#forward-facing

But today I was there when she got dropped off and noticed they have her forward-facing in her car seat. It bothered me a lot. I know you can turn them around at a year and 20lbs but have these people not done any research on their own about the dangers of it? They definitely couldn't have just turned her around because she was too big, she's quite a bit smaller than Seb and he fits just fine.

I just couldn't even imagine turning Sebastian to forward-facing right now. I'll probably have to in the next 6 months if he gets much taller.

Whatever, to each their own....

As an urban mommy, I don't often have to transport my kid in a car -- mercifully.  And as an urban kid, C just barely tolerates sitting in a car seat.  (Wonder if suburban kids feel differently, since they're more habituated to it?)  Up until now, C has been rear-facing, but given how boring it must be for C to sit facing the back of the car for long stretches of time, I had often wondered when I could turn her around to face the front.

I know the recommendation in the United States is that the kid should remain rear-facing until at least one year old and (not "or") 20 pounds.  But there's a lot of evidence out there that kids should stay rear-facing for as long as possible -- even until 3 or 4.  What???  

http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/01/05/car-seats-face-forward-or-backward?SESS1f79ed70dea0402b20c3afc657399e31=gnews