To turn or not to turn?

That is the question.

I am speaking, of course, about car seats. And rear facing. And such.

We finally opted to turn Cannon around forward facing this weekend, much to the dismay of ERF proponents worldwide, I’m sure. At nearly 17 months old he is well past the weight and age limits required by law, and he outlasted Cole rear-facing by nearly five months. I had originally planned to keep him rear-facing until the recommended 2 years of age, even though the law is a year and 20 pounds.

But my sweet big boy Cole is getting taller every day and was running out of room on the driver side of the back seat, since my legs are really long and I have to have the seat pushed all the way back to drive comfortably. The Air Protect that Cannon rides in doesn’t allow for the seat to be pushed all the way back either, so he has been on the passenger side since it is rarely occupied. So the only answer I could really see was to put the shorter kid behind me so that Cole could have some more leg room. So that’s what happened.

I know people say to just have kids sit with their legs crossed, broken legs are better than broken necks, rear facing is the absolute safest possible position. And I agree with all of those statements. But they are only in the car for 15 minutes a day on most days. Most everywhere we go is within a 20-mile radius of our house.

Of course, all those are reasons why I could have kept Cannon rear-facing a bit longer, since we are never in the car for very long.

I don’t know.

Maybe I’m trying to justify the decision in my mind. Others have turned their younger children. Others have kept their children rear-facing until age 3. I guess in the long run, as long as we’re comfortable with the decision, that’s all that matters. And I am. Mostly.

I’m still breastfeeding. Does that make up for it?

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