17 Lbs. 7 Month Old Soon to Outgrow Rearfacing Car Seat...

Graco recently started making infant carseats similar to the Snugrider that are for up to 30 lbs. They sell them at Babies r Us. Or, you could get a convertible carseat and install it rear facing. I've researched car seats and since you will have to use it rear facing until your little girl is at least a year old, it's important to get one that comes with a tether. A tether is a long strap that keeps the car seat steady in case of an accident. In rear facing installation, the tether attaches to the bottom/base of the front seat of the car. Britax carseats have tethers. Babies r Us offers seminars about carseat installation and selection, which is where I learned about tethers.

In fact, people don't even need to use the infant seats at all - technically you could get a "convertible" car seat (we have a Britax Roundabout that we've been very pleased with) from the get-go. Included are instructions on how to install them to be rear facing. The recommendation is "rear for a year;" however, my pediatrician/local firemen recommended keeping a child rear facing for as long as they can stand it. I think we flipped my son around to forward facing around 18 months or so. I have a few friends with children well over age 2 and they are still rear facing.
The problem with the infant seats is that the child often gets too dang heavy to carry in them or too long for them well before the manufacturers guidelines. If their heads are above the edge of the back of the seat, they are too big. I'm pretty sure we got the convertible seat when my son was about 6-7 months old, and he was a preemie, so not even as big as your normal kid at that age! Good luck & stay safe!

Hi A. - we had to move my son out of the infant seat around 7-8 months. He had not yet reached the weight limit, but it was the dead of winter and it was getting to cramped to strap him in the SnugRide with his warmer clothes on. We got the Britax Marathon and currently use it rear facing. It can then be turned forward when the child can no longer be rear facting (at least when they are one year or older).

Okay so it looks like she can be in the snugride to 22 lbs but she can definitely move up. You can switch to a new car seat such as a Britax Marathon/Roundabout or other similar car seat and place it rear facing. Then they can stay in that car seat, rear facing, until at least 1 year and 20 lbs but really you should keep them rear facing for as long as they will tolerate. It is the safest way. My guy was rear facing until 16 months. They usually can stay in the second car seat for a long time, just check the weight limits. Here are the options for you on the Babies R Us website.

http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2256196

To the rear for a year!

Your Graco sunride should go up to 22 pounds. If for some reason your child surpasses that before her first birthday you may wish to look into getting one of the Britax products that are both rear- and forward-facing.

We had to move to a convertible car seat when my daughter was about 7 months old. We have a Graco (Comfortsport? I think). After doing the research and comparing, it didn't seem worth the money to buy a Britax. Our daughter is happy and it had high safety ratings. Also, after having a Snugride, it seemed logical to stay with Graco since the belts and clasps all are the same and we are used to them...

We had to switch my daughter out of the carseat at 7 months-- she was well under the weight limit (probably 17 pounds) but too tall/long. We switched to a Britax Roundabout (recommended by the book Baby Bargains). We installed it rear-facing until she turned one and then turned it around. We're very happy with it.