Question Rear facing car seats

Hello! I'm confused. My husband and I are looking for a car seat to transition my son into when he outgrows his Britax B-Agile infant seat. I know that the AAP recommends rear facing until age two or older, but all of the highest rated seats my husband found through the IIHS are forward facing. Are we missing something? Could a forward facing seat be safe if it's the right one?

Also we were looking to get a three-in-one, as I don't believe my son will be big enough for a two-in-one by the time he outgrows his infant seat. Do they make rear facing seats that can transition into a booster? We have been unable to find any.

Thank you!

IIHS doesn't do safety testing on seats. The evaluations you read are for the fit of booster seats which are seats that use the vehicle seat belt to hold an older child in; not a harness. IIHS evaluates boosters for fit to help parents buy a booster that is likely to fit their child well. And a better fit means the child is safer. But it's not crash testing. And it's not a seat type that your child will use until years down the road.

You are looking for a convertible seat to use in the rear facing position. If you can give us your child's age, weight, height, seated height or shirt size and what vehicle you drive, people here can give you recommendations.

Hello there and welcome to car-seat.org! Thank you so much for bringing your question to this board. It can be confusing because there are no official comparison ratings for car seats, and so parents looking for that information often stumble across data such as the IIHS booster fit categories and get confused. Rest assured, the safest seat for your son is one that will fit your vehicle and child well and allow him to stay rear-facing as long as possible -- at least until age 2 and as close to age 4 as possible.

This resource and the associated links may be a good starting point: http://carseatblog.com/34264/the-best-and-safest-carseat/

But of course if you would like to give us his stats and the make and model of the vehicle, we can likely give some more tailored recommendations.

As far as 3-in-1 seats that can be used rear-facing, forward-facing, and as a booster, there are a few seats that fit that description. However, keep in mind that if you plan to have more children in the future, it may be more economical and convenient to buy a seat specifically for each stage and then plan to pass them down to younger siblings, rather than trying to find a single seat that can meet all needs.



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