Forward facing at 3 years old ?

Question

My son will be 3 in July and I’m due in May with his sister. We have a Honda Civic and he is currently rear facing in the middle seat. I was thinking of putting him behind the passenger seat and the infant carrier in the middle but not sure they will fit like that. If no I’m thinking about putting baby behind the passenger seat so I can see her and switch my son forward facing behind the driver’s seat. It doesn’t fit rear facing there. Thoughts? Thanks!

Answer

I fully expect to get muted/deleted on the sub comment thread I posted in, so I’m going to put this information here as well:
I’ve actually done quite a bit of research and educated myself when I was choosing car seats for my two children. If you follow the SCIENCE, it is dangerous to forward face your child earlier than absolutely necessary, 532% more dangerous as a matter of fact. Until their vertebrae have ossified, the cartilaginous spaces that make up the spaces between the vertebrae have the ability to stretch up to 2 inches. It only takes 1/4 inch to sever a child’s spinal column and render them either paralyzed for life or dead. There is a 50% probability that the primary closure of the C3 is complete at age 2 and the secondary at age 3. A 50% probability that the primary closure of the axis is complete at age 5 and the secondary at age 6. And a 50% probability that the primary closure of the atlas is complete at age 7 and the secondary at age 8. Turning a child at 2 means you are risking their life in the event of a crash considering only one of the C3 closures has a 50% chance of having ossified. Even turning your child at 3 you are risking the possibility that the C3 is only 50% fully ossified. That doesn’t even factor in their axis or atlas which do not ossify until ages 5-8. Even the AAP have changed their recommendations from “rear facing until a minimum age of 2” to “rear face as long as possible until the seat limits are maxed out.” Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is safe. And no seat can “safely” forward face a child at age 2, there will always be a risk of internal decapitation until their vertebrae have ossified. Even turning my son at age 6 carries a risk but by that point the risk will have severely diminished as more of his vertebrae will have matured. I suggest anyone interested in learning more about car seat safety check out sites such as csftl.org

Answer

If you can't fit the seat rear facing you most likely can't fit it safely front facing either - there should be a minimum 55cm distance between the seat and the person in the seat. 
Also quite a bit of false info in the other answers here : it's always safest to rear face, even for adults it would be safer (just not possible due to driving). It's recommended to rear face til minimum 4 years old, and your kid is still 4 til the day they turn 5. There's plenty of great seat out there that allows rear facing til 25kg, even 32kg that's 70lbs! They can have their legs however they feel like. 
Also watch a few crash test videos, and read up on Internal decapitation. In Norway they advise to never forward face with a five point harness for that reason.

Answer

I would recommend reading your car seats manual and your cars manual. Rear facing is the safest option until they reach the weight limit of the seat. My sons seat is rear facing until 40 lbs and that is when I turned him. He is also 3 and has been riding forward facing for several months. Def read the manuals and I would seriously recommend @safeintheseat on Instagram. She has so much amazing content!

Answer

If the 3 year old’s seat will fit rear facing behind the passenger (I know you said it won’t fit behind driver) then please keep him rear facing in that location until he maxes out the upper rear facing weight limit of his seat. It is 532% safer for him to be rear facing than it is to turn him forward. Baby will be just fine located behind the driver if your infant seat won’t fit in the middle next to the convertible seat.

Answer

You have to do whats best for you. Rear facing is considered safest until age 4 or until they reach the limits of the seat, but waiting until 3 is still pretty good and sometimes its just doable until 4. Talk to your pediatrician if you are concerned.

Answer

Pretty sure kids only have to stay rear facing until 2 years old, longer is better but he will still be perfectly safe.

Answer

No matter what you decide about rear facing, I put my infant on the driver's side because I dont like the toddler having to get out in traffic. Easier to just grab the infant carrier on the traffic side.

Answer

It goes by weight, so he can face forward at three years old.

Answer

Graco has a slim model now.

Answer

We had to do this at 2 for this same reason.

Forward facing at 3 years old ?

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