I love watching this show. I just have to say I turned my son Forward facing at 13 months, and then turned him back around Rear facing at 26 months. He is now 30 pounds, 37 inches and still rear facing. He loves rearfacing. http://www.myspace.com/carseatsafteynut

My daughter, Ruthie is on that album!!

as for why Graco did the weight limits they did… the seat has been through testing to get approval to 50lbs TWICE and it did NOT pass.

They gave up and moved on… creating the Nautilus.

Still, she should have chosen a different seat, that would allow him to rearface longer ideally, but as long as he meets the minimums and it’s installed and being used properly, that’s good enough for me.

I spread the word on rearfacing and harnessing as long as possible, but I settle for proper use every single time.

Danielle ~ It’s a common misconception that older children will be uncomfortable rear facing. Most children prefer not sitting with their legs straight out – just watch them playing on the floor.

My daughter is 23 months but is above the 97th percentile for height making her only slightly shorter than an average 3.5 year old, and she is still comfortably rear facing.

Here is a gallery of older rear facing children

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx

Just click on the pic to get a better view.

Um, J.M. I don’t know where you grew up (I’m from NYC) but I’m a only a year older than you and I used a carseat at least until I was 3, and a booster seat after that. I don’t know anyone who let their kids ride without a carseat before age 3 or 4.

having your knees up to your chin can’t be comfortable for a tall 2 year old. and sitting with my legs crossed bothers me after a little while so i can’t see it not bothering my 2 year old. if the child is small then maybe being kept rear facing would work.

RachelK ~ I know what you mean! There are HEAPS of boosters that state you can use them from 3 years and 30lb! So not safe (not to mention illegal in many states)

In reference to the book, I imagine it was just put there as a “prop” because she’s having a girl, not because she reads it to him or anything.

I also want to add that although I’ve been commenting on car seats I’d also like to say that Tori is looking really good. I think pregnancy definitely agrees with her!

Catherine — thanks for clarifying my info :O)
I actually do realize that there are new recommendations made by the AAP, however until those recommendations are placed on all of the carseats (they aren’t at this point they still say 20 lbs, 1 year) and pediatricians are aware of these changes — my friend was just told it was safe to turn her 12 month old daughter around last week (at 21 lbs) — then it is, in my opinion, still considered the “recommendation.” It will take time to be changed and sink in.

And I totally agree with you about not taking the advice of the carseat manufacturer. They are only required to list a MINIMUM amount of information. One that annoys me every time is the booster seat. I see little 2 year olds in booster seats with seat belts daily. The recommendation for a child to be in an unharnessed booster is 4 years AND 40 lbs. Booster seats often list weights but fail to reveal that height is the bigger issue. My tall 3 1/2 year old godson still does not safely fit in the Graco Turbo even though he is above both the height and weight limits for that seat. He is long legged and his torso is no where near tall enough to ride safely. The seat belt lays across his neck. There are a lot of things to think about when looking for and buying a seat.

Okay, I guess I’ll be the first to say it. Isn’t that book a little inappropriate for a toddler? I don’t know if anyone commenting on it knows that it is meant as an adult ‘joke’ book. Talking about silly things women do like boob jobs and stuff.
I still like Tori and I’ll pretend he was just holding it to keep him happy rather than something she actually reads to him

No one has said she’s doing anything wrong! People were just taking this opportunity to share safety information with others on a website where there may be a lot of other Mom’s of bubs and toddlers.

I think it isn’t correct to compare this with the furore over Britney as that was about a child being turned ff before age 1, whereas this is just a discussion of new recommendations. Tori certainly isn’t breaking any laws.

I also feel that if you invite the pap (albeit “friends” of hers) into your car to take a pic of your child in a car seat that you have to expect that people are going to make comments about it. She’s happy to have these photos taken as they help her business by keeping her in eye of the public, so if she’s using her child as a marketing tool then I don’t see anything wrong with people using this opportunity to point out that while she’s not breaking the law there is change in the recommendations about keeping kids rf longer.

I have to disagree with RachelK, as I pointed out earlier the AAP no longer recommends 1 and 20, they recommend rf to the limit of the seat and that it should be at least 30lb.

Please don’t trust a car seat manufacturer to advise you on when to turn a child rf, or move them to a booster!!! There main concern is their bottom line, not your child’s safety.

I hope that anyone here who still thinks rear facing their child as long as possible is being an alarmist, I challenge you to watch this.

If this can not convince you to change your mind on this important subject, nothing will.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx