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Maya
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Posted: 09 October 2006 at 3:35pm |
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Trish - rear facing till 12 mths isn't a legal requirement, it's a recommendation the LTSA make on advice from Plunket. Legally you can use a restraint rear-facing up until the weight specified, and fowrad facing from the weight specified in the users manual.
It varies from seat to seat, but if for example the weight for forward facing is 8kg, the seat has been tested and found to comply with NZ standards to be used forward facing from that weight.
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Maya Grace (28/02/03)
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The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
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daikini
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Posted: 10 October 2006 at 11:33am |
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I bought a rear/forward facing seat when Kiya was 7.5 months old, and put her in it facing forward straight away... she would have been close to 8kg then.
Josiah is so physically little that we wanted to wait until he was closer to 9kg before turning him around... but he was getting frustrated facing backwards, so we turned him at about 10 months, when he was a little over 7.5kg (he's about 9kg now, at 17 months!)
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Becca, mum of 2 girls & 3 boys
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james
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Posted: 10 October 2006 at 10:06pm |
i had james rear facing untill 7 months and also hes a big budda bubs so he was out growing his capsule at 6 months he was around 10 kg when i put him forward facing 
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rear facing or forward facing
