Is Your Toddler Too Old For a Rear-Facing Car Seat?
Why You Shouldn't Be Worried About Keeping Your Toddler Rear-Facing For "Too Long"
It's a Myth to Say That a Child Is "Too Old" to Rear-Face
Of course, convertible car seats have height and weight limits as suggested by the manufacturers, but not all children outgrow those limits by age 2 (and on the other end of the spectrum, some may outgrow them before that). If your child's second birthday has come and gone, but they're still within the rear-facing limits of their seat, it's suggested you keep them facing the back of the car.
Dr. Hoffman goes so far to say that "Age is a good benchmarking tool, but . . . parents should not make the switch to forward-facing until their child outgrows the rear-facing weight and height limits for their car seat according to the instruction manual."
Hawker, however, notes that there are a lot of important factors besides weight and height limits at play, and mentions that children don't necessarily need to outgrow their seat to forward face. "After [a child's first birthday], many factors need to be considered," he said. "It is always critical that the car seat is used correctly. That includes the install of the car seat to the vehicle and the fit of the child in the car seat. The car seat must be used correctly every single time to protect correctly every single time."
