Extended Rear-facing

[papooses]

My daughter is 2.5 years old [24# 38"] ... I had her seat checked by a local CPS tech & he said "rearfacing is safest up to a point" & said that because my daughter's knees are bent [not crossed, feet up on the seat with her knees near her shoulders] she should be forward facing. He let me leaver with her rear-facing, though, because the Wizard holds up to 33 pounds RF. I'm just wondering why he'd say she should be forward facing when I thought even crossed legs was fine? Can someone elaborate for me on this issue of extended rear-facing?

[CPSDarren]

At some point, it will be a comfort issue, but it has never been shown to be a safety issue. If the child is content, it should not be an issue to have bent knees, feet hanging over the side, etc.

Some people like to say, "Better a broken leg than a broken neck." Even so, I don't think there have even been reports of broken legs from extended rear-facing.

We turned our daughter front-facing around 18 months in our wagon. It was extremely cramped because of the upright seats and she hated it. In our minivan with the captain's chairs reclined, she almost made it to 4 years old rear-facing...

[papooses]

Thanks ... I was thinking the same thing ... all I could manage to tell him was that she is happier RF! I can tell others giving their opinion that it does not increase her chances of a broken leg, right? ;)

[UlrikeDG]

I say something like, "There's not a single documented case of broken legs due to extended rear facing, but there are many cases of broken NECKS due to front facing too soon."

[papooses]

I may copy that verbatim! :p