Okay be honest about your carseat

KMLP

Who here switched their child to forward facing at one year or soon after, or who plans to do so?  If you switched, why?  Was your child fussing, too tall, etc?

1MusicMaker

Rear facing for as long as the carseat allows.

I googled the stats;o)

carolinag

he will RF until 2, no matter how much fussing he does. i prefer and uncomfortable, fussing, alive baby. 

but i will admit i am terrified of car accidents so i am super concerned about car safety in general. you will never see my under 2 year old child FFing, nor will you ever see me driving an SUV. safety first for the neurotic carolinag. 

brandonsfuturewife07

we have this one:

in the front seat.  is that wrong?

anna7602

I don't have a car. When we use our carseat ourselves, we place it RF, but if I am getting a ride from a friend who has a second car seat, I never say anything if they have it installed FF. We just spent a week in England with DD riding FF everywhere.

SuperCuteBenz

Rear-facing.

She will be that way until at least 2, then I will evaluate and go from there.

vanillacourage

DS is RFing.  Plan to do it until he's 2 unless he hits the height limit for the seat.  Sometimes he throws a fit but for now I'm still bigger than him.

mel41g

I switched him on his 1st birthday.  I read the research and I still decided to switch him.  Why - partially because his legs were bent up against the back of the seat, and partially because I couldn't WAIT to have him FF.  I don't regret it, he is so much better in the car now that he can see me and see out the car windows.

beachlovinbride

we were on vacation when ds turned one so the switch happened the moment we got home;)  he didnt like sitting backwards, kicked the seat.  he is a much happier traveler now and I have no regrets...I will take the risk of him ff vs. hearing him scream EVERYTIME he gets in the carseat.

BabyMenzel

RF until 1yr and then FF for one month because he was freak.ing. out and screaming at the top of his lungs even before he would get in the car, then when in the car i couldn't handle it. then back to RF for another 1m cause i felt guilty/wanted to see if he would tolerate it and now he's back to FF

joecubed

we are RFing to the limits of the seat.  we solved the fussiness with a Baby Einstein cd and a sippy cup.  he fusses because he doesn't like to be strapped down or restrained in any way, so FF isn't going to fix that for us.

kickenb

I have Sam still in his infant carseat.  It's the Chicco keyfit 30 and he still hasn't outgrown it yet.  But once I do move him over to the convertible, he will RF as long as he is within the limits.

deeregirl31

RF as long as we can keep her that way. We bought the seat we did for that reason.

newportbride715

I can't speak for the future but DS is still RFing and we hope to keep him that way for a while. He is 34 inches tall. He is totally happy and comfy. Our seat luckily has a very high RF limit.

I DID however, plan on switching him to FFing at 1 year, but after reading some helpful tips on this board last winter, I did more research on my own, and we decided to keep him RFing.

KMLP

brandonsfuturewife07:

we have this one:

in the front seat.  is that wrong?

LMAO!

deeregirl31

joecubed:

we are RFing to the limits of the seat.  we solved the fussiness with a Baby Einstein cd and a sippy cup.  he fusses because he doesn't like to be strapped down or restrained in any way, so FF isn't going to fix that for us.

 We do the same thing or she really likes the baby mirror, I brought it back and the fussing has pretty much went away.

Mrs.tlcS

It's RF.  By law in my area, seeing as how she's still too little to FF.

With any luck, she'll be able to FF around age 15.

BabyMenzel

KMLP:

brandonsfuturewife07:

we have this one:

in the front seat.  is that wrong?

LMAO!

someone's SO came to work to get the carseat and put it in his car, and it was one just.like.this 

LoriFalce

FF. He has outgrown his seat's RF height limits.

Temp174496125006552

He'll be 18 months on the 28th and he's still RFing. 

The top of his head is 2-2.5 inches from the top of the seat, so I'm researching other convertible seats so that I can continue to keep him RFing.  I have no plans to turn him anytime soon.  It's just safer for them to be RFing, so that's what we're doing. 

Tess12

She's RF.  She's short and she still has her little baby mirror to look at which keeps her happy.  But I don't judge people who have their children FF.  Most of my friends do.  Yes, I know RF is safer, but I'm not sure when FF became the equivalent of strapping your kid to the roof with duct tape.

