When should I turn our car seat front-facing?

Do you know that children are 5X safer in a collision when they're rear-facing?  Why? I'm happy to put on my nerdy specs & explain.

Let's start with the actual collision.  The most dangerous & common collision is a frontal collision. In a frontal collision, your vehicle stops suddenly (you hit a tree, post, oncoming vehicle...). Everything in the vehicle is forced towards the front of the vehicle.  Your body jerks forward and your child is "pushed" towards the front. 

When a child is rear-facing, their head, neck, back & bum is supported by the seat and their spine stays nicely aligned.

When the child is front-facing in a collision, their body is harnessed in the seat and their (big/heavy) head is forced towards the front of the vehicle.  The impact is taken up in their neck & spine.

When should you change your child to front-facing?  That's the million dollar question!   Kids should stay rear-facing until they're at least 2 years old, but the best practice is to keep them rear-facing until the maximum capacity of your seat. A sticker on the side of your car seat will indicate the maximum weight & height for rear-facing.  When your child reaches one of those limits, it's time to turn your seat.  If you can keep your child rear-facing until 3 or 4 years old, that fantastic!

I hope that's helpful!  

Natalie from Bundle Baby