With Little Bug approaching a year, I’ve started thinking about front facing car seats.

Actually, I’ve been thinking more about when it is appropriate to change from rear-facing to front-facing.

I’ve mostly heard 20 pounds and 1 year old.

I came across this article and learned that the 20 pounds and 1 year criteria is just a minimum for front-facing your child in the car.

And, as the article states, who wants the minimum for their child?

This article suggests to rear face the child to the limits of the convertible car seat. It suggests to check the label of the convertible car seat for the rear facing weight limit and make sure there is one inch of car seat above the child’s head.

There are some very interesting “dummy crash” videos that show a child under the age of 2 is way safer rear facing than front facing.

In fact, children up to the age of 2 are more than five times safer riding rear-facing, according to the information given in this article.

I was planning on front facing Little Bug once she hit that 20 pound/1 year old criteria, but now I am rethinking things and am so glad I came across this information.

There is tons more car seat safety information in this article. Go check it out!

- Elaine