What do car seat manuals say about rf/ff?

I live in CA, which I believe is a proper use state for car seats...

"Children MUST be secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint (safety seat or booster seat) IN THE BACK SEAT OF A VEHICLE until they are at least 6 years old or weigh at least 60 pounds."

So does California have a defacto "20lbs before ff law"?

I want to know what car seat manuals say about rf and ff. I know that infant seats MUST be used rf. Do the convertible car seats say that children MUST be rear-facing if under 20lbs and MUST be at least 20lbs to use the seat ff? Do any of the manuals say anything about the age - that a child must be at least a year old to be forward-facing?

I know that some convertible carseats - specifically from Dorel - require that children be at least 34in to be forward-facing. Do any other manufacturers have other requirements related to height?

Thanks for your help!

Melanie

I know most seats coming out do now say age 1 AND 20/22 lbs. They must be both before riding FFing. All the seats I bought recently I *think* all had age minimums of 1 to FF. Britax on their box says to rear face as long as possible.

As far as I know, no one else has a height requirement except Dorel.

My evenflo titan manual states child must be 20lbs and 1 year before forward facing. It also says (different page) that many safety advocates and healthcare professionals recommend that children ride rearfacing for as long as possible. While that is great they say that how many people actually read the manual that thoroughly? I'm guessing only people who already know about rearfacing.

it varies. Britax only recommends at least age 1. Others have that weird statement about only using the seat rf for a child under age 1 and less than 20 lbs- which is just a confusing wording for the 1 and 20 rule.

My Evenflo Tribute Manual (DOM 2007) states:

• If your child weighs between 5 and 30 lbs (2.3 and 13.6 kg), AND is at least 19 inches (48 cm) tall AND the top of the child’s head is at least 1 inch (25 mm) below the top of the child restraint seat back AND is less than one year old, you MUST use this child restraint rear-facing.
• If your child weighs between 20 and 30 lbs (9 and 13.6 kg) AND is at least 1 year of age, you can use the child restraint either rear-OR forward-facing.
• If your child weighs between 30 and 40 lbs (13.6 and 18 kg), is less than 40 inches (101 cm) tall, AND is at least 1 year of age, you MUST use this child restraint forward-facing.

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ETA: My Scenera manual states (in the warnings) to never put a child less than 1 year old forward facing. And goes on to state these minimums for FF:

22-40 lbs (10.1-18 kg)
34-43 in. (85.1-110 cm)
and Over 1 Year Old

Forward-Facing using
5-point harness
Child and child restraint
face the front of the
vehicle and are placed in
the back seat.

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Hi Melanie!

I don't have my EFTA manual handy at the moment and I'm too lazy/cold to go out and get it tonight.

I DO know that it says 1yr and 20lbs to be FF, and it also says that kids under 1yr and 20lbs must be RF, kids over 1yr but 20-35lbs may be either RF or FF, and kids over 1yr and 35lbs must be FF. I am almost certain it says something in there about RF as long as possible, but I could be wrong... if you'd like me to check for sure, let me know.

Jan06twinmom said:

So does California have a defacto "20lbs before ff law"?

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Yes. The way California's law is worded makes it a "proper use" state.

As far as I know, every manufacturer has a 1 year and 20 lb minimum to FF. This is a quote from a Britax representative from another thread:

Sarah Tilton -> Section S5.5.2(k)(2) of FMVSS 213dictates this statement verbiage Use only in a rear-facing position when using it with an infant weighing less than XX. The manufacturer is to insert a weight that is not less than 20lbs.

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(For the record, she was answering a question about the confusing wording on car seat labels.)