To Turn Around Or Not To Turn Around

MY DAUGHTER IS ABOUT TO TURN ONE, SHE IS 24 POUNDS AND ABOUT 28 1/2 INCHES. THE STRAPS ON HER REAR FACING CARSEAT IS STILL ON THE FIRST LEVEL, BUT HER SHOULDERS ARE NARROW AND THE STRAPS DON'T STAY ON PROPERLY. THE BELTS ARE SO TIGHT THAT I THINK THEY ARE TOO TIGHT. I KNOW REAR-FACING IS THE SAFEST AND SHE HAS A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME TO BE IN THAT POSITION. BUT IN FORWARD FACING THE STRAPS CAN BE OVER THE SHOULDERS WHICH KEEPS HER IN PROPER RESTRAINTS. SO THE QUESTION IS DO I CHANGE POSITION ON HER FIRST BIRTHDAY. IS IT REALLY SAFE FOR HER TO BE TURNED AROUND AT A YEAR.

No, it's not safer to turn her forward...12 months is really just the absolute bare minimum youngest you can turn her forward. Here's a great page on why this is the case http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
What seat is she in? How MUCH further up are the next sets of slots? The reason keeping the harness slots "at or below" the shoulders is to prevent the child ramping up and out of the seat in a crash, but if they are slipping off her shoulders, they aren't helping much in that respect, so it might be better to just move them up to the next slots up, even if they are a bit above her shoulders, as the protection for her neck when rearfacing is so much greater than forward facing.

Hope that helps a bit,

FEAR-FACING

I DONT KNOW THE NAME OF THE CAR SEAT BUT THE LOWER STRAPS AND TOP ONES HAVE SLOTS THAT ARE HORIZONTAL WHILE THE MIDDLE ONES ARE DIAGONAL AND THE STRAPS TWIST IN THAT SLOT. AND IT IS WITHIN AN INCH OF HER SHOULDERS

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY

New Seat...

I would first of all get her a new seat...when she turns 1 & is over 20lbs she can be turned around....that being said Britax makes seats that go to a higher weight limit rear facing...that is the safer direction...
My oldest was rear facing until 22 mos because she didn't weigh 20 lbs...
I would get a new carseat, I LOVE my Britax seats...very easy to latch in & SUPER safe....I use LATCH
Good luck

My daughter is very tall & thin ... when she was only 3.5 months old she reached the maximum height limit for her bucket seat -- we bought a convertable shield, but it didn't fit securely rear-facing & we didn't know that the Sheriff & Fire Stations offer vouchers for car seats, so in our lack of knowledge & limited financial resources at the time [family of 5 living off only $20K/yr] we ended up positioning her forward-facing She was definitely not ready for it & I knew it & worried like crazy, but didn't know what else to do ... her seat wobbled a LOT in the rear-facing position. Since that time I've learned much more & have been able to save money for the best possible seat. I now have my 2.5 year old in a rear-facing Britax Wizard & she is very happy -- she enjoys sitting backwards much more than she did facing front & I know she's whole lot safer if we have an accident! Some seats hold kids rear-facing up to 35 pounds & the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long s the child fits within the weight/height limit. My daughter is only about 24# & will most likely be able to remain rear-facing now for about another year or so.