For anyone who is wondering...

YES! Dakoda is still rear facing in his car seat in my new pictures, even though he is over 1 year and 20 lbs.
If you would like to know why, please visit this link:

http://forum. myspace. com/index. cfm?fuseaction=messageboard. viewThread&groupID=106059317&page=0&EntryID=68819533&CategoryID=0&get=1&adTopicId=23&lastpagesent=1&Mytoken=D8C8740C-CEDA-4CAA-87EEAA69C7C77EBB29753782

It is the story of a little boy named Joel who was forward facing in his car seat when the car hit a tree at 35 mph. Joel suffered from internal decapitation, meaning that his skull became detached from his body, and was only held on by skin. Luckily, he survived, but is wearing a halo and headed for some very intense physical therapy.

While state law only requires you to rear face your children until 1 year and 20 lbs, the American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends:

"Children should face the rear of the vehicle until they are at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 lb to decrease the risk of cervical spine injury in the event of a crash. Infants who weigh 20 lb before 1 year of age should ride rear facing in a convertible seat or infant seat approved for higher weights until at least 1 year of age. If a car safety seat accommodates children rear facing to higher weights, for optimal protection, the child should remain rear facing until reaching the maximum weight for the car safety seat, as long as the top of the head is below the top of the seat back."

For most convertible carseats, the weight limit for rear facing is between 30-35 lbs.

If you'd like more information or videos, just Google "extended rear facing" or look it up on Youtube. I'll go ahead and warn you, though, some of the videos are not for the faint of heart.

I don't mean to sound preachy or overbearing, this is just another subject about which I feel very strongly. I hope that I don't offend anyone, and that everyone realizes that I'm only posting this because I care. :)