618mom22boys

Switched at a year.  I have a 2 door car, so RF would have been really hard.  Plus DS likes to sit FF. 

LittleApple

DD is RF'ing and will stay that way until 2.  She can look out the window too, maybe because we have an SUV.  She rarely fusses and when she does, I have a few toys in the car next to her seat or in my passenger seat I can throw back to her.

userdeleted

We haven't really made a decision. I would like to keep DS rear facing, but I'm not really sure if it's going to work. When we have #2 we'll have to put them each on one side rather than have him in the middle like he is. If he's rear facing his seat is going to lean so far back that either the driver or the passenger will have to be really scrunched up front.

Now, if it were a matter of the passenger only being scrunched I'd say whoever is shotgun can deal with it, but from what I've heard, infant seats take up even more room than convertibles. I don't think it's safe for the driver of a car to be pushed up too close to the wheel, which means that the only workable solution (that I can see right now) is to have DS FF behind the driver and the infant seat behind a scrunched up passenger.

I will say that I haven't put a whole lot of thought into this yet, so some of my facts may be wrong. That's what we're thinking now though. 

brandonsfuturewife07

Tess12:

She's RF.  She's short and she still has her little baby mirror to look at which keeps her happy.  But I don't judge people who have their children FF.  Most of my friends do.  Yes, I know RF is safer, but I'm not sure when FF became the equivalent of strapping your kid to the roof with duct tape.

when Rob&Heidi started making the rules & when SCB started passing out youtube videos to anyone who turned their baby around on their 1st bday.

don't get me wrong, S is going to RF as long as possible, but there's no need to carry a crucifix around about the whole thing.

SuperCuteBenz

BabyMenzel:

KMLP:

brandonsfuturewife07:

we have this one:

in the front seat.  is that wrong?

LMAO!

someone's SO came to work to get the carseat and put it in his car, and it was one just.like.this 

It was probably Newlywed.....

*KatieH*

B is still in the infant carseat, his adjusted age is 11.5 months.  We plan to get the convertible carseat in the next month or two and will probably switch him around then.  

LoriFalce

Am I the only one who gets irritated about pronouncements about exactly how long DC will be RF? "At least 2," etc?

To me, this represents a rigidity that fails to accommodate change, and can come off as naive.

Also, given the misinformation a lot of people have (not talking about you, SCB), it says that the speaker doesn't know enough to turn the kid if he outgrows the seat, which smacks of keeping a toddler in an infant carrier just because it's RF, regardless of the size recommendations.

NerdBride_D&D

DS is RFing and I am hoping to keep him that way for as long as possible. We have the True Fit convertible carseat, so until he is either 35 lbs or over 50'', he will probably be RFing.

skoorbnibor

RFing until he reaches the limits of the seat. (and it will be a long time, since we have the advocate and he is only 18 lbs now)

LoriFalce

NerdBride_D&D:

DS is RFing and I am hoping to keep him that way for as long as possible. We have the True Fit convertible carseat, so until he is either 35 lbs or over 50'', he will probably be RFing.

Can I kiss you for using the words "hoping" and "probably?"

faBriezy

My DS will stay RFing until 2 for safety reasons, but Im willing to turn him at 18m+ if he starts hating it. Right now he's happy RF. He's a shorty so Im not too worried about outgrowing the height limits before 2. Getting a mirror for him helped a lot because he can see me and I sing to him a lot. The only concern I have is that he's occasionally throws up in the car- stuck in traffic rear facing. Its just ICK.

Mrs.Donkey

LoriFalce:

Am I the only one who gets irritated about pronouncements about exactly how long DC will be RF? "At least 2," etc?

To me, this represents a rigidity that fails to accommodate change, and can come off as naive.

Also, given the misinformation a lot of people have (not talking about you, SCB), it says that the speaker doesn't know enough to turn the kid if he outgrows the seat, which smacks of keeping a toddler in an infant carrier just because it's RF, regardless of the size recommendations.

