This is a question for my friends who have children with Ds. What kind of guidelines have you been told as to when you can turn your child's car seat forward facing? I know with a typical child we normally turn them around at one year old. But I am assuming that with the low muscle tone most of our kiddos have, it would be older for them. I just haven't found a clear cut answer so I thought I would ask you guys for your advice. I know it is so much more fun for them to be forward facing but I want Ella to be safe. Thanks for your help.
16 comments:
thats a great question. I have no idea. I've been told with Jax that he may never be forward facing. But he is exteme circumstances. I would ask your ped.
Love the pic by the way. I so want to cuddle her:)
I went by Carly's weight. No one ever said anything otherwise to me. She was well over a year old before she could be sitting in a forward facing seat.
I didn't turn Addy around until she was 2 years old and 20 pounds. Unfortunately she is only 18 pounds now but I still have her facing forward. She is 2 1/2. She has good head and neck control now so I think she's ok. We've had her seat checked through the Safety Council and they said she was ok even though she is underweight.
We were told to follow the guidelines specified by the carseat which is 20 pounds. Mattie was 20 pounds at her last visit so we've just turned her around.
Great question!I've been wondering the same thing!
Just checked my "Carly history" LOL....it wasn't 1yr. She was over 2 when we finally put her in forward facing car seat. She was just at 20lbs. But was walking and had been for 8 months or so. So we decided to just do it. Again, we pretty much followed the guidelines of the car seat manufactures.
I am so glad you asked that question! We have been dying to turn him forward... but figured there was no possible way yet. He's only 17 pounds (last time he was weighed), but seems so long! I would love to forward face him. I should check his car seat to see what it says. Good luck. Hopefully our babies will be forward soon!
I have heard anywhere from 2-3 years. Like you said, for kids with low tone, rear facing is the safest.
generally they say 20lbs AND 1 year but rear facing is the safest position. We didn't turn Brooke until she was about 15 months and will try and keep Lindsey rear facing as long as possible. youtube has some crash test videos of rear and forward facing in an accident that are pretty scary.
I agree you should check with your pedi. You can also google to find out what the law is in your state. CT is 1 year AND 20 lbs, which is also the recommendation. But Chloe is so small who knows when she'll be 20 lbs. I think she'll be well over 1 year old. Yup, she agrees. ;)
Actually...after being to the doc just 2 days ago, they said that they are stretching out the new guidelines (recommendations) are to 30-35 lbs. I think they were noticing that at 20 lbs it was just too soon. So that's what our ped suggests...and I guess it's stated somewhere in the 'new guidelines'. That's a long wait, especially cause kids LOVE to see, but with our soft, stretchy, fragile sweet peas, it's probably worth it! ;)
Good question, I hadn't even thought of that. Sam is only 16 pounds and it took him several months to go from 15 to 16 so if it's 20pds it may take awhile. Oh, I love the picture, she is so cute!!!
We turned Ruby when she was 2 - she wasn't near to 20 pounds until that age anyway.
I keep seeing your comments on blogs that I follow so I thought I would hop on over to see your sweet girl. She is beautiful! Our little guy, Carter, was born with down syndrome on March 31, 2008 so they are almost exactly the same age.
I love your question about the car seat. I asked my pedi when we went for the one year check up and he said we needed to keep him rear facing because of his low muscle tone. I figure he will probably be two before we get to turn him. Our pedi also said just like Michelle's that they are pushing to change the guidelines to age 2 or the 30-35 pounds. I was wondering if that is why all the new infant car seat carriers are all going to 32 to 35 pounds instead of the standard 20.
I look forward to learning more about your sweet Ella!
Kristi and Carter
I actually called Benjamin's pedi last week and asked her the same question. She said that even though he meets the requirements (barely), she wants him rear facing until at least 18 months. He seems content, so that's good. :)
We follow the same guid lines as typical kids. They don't hit the 20 lb mark as early, so it takes a little longer. Our problem in the booster seat. She can unbuckle, and does. So back into the 5 point harness she went. She didn't like that, so we explained a few things to her, and surprisingly, she got it and is back safely in the booster.
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