To forward face, or not to forward face.

Zachary is almost 19 months old, and he's actively rejecting any and everything that might indicate we may be treating his like a baby and not like the big boy that he's fighting to become.  He idily pushes around food that we've cut too small, and aggressively devours food that is in it's original form.  He sighs, patiently, and indulges in our over-protective need to hold his hand while he's going up and down stairs, and his new favorite phrase is "NO MAMA!"

The latest multiple times a day struggle is the car seat.  He's still rear facing, based on newish findings that childrens should stay rear facing until 2 years old.  His legs do not straighten out when he's seated, and it gives him A LOT of leverage for squirming.  I sit him in the car seat, and he pistons his legs out, launching sideways, throwing himself out of the car seat and into the passenger back seat.  He sits there, like a big boy, and starts fumbling with the seat belt.  He KNOWS he needs to be belted in, just has no interest in doing it in a car seat, looking the wrong direction.  When I drag him back into his car seat, I'm pretty much physically restraining him while he screams and I strap him in.  This adds a lot of stress, guilt, and general anxiety to both of our mornings.

Buckle up, Mama!



So, here's my dilema.  He is 35 3/4" tall and 30.5 pounds.  He's off the growth charts in ever category.  Do I continue to fight him for the next 5 months, or do I go ahead and flip him around to forward facing - where the view is more interesting, and his legs won't be up against anything, giving him the momentum to get away faster.  His safety is top priority to me, but there's something to be said for my sanity in this whole deal, too.

P.S. - Look, Jennifer E! 324 words! :-)