I get what you're saying. I want to keep K RF as long as possible, but that's about as concrete of a timeline that I'm giving us. Better to say I will keep him RF as long as it's the safest option for us. 

skoorbnibor

seans_grl:

He'll be 18 months on the 28th and he's still RFing. 

The top of his head is 2-2.5 inches from the top of the seat, so I'm researching other convertible seats so that I can continue to keep him RFing.  I have no plans to turn him anytime soon.  It's just safer for them to be RFing, so that's what we're doing. 

Cheryll, we just got the britax advocate, because it is 35 lbs and 49 inches... and since E is just 18lbs and 29 inches, I think he will fit for a long time!

LoriFalce

Mrs.Donkey:

I get what you're saying. I want to keep K RF as long as possible, but that's about as concrete of a timeline that I'm giving us. Better to say I will keep him RF as long as it's the safest option for us. 

Perfectly reasonable.

SuperCuteBenz

LoriFalce:

Am I the only one who gets irritated about pronouncements about exactly how long DC will be RF? "At least 2," etc?

To me, this represents a rigidity that fails to accommodate change, and can come off as naive.

Also, given the misinformation a lot of people have (not talking about you, SCB), it says that the speaker doesn't know enough to turn the kid if he outgrows the seat, which smacks of keeping a toddler in an infant carrier just because it's RF, regardless of the size recommendations.

Ditto this.

A lot of the question that I post answers in could easily be answered by reading the damn manual. I can say that DD WILL be rear-facing until 2, because there isn't a chance in hell that she will out grow her seat by rear-facing height by then. She is a tiny little thing.

It is obviously safer to have your child riding according to the manufacture guidelines. However, many people don't bother to read them.

skoorbnibor

LoriFalce:

Am I the only one who gets irritated about pronouncements about exactly how long DC will be RF? "At least 2," etc?

To me, this represents a rigidity that fails to accommodate change, and can come off as naive.

Also, given the misinformation a lot of people have (not talking about you, SCB), it says that the speaker doesn't know enough to turn the kid if he outgrows the seat, which smacks of keeping a toddler in an infant carrier just because it's RF, regardless of the size recommendations.

I know I don't quality for the latter part of your statement, since I bought a carseat specifically for the RFing limits, as I mentioned in my post to Seans, but I will admit to a total rigidity here. I won't turn him around. I am superlaid back in pretty much every other way these days, but this one is a no brainer for me. I am not turning him around. I don't see a reason to, and of course if some crazy thing happens that makes me change my mind, I will be glad to  reassess, and then you can make fun of me... : ) but until then, he will face the back, and he will deal. He will also be told to wear a bike helmet when he learns to ride and I won't let him jump off the roof. I can make those blanket statements as well.  I will admit to making some pretty crazy declarations back in the 3rd tri days (like I will BF, no matter what it takes... I guess it never occurred to me my body was still broken!!) so I understand my words might come back to me should something change, but I am ok with that! Call me the new carseat nazi...

Temp174496125006552

skoorbnibor:

seans_grl:

He'll be 18 months on the 28th and he's still RFing. 

The top of his head is 2-2.5 inches from the top of the seat, so I'm researching other convertible seats so that I can continue to keep him RFing.  I have no plans to turn him anytime soon.  It's just safer for them to be RFing, so that's what we're doing. 

Cheryll, we just got the britax advocate, because it is 35 lbs and 49 inches... and since E is just 18lbs and 29 inches, I think he will fit for a long time!

Thanks, Robin!  I'll look into this seat.

engaged678

brandonsfuturewife07:

we have this one:

in the front seat.  is that wrong?

BWA HA HA HA HA

DaisyAdair

I flipped DD1 at 23mo because DD3 came along.  DD1 is in a Radian and that is a tall car seat.  Even in my SUV, my long legs made it miserable to drive with that seat RF in the middle.  So, we flipped her at 23mo. 

DD2 is still RF and will be until the weight limit, I guess.  She'll go behind the passenger seat in a Radian and DD3 will go in the middle the Marathon. 

I had to weigh the safety....her RF for 6 more pounds or my inability to move my legs fast enough to slam on the brakes, if necessary.

My legs won.

Buckets of Moonbeams

rear facing still. probably will until K grows out of this carseat...which could be kindergarten if she takes after me