forward facing carseat ?

aintnoyuppiemom

Does anyone else have their LO's in a forward facing carseat? It is rated for his weight but now that it is put together and installed I am a little leery of it. It would just make me feel a little less worried if others of you had transitioned to a forward facing and like it. Thanks

lizziebooper

No we have moved to the bigger car seat but it is still refacing. I am not sure about where you live but here in Ontario they have to be at least 1 before turning them around regardless of weight.

watuzzigal

Do you mean actually have the baby facing forward? Or just the seat style?

If you mean the baby is actually facing forward, you shouldn't feel better even if anyone else was doing it. It's illegal to ff in all US states before 1 (2 in some), and I am fairly sure it's the same in Canada. Keep that baby RF as long as possible.

Angela183

It's recommended that they remain rear facing until they are 2 for safety reasons.

botanicalbliss

Angela183 said:

It's recommended that they remain rear facing until they are 2 for safety reasons.

This.

Oohgurl

aintnoyuppiemom said:

Does anyone else have their LO's in a forward facing carseat? It is rated for his weight but now that it is put together and installed I am a little leery of it. It would just make me feel a little less worried if others of you had transitioned to a forward facing and like it. Thanks

No, do some research outside of the Bump. 2 years is the recommendation. 

aintnoyuppiemom

ok, I will take it out (and probably return it) and put the other one back in until I can go back to the store tomorrow. I thought it was to soon, but I thought since it was 3 in 1 it would have a rear-facing option. I bought it at WalMart and it was the bright blue hybrid three in one carseats. It was in my budget but now I guess I know why. Thanks ladies.

watuzzigal

No, don't return it. You should use THAT one rear facing.

Wait--does it say not to rear face with that model?

aintnoyuppiemom

watuzzigal  I didn't see it stated on the box whether it was strictly forward facing or not in the store. It was the last one with no model shown. I checked my phone to see if it was a recall and I was trying to stay away from Graco because of all their recalls. However when I took it out of the box I looked at the book and it didn't seem to have a rear facing option.

Oohgurl

I was doing some research on the Walmart to see which 3 in one you may have purchased to see if it can be rear facing. Most can. Which model do you have?  The one that seemed to be only forward facing was more expensive than the rear facing ones. 

watuzzigal

Is it this one?

https://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Baby-Trend-Hybrid-3-in-1-Booster-Car-Seat-Blue-Moon/24675226

You can't use this one RF.

ETA " 't "

aintnoyuppiemom

watuzzigal Yes that is the one. It can be RF? I read the installation book twice and everything seemed to be FF. The only thing I could think is if you use the regular seatbelt around those red handle looking things. That doesn't seem safe to me. I will have to read through it again and do more research, for my drive tomorrow I will just use my old one for one more trip. Thanks everyone.

watuzzigal

I'm sorry. I meant can't.

That stinks.

watuzzigal

Have you seen this site?

https://csftl.org

It's really good for picking car seats--and I think it even includes price points for budgets.

aintnoyuppiemom

watuzzigal okay, ha I was starting to feel a little slow, I really thought I read the book well enough. Thanks I will be bringing this seat back and expanding my budget DH will just have to accept it so LO is safe. Thanks again for the help all!

Schell2013

I've got the next carseat, a Britax convertible. When you can forward face is different depending on where you live. Here is is 1 year old and they have to be walking well on their own but they atrpy recommend waiting until at least 2 become their neck muscles aren't strong enough and they can internally decapitate themselves. Which is really morbid.

Eta- DD is rear facing still and will until she is two.

FmrAFBrat

https://www.joelsjourney.org

https://www.safercar.gov/parents/RightSeat.htm

My 2 year old is still rear facing. This is the one we use in my DHs car....very affordable. It's compact too. The new recs are closer to 3.

https://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/19514414?adid=1500000000000012981640&veh=mweb

aintnoyuppiemom

FmrAFBrat wow that is really in my budget. I hadn't wanted to order it off the internet just because when I needed it if it hadn't been shipped yet I was worried. I do not leave the house much and bought this carseat last Saturday and was going to help out my friend again this Saturday so that's why I was installing it tonight. I do not like how he looks in his original carseat but I may have to order one off the internet because my local walmarts all have the same options and there are only 4 or 5 different types.

Schell2013 wow I am going to have nightmares now and LO really will not be FF until he is two now no matter what the law is. I felt like he wasn't ready to FF which is why I posted this question on here.

I probably could've just researched the answer but for some reason I feel safer on certain subjects talking to actual parents with babies the same age. It reassures me a bit more. Thanks again.

Old carseat is re-installed and new carseat is back in its box and waiting to be taken back to the store!

Cgoode517

Check out the Facebook page Car Seats for the Littles. They are super informative and I have learned so much. You can even post pictures of your LO in the seat and pics of the car seat installed and they will let you know if there is anything that needs work.

emmy236

This is the one we have for R that my mom used. She runs errands during the day with him. He really likes it just as much as his expensive Maxi Cosi and it fit in my mom's smaller jeep when others wouldn't.

https://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Safety-1st-Guide-65-Sport-Convertible-Car-Seat-Oceanside/26845783?type=shop-by-department

smg2302

We made that mistake when we bought out convertible. Apparently the 3 in 1 just means ff, high back or backless booster.

FmrAFBrat

emmy236 said:

This is the one we have for R that my mom used. She runs errands during the day with him. He really likes it just as much as his expensive Maxi Cosi and it fit in my mom's smaller jeep when others wouldn't.

https://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Safety-1st-Guide-65-Sport-Convertible-Car-Seat-Oceanside/26845783?type=shop-by-department

That's the one in my picture above in another color. The pic is in a 3 series BMW. If that seat fits that car...it will fit about anywhere.

sourpatchkids

I really commend you for coming here and asking about this and having an open mind about it too.

The law is different everywhere. Here, for instance, the child must be 1 and 20 lbs.

We RFed B until right before he turned 2. N we will RF until over 2, most likely. I have several friends who's kids are 4 and are still RF.

Shoecrazysarah

Nice article about taller, older kids RFing.

https://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/120133/proof_that_older_taller_kids

mommatotwo2

The law in many places is 1 and 20 pounds. However, I have seen several videos and re-enactments of a young child forward facing during an accident, that were so scary and horrible and have definitely convinced me to rear face as long as possible. It's frustrating, because we have Britax Frontiers for our older DD which are awesome and 5 point harness to 85 pounds! They are a belt positioning high back booster after that to 120 pounds. Unfortunately, they only forward face and not until the child is 2 years old and 25 pounds. So we will need to purchase an in between seat. We will likely buy something that will be used from age 1 to age 3. Probably a Britax that rear faces.

TheyCalledHerKate

I would never FF before 2 years and want to go RF until at least 4. Watch the crash tests and read the statistics. Your child is so much safer in the event of a crash if he or she is rear facing. There's just no gray area to it, it's black and white.

PumpkinAndThePeanut

@nonniedee, how long do you want to keep K RFing? Just until 2, or longer? My understanding is that most of the inexpensive seats, while perfectly safe, don't allow RFing as long as some of the more expensive ones. I think they pretty much all will last to 2 years old though. Someone chime in and correct me if I'm wrong on that and there are some inexpensive seats that can be used for extended RFing, if that's what you even want to do. 

PumpkinAndThePeanut

mommatotwo2 said:

The law in many places is 1 and 20 pounds. However, I have seen several videos and re-enactments of a young child forward facing during an accident, that were so scary and horrible and have definitely convinced me to rear face as long as possible. It's frustrating, because we have Britax Frontiers for our older DD which are awesome and 5 point harness to 85 pounds! They are a belt positioning high back booster after that to 120 pounds. Unfortunately, they only forward face and not until the child is 2 years old and 25 pounds. So we will need to purchase an in between seat. We will likely buy something that will be used from age 1 to age 3. Probably a Britax that rear faces.

If your younger DD is tall for her age, you might want to re-think the Britax convertible seat if you want to keep her in it until 3. I could be wrong, but all the research I did when choosing a convertible seat said that the Britax seats had shorter shells than some of the other extended RFing ones, and so the child reached the RFing height limits sooner. 

FmrAFBrat

nonniedee said:

Well since I'm here, I'll take suggestions. I need an inexpensive seat. I'm rarely in a car, and the infant seat came with the travel system. She's still good in it for a while, but, I don't want to be ill prepared when she does need a convertible seat. I'm literally in a car maybe once every six months, so I'm not interested in spending a ton of money. TIA.

