When Should I Turn My Toddler Forward-Facing? A CPST’s Advice
You’re not sure if your toddler is ready to flip forward-facing in the car. What’s safe? What’s too soon - or too long?!
Hi, I’m Sam! Like Kelly the Car Mom, I’m a Child Passenger Safety Tech (CPST) and a mom of three. Kelly and I are here to familiarize you with the most important car seat safety facts so that you can make the decisions that feel right (and safe) for your family.
Is your toddler ready to forward-face? Here’s what I’d consider:
How old is your toddler?
What is the law in your state?
Does your toddler fit safely rear-facing?
These are the top three most important questions to consider. I’ll answer why these questions matter, how to determine if your toddler is ready, and what’s a safe decision versus the safest decision (hint, you don’t need to rear-face until elementary school!) While we’re at it, we will bust a couple of myths too!
How old is your toddler?
In the car seat safety world there isn’t a lot that’s black and white. I’d love to tell you, ___ age is when it’s 100% safe to turn forward-facing! That’s just not the case unfortunately.
What I can tell you is that the absolute youngest a child should forward-face is age 2. That’s the minimum of what can be considered safe.
Woah, woah, woah - but did you hear that your toddler should stay rear-facing until the maximum limits of their car seat (often up to 50 pounds and 49” - that’s a lot bigger than a two-year-old.) You’re absolutely correct! The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (NHTSA) recommend keeping your child rear-facing as long as possible, until the maximum limits of the car seat have been met. Then your child is ready to use a forward facing car seat.
So what is it? 2 years old or the maximum limit of the car seat? The answer looks different for everyone, you’ll want to consider what works for your family and your own car seat set-up. If your child is at least age 2 then it’s safe to forward-face despite rear-facing being saf-ER.
When Fred was born, both George and Hattie were still rear-facing in their car seats. I had to buckle George from outside the car and meanwhile Fred was left out in the cold waiting to be put into the car. Initially, I planned to rear-face George until closer to 4 since his car seat has a 50 pound rear-facing limit, but ultimately it didn’t feel fair to Fred to leave him waiting in the Missouri-winter-cold while I was buckling George.
It was safe to turn George forward-facing at 3.5 and that way I could buckle him from inside the car and keep Fred warm. You’ve got to do what’s best for you and your family and you can rest assured forward-facing your toddler is a safe choice.
Still unsure if your toddler is the right age?
Without getting deep into the weeds of how and why it’s safer to rear face as long as possible, I’ll summarize by saying this:
The dynamics of real-world crashes show that a child passenger is best protected with the car seat harness equally distributing those forces across their body and that the car seat shell is cradling them, slowing down the child and the car seat as one unit. Now picture the opposite, with a forward-facing child their head and neck move forward forcefully.
Sitting forward-facing is risky for our youngest children because:
Their neck/spine is not developed yet
Their head is proportionally very large. A weak neck, delicate spine and large head are better protected rear-facing.
What is the law in your state?
Some states have an age and a weight requirement. For example, in a couple states a child must be at least age 2 and 30 pounds before forward facing. Sometimes a child is age 3 before they’re 30 pounds. It’s something to keep in mind!
Does your child safely fit rear-facing?
Let’s start out by busting a couple of myths! Long legs are NOT a reason to turn a child forward-facing. The crash data just does not show that long legs are at an increased risk of injury in a collision rear-facing.
Comfort also comes into play; parents are concerned their children’s legs are uncomfortable rear-facing. I’ve found that children are actually more uncomfortable dangling their legs forward-facing. Picture yourself sitting at a high-top table with a tall chair and no foot rest. How long until your legs are tingly? This happens to forward-facing children too! Remember, those after-market footrests you might find on Amazon are not safe to use with your child’s car seat.
Now that we’ve covered some myths, let’s focus on how your child actually fits in the car seat.
A rear-facing car seat can be outgrown four ways:
Your child exceeds the weight limit
Your child exceeds the height limit
Your child doesn’t have at least 1 inch of space between the top of their head and the top of the car seat shell or adjuster handle (note: not all car seats have this rule, but the vast majority do.)
Your child’s harness no longer comes from below their shoulders. This one can be confusing so let me explain: Sometimes when you raise the headrest to make room for the required one inch of space, the harness then ends up coming from above their shoulders. That means the seat is outgrown in rear-facing mode since the harness needs to be coming from below the shoulders.
Is a carseat outgrown by height or weight?
Another common question is if a seat is outgrown by height and weight or if it’s outgrown by height OR weight? The answer is height OR weight! Once one limit is met, the seat is outgrown in that direction.
Ok, stay with me here, but what about flipping forward facing before the rear-facing limits are outgrown? You’ll need to make sure that your child is within the age AND weight minimums for forward facing. There’s differences from car seat to car seat, but no matter what you’ll have to make sure both requirements are met in order to be forward-facing. (And once you do turn that car seat around, be sure to remember the top tether!)
Now that the great debate about rear-facing and forward-facing is more clear, you can rest assured that if your child is at least age 2, your state laws are met, and your child meets the fit requirements for the mode of use you’re using, that you’re making a safe choice for your family! Above all else, making sure your car seat is installed correctly and being used correctly keeps your child the absolute safest both rear-facing and forward-facing alike!
Have any lingering questions on when it’s appropriate to turn your toddler forward-facing? Please ask them in the comments! And to keep up with the latest safety information when it comes to your family on the road, check out my recent posts:
