When To Turn Your Child’s Car Seat Around

As your little one grows, sizing up their car seat and changing from a rear-facing to a forward-facing car seat become necessities. The most important thing at every step is keeping your child safe. It’s essential for any current or expecting parent to have an understanding of car seat safety and regulations.

We’re going in-depth on car seat logistics, safety, and when it’s time to turn your child’s car seat around as they grow. Our team has dedicated time to researching car seat safety essentials and developed this guide to provide you with reliable information on the importance of keeping your child safe and knowing when it’s time to size up your seat.

Generally speaking, your child should be in a rear-facing car seat until they are at least two years old. However, it is recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to keep your child in a rear-facing car seat until age three. Age can help to determine when it’s time to size up, but height and weight should be the main factors to determine when it is time for your child to face forward in their car seat or upgrade to accommodate your growing child.

Height And Weight Limits

You should keep your child in a rear-facing car seat until they reach the maximum weight or height limit that your infant car seat or convertible car seat has listed in the car seat manufacturer details. Generally speaking, most infant car seats have a weight limit of 30.0 to 35.0 pounds, with a height limit of 30.0 to 32.0 inches. Once your child outgrows the height or weight limit of the infant seat – with most children reaching the height limit first – it is time to switch to a convertible seat that is still in a rear-facing position.

Minimum Age: Two Years Old

The past rule for when it’s time to turn a car seat around is when your child is two years old. Today, it should be considered the minimum age, but height and weight should also be taken into account. You should not solely rely on age as the determining factor of when it’s time to upgrade your seat. Instead, you should plan to switch to a forward-facing car seat when your child reaches the maximum rear-facing car seat weight, usually between 40.0 to 50.0 lbs., or a height of at least 40.0 in. tall. Depending on which comes first, height or weight, your child should stay in a rear-facing position until reaching the height and weight requirements for a forward-facing seat.

After your child reaches the rear-facing height or weight limit in a convertible car seat, you can safely turn the seat around into a forward-facing position. Continue using the car seat harness for as long as possible until your child outgrows the maximum height or weight limits that your car seat manual details. 

There are two types of car seats on the market that you should consider when looking into buying your first car seat for your little one. In the event of a crash, both of these styles of car seats are designed to offer some of the best protection for your infant or young child. The decision will depend on if you are looking for a rear-facing only infant seat or a convertible seat that will grow with your child as they size up and move into a forward-facing position.   

Infant Car Seats

Infant car seats are designed specifically for infants in mind, and should only be placed in a rear-facing position. Children often size out of this seat by the time they are around 30.0 to 32.0 in. or 30.0 to 35.0 lbs. A good way to see that it may be time for a new rear-facing seat is if your child’s head is less than an inch away from the top of the seat when buckled in with a five-point harness. You should still check their height and weight before moving to a rear-facing convertible seat.

Convertible Car Seats

The luxury of convertible car seats is they grow with your child from rear-facing to front-facing. However, if you are looking to purchase a convertible car seat, it is important to check the manufacturer’s information to ensure that the child’s rear-facing height and weight minimum are adequate for your infant. 

When it is time to turn into a front-facing position, you can still use your convertible car seat, which is a safe and reliable choice as long as it is installed correctly in your vehicle. Your child should still use the five-point harness and tether attached to the car seat. Not until the age of four to five can your child start using a seat belt in addition to a high-back booster seat, depending on their height and weight. 

When you’re considering any car seat, safety should be the top priority. Experts and researchers in the automotive industry are responsible for putting car seats through rigorous testing and multiple stages of approval before these products are released on the market for the public.

Beyond manufacturing and testing, a 2020 study by the NHTSA showed that 46 percent of car seats weren’t installed correctly in vehicles. This puts young children at risk for serious injury during auto accidents. Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit that aims to prevent injuries in children reported in 2017 that one child under the age of 13 is involved in a car accident every 33 seconds. That’s equivalent to more than 2,600 children being involved in a car crash each day.

Car seat safety included making sure your car seat is installed correctly and you are staying up to date with safety features. The safety of your child should be a top priority when you get behind the wheel with your little one in the back seat.

Resources On Car Seat Safety

Numerous verified resources discuss car seat safety, the importance of having a correctly fitted car seat for your little one, and the testing that goes into ensuring different car seats are safe to be sold on the market. Below are a few resources we recommend, they offer information on crash testing, air travel, and injury prevention concerning recalls and general car seat safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

The NHTSA is a United States government agency dedicated to making the roads safer for drivers, workers, pedestrians, and children. They offer various resources to inform parents about car seat safety including an easy way to check for potential car seat safety issues and recalls that can occur at any time.

The NHTSA also has various test dummies, ranging from an adult male to a newborn infant. Through the use of crash and car seat testing, they can better evaluate how safe car seats and vehicles are. This allows the NHTSA to provide reliable and honest information as well as recommendations for the best car seats that will fit your child and vehicle, and most importantly, keep your toddler safe.

One of the NHTSA’s most useful resources for parents in the market for car seats is its guide to car and booster seats. This informational page covers the different types of seats for children, as well as how to select a car seat and install it. The guide also helps you find local sites where certified technicians can inspect your car seat to see if it meets safety standards and is installed correctly.

Federal Aviation Administration

The FAA covers all information or concerns you could have about air travel. The FAA’s goal is to provide a safe, functional, and efficient way to travel by air. The FAA has information on flying with children. This covers the necessary age range for flying with a car seat, as well as guidance on installing a child restraint system (CRS) if your child is under two years of age.

The FAA does recommend that children who are still required to sit in a booster seat should have a car seat as an added safety precaution in case of turbulence or unexpected runway incidents that are rare but can occur.

National Child Passenger Safety Certification

The National Child Passenger Safety Certification Training Program (CPS certification program) is a program of the Safe Kids Worldwide organization made up of technicians who certify individuals to become child passenger safety technicians and instructors. As a group of experts, the certified child passenger safety technicians can educate, support, and guide parents and others interested in taking part in the program on car seat inspections and car seat safety. 

Their website also offers an abundance of information regarding car seat safety and choosing the right car seat for your child, ranging from forward-facing or rear-facing car seats to high-back booster seats. From giving information on buying, installing, finding the right fit, and even knowing when it is time to change to a larger seat, this company works to make car seat safety easier and more understandable for all parents.

In 2022, our reviews team launched a study to gauge what shoppers valued most while searching for car seats. This is what consumers told us they look for before purchasing any size or style of car seats:

• Approximately 89 percent of respondents stated safety as their top priority.
• Over 46 percent of respondents said the car seat needed to be the appropriate size for their child.
• 42 percent of those surveyed mentioned functionality as a priority.
• Over 38 percent of respondents listed easy installation.

Our team also found that 73 percent of respondents rarely uninstall their car seat once it is in place. Roughly a quarter of those surveyed said the most they removed the car seat was a handful of times each month.

The NHTSA has an online function to identify the ease of use ratings for nearly every type of car seat available on the market. As we’ve established, safety and ease of use are closely related and are two of the highest priorities of people buying car seats.

The safety tips and information in this guide are designed to help you know when it’s time to move your child from a rear-facing seat to a front-facing seat, including what kinds of car seats might be the right choice for you. Safety is our top priority, so we have provided all the need-to-know information as your little one grows into a toddler.

Here are a few frequently asked questions about which way to face your car seat.

*Data accurate at time of publication.