I am just wondering if anyone has a link that says what the law of car seats is in Japan. Here in the sates my child is supposed to be rear facing until she is two, but my son only made it to one before he was the height of a 3 year old lol. So I am just wondering what the law is, is it an age thing or by weight and height?
Thank you

Even if their legs are bent and they are tall they are supposed to sit rear facing until 2. i dont think the laws are that strict in japan but if you type in the keyword carseats another thread about this will pop up and i believe it has the correct information. but if youre on base the law is 2 however im thinking they certainly dont reinforce this EVER because i see infant not even in a car seat and kids not buckled in or using boosters. they could at least put them in a carseat even if its not rear facing at least its safer than NO car seat. this is a huge pet peeve of mine and if i see kids not in boosters or carseats i call security on them and give out plate numbers.

I see Japanese children all the time riding in the laps of adults in the front seats, crawling over the backs of the cars while driving and so on. I know on base regular car seat laws apply ( rear facing until two, booster seat until height/age appropriate). Every taxi (should) have a booster in it you can use, and I know a couple have infant seats as well. When you call a taxi just ask for one, for those who didn't know

My son is three, and by around one and a half, would use his legs (pretty long) to PUSH against the back of the seat (rear facing) and screamed the entire time, so we gave up and turned him around a bit early. Dumb move on my part, and if I were to do it over again I'd have dealt with the screaming and pushing. I was just at my limit, and we were supposed to drive across country to get to San Diego, so I said forget it.

I'm pretty sure that on-base they require you to follow the state-side carseat laws, but I could be wrong about that. I know my daughter's pediatrician here recommended keeping her rear-facing until age 2 if possible, and then still in a carseat until I think it was 40 lbs? I'm not quite sure, but she just turned one, so that's a ways away for us....

My son at the age of 1 was 3.6 feet tall. It was more dangerous for him to ride facing back than it was forward. His Dr told me to turn him because if we were to get in a wreck he would break his legs. She even came out to the car and watched me put him in (It feels so odd when some one is watching you do this lol) and said "Oh my gosh, this is like making a 7foot tall man sit in the back seat of a plane." It made me laugh so hard I about peed my pants, daddy is tall and grandpa is even taller so he might just be 7 foot tall lol. I agree that they should be in some sort of restraint, but it does need to be case by case or go by weight and height. I came home from the hospital in a box, I lived lol!
I don't know how the driver is comfortable with the kids bouncing around, gosh it would scare me to death lol. We are thinking about just getting a bike for on post anyways... Make my 3 baby old body get back into shape ;-)

Thank you for all the answers

Thats crazy! Luckily for me, our daughter is right at average size for her age... Makes it easy for us! I don't think it's a problem to have him forward facing, as long as he's in a carseat or booster seat to keep him safe.

It scares me to see Japanese people driving with their children unrestrained... I know there are minimal accidents here, but still...

Japanese drivers are a lot more careful driving than we are. At least for the most part.
One thing that most people don't think about is who will pay for the medical bill if an accident occurs and the proper safety precautions are not taken. I know that a service member riding a motorcycle may be held accountable for his own medical expenses if he gets into an accident while not wearing the proper safety equipment. That same thing may be true if you get into an accident and your child is not in the proper child seat.
The CFAY Traffic Safety office will be able to explain all of the applicable laws here in Japan and I am pretty sure that they even spend time on the subject in AOB. The hospital's health promotions office in the Fleet Rec should have some information as well.

seriously 2 years old rear facing? my kids legs are too at a year to keep them rear facing, I've always just tried to buy the safest I can think of, "Britax" and buckle up for safety. When did it change to 2? We moved here when our son was 14 months from San Diego and we had him forward facing at 1 year, in 2010....was I breaking the law? and even when we went back to the states during evac he wasn't yet 2 and had him forward facing, even got pulled over for speeding in one of "fallon nsa" darn speed traps, how I forgot about it I don't know but they let me off with a warning, and she didnt say anything about his car seat not being rear facing. I'm a bad mommy :o(

Well Deamarie... They may say it is a Law, but they don't really have a way to enforce it... Most people don't walk around with their childs birth certificate... I don't lol.

I didn't think it was a law but more a recommendation? I agree with you deamarie my son is 10 months and his legs already push against the seat. I can't imagine keeping him rear facing till he is 2!!! Hope I don't get in trouble for turing his seat once he turns one!!!

I never said it was the law to keep her rear facing until 2.... I said that's what her pediatrician recommended. And yes, these days, they recommend you keep your child rear facing until age 2. Check the American Academy of Pediatrics or whatever it's called, and you'll see that on their page. Obviously if your child is too big, that's not viable. I'm fairly certain that they mean as long as its feasible.

I personally would rather have a child with a broken leg or two than one who had been internally decapitated in an accident because they weren't in the safest position possible. Rear facing is exponentially safer for young children than forward facing. Does your child not sit with their legs crossed when sitting on the floor? Are their legs always straight? They will survive sitting with their legs crossed or hanging off the side of the seat for a little while in the car.