My recs are the Safety 1st Guide 65 and the Evenflo SureRide. Both seats rear face to 40 inches and 40 lbs harness to 65 lbs (52 inches) and can easily be found for under $100. The Guide 65 can also be found as the Eddie Bauer XRS 65 at Target and often goes on sale for $89 or $99.

The Safety 1st has an 8 year expiration date....so you could easily use the seat until LO is in kindergarten or 1st grade. Target had a great sale last weekend & I was able to snag 2 seats for DS2 at great prices.

As far as sales watch for the Graco MyRide, Safety 1st Complete Air, & Evenflo Triumph....they sometimes sell for as low as $120. More so in pink though. All good rear facing seats.

blush64

I was reading through and thought I would ask if anyone knows about the Diono Radian RXT? I was thinking of getting one but I want to make sure they are good and last a while. The young girl at the store said they weren't that popular but they look good.

FmrAFBrat

@PumpkinAndThePeanut‌ Here's the article on Shell Height measurement's. Both Graco & Safety 1st have seats that are affordable with decent height.

https://carseatblog.com/23355/rear-facing-convertible-seats-measurements-height-limits-weight-limits/

My 2 year old is 37 inches and 34 lbs....rear facing even in our Guide 65. I think people like to use the cost thing way to much as an excuse. We were actually going to spend more on a seat but that and the Combi Corroco were the only ones to fit DHs car.

PumpkinAndThePeanut

@blush64, the Diono Radian RXT is a good seat. It has one of the highest RFing weight limits on the market, and is also good for keeping taller kids RFing. It also has lower sides so your kids can climb into it themselves more easily (vs something like the Chicco Nextfit, which has taller sides, making it harder for the child to get into). The only negatives that I've heard are that it can be difficult to install, and it takes up a lot of space front to back when RFing. Diono makes a $10 angle adjustor that can be used to help reduce the angle, but I think it is still a bit of a space hog even with that. I was going to get the Radian RXT but didn't think they'd fit in our car. 

blush64

@PumpkinAndThePeanut‌ thanks for the information. Right now it would go in a pretty small car but we are looking into buying a mini-van soon. As unpopular as they can be I love mini-vans.

Edit This is great information. My mind is made up.

jesselayne8

PumpkinAndThePeanut said:

@blush64, the Diono Radian RXT is a good seat. It has one of the highest RFing weight limits on the market, and is also good for keeping taller kids RFing. It also has lower sides so your kids can climb into it themselves more easily (vs something like the Chicco Nextfit, which has taller sides, making it harder for the child to get into). The only negatives that I've heard are that it can be difficult to install, and it takes up a lot of space front to back when RFing. Diono makes a $10 angle adjustor that can be used to help reduce the angle, but I think it is still a bit of a space hog even with that. I was going to get the Radian RXT but didn't think they'd fit in our car. 

We have 2 radian XRTs and I LOVE them. I got a much tighter install with them than my britax marathons and they are much better for extended RFing. I drive a small/mid size SUV and I didn't need the angle adjuster but it is very close to my seat. I have my 26 month old in the radian and my 9 month old in the marathons. Another good thing about the radian is it has a 10yr expiration date.

Shoegal36

Jumping in with a random question but do all the convertible seats have height limits for RF and FF? I didn't see any height limits on the Radian but I haven't even taken it out of the box yet.

FmrAFBrat

Shoegal36 said:

Jumping in with a random question but do all the convertible seats have height limits for RF and FF? I didn't see any height limits on the Radian but I haven't even taken it out of the box yet.

It's on that chart I just posted from car seat blog. It gives the entire breakdown. I think it's 44 inches.

Shoegal36

@FmrAFBrat Sorry I missed that, thanks!

AimeeSue02

Go to You Tube and look up crash test videos of rear facing vs forward facing car seats. You will want to keep your LO RF as long as possible after seeing them.

D&S724

I switched my older kids to FF at age 1.  They barely made it to that point because they HATED RF. However, B seems perfectly content to stay RF, so I'll keep him that way for as long as possible.  

Mommy2CB

It is not recommended until age 2. I definitely would not face a 9 month old forward...