Forwarding facing at a year? (Poll inside)

eeclem

DH's car, a 2 door Civic, sucks with the rear-facing convertible carseat. He has to actually climb in the back seat, with C in his arms, to buckle C in. The infant seat, he could buckle up beforehand (obviously) and just drop it in the base. He is actually considering buying a new car because it's so difficult.

There are a lot of factors at play when it comes to purchasing a new car, but one is that in two months we can put the seat forward facing and that would make getting him in and out tremendously easier. BUT, I know that, generally, you're supposed to do RFing as long as you can. So, what did you guys actually do? Also, if you have any good literature links about rear facing car seat safety, please enlighten me! Thanks!

 

[Poll]

LMH1209

The AAP's current recommendation is to keep a toddler rear-facing to the limits of your convertible car seat or at least until age two.  [ETA:  I read somewhere else that the "until age two" part hasn't yet been fully adopted as official AAP policy.]

https://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

Our pediatrician mentioned the new recommendation at our twelve month appointment, and she encouraged us to keep DS rear-facing as long as possible. 

 

 

Hey Jellisy

I know it is safer to be rear facing, but it just was not possible in my DHs 2 door GTI.  Once she was forward facing in one car, the other followed.  It's just more convenient.  I know I am terrible for doing it and now that the GTI is gone and we have the minivan we will probably keep LO #2 rear facing longer but it just did not happen with DD.

bh2720

We've decided to keep Warner rear facing as long as possible. Fortunately, we have a Subaru Forester and it's not hard to get him in and out of the seat.

mommmyz

It's not literature and I think its been shared on here before, but here is a video that shows the difference during a crash test between rear and forward facing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=related

 We're not there yet, but plan to rear face for a LONG time. 

 

 

eeclem

LMH1209:

The AAP's current recommendation is to keep a toddler rear-facing to the limits of your convertible car seat or at least until age two.  [ETA:  I read somewhere else that the "until age two" part hasn't yet been fully adopted as official AAP policy.]

https://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

Our pediatrician mentioned the new recommendation at our twelve month appointment, and she encouraged us to keep DS rear-facing as long as possible. 

 

 

Thanks! The pedi actually did mention how long he should be rear facing at his 9 mo appt, but I honestly can't remember if she said one year or two. Both seemed so far away at the time! I'm guessing she probably said two, since she acted like it was new info. 

Sofka

we kept DD RFing until about 19mo old at which point we put in the infant seat and had to move hers from the center to behind the passenger seat. It just would not fit RF so she is now FFing. I'd have kept her RFing until age 2 if we didn't have another baby coming.

Ana0927

I had DD FF at 13 months.  We did get into an accident about a week later and she was fine except for a large cut on her lip and eye when the heavy toy she was playing with flew out of her hand and hit her in the face. 

BridetobeEm

My son is still RFing at almost 2 yrs old.  We'll switch him once the new baby comes but only b/c we can't fit 2 RFing seats in our cars. There are some pretty disturbing videos out there that definitely convinced me.

LindseyJW

we kept tomas RF until his legs were too long to sit comfortably that way. i can't remember when it was, but i think it was late summer/earlyfall, so sometime between 20 and 22 months.

Artslvr

I didn't vote in the poll because my answer is in between:  keep them rear facing as long as possible, but only if safe in the car you own.  I've heard some stories about car seat installers helping to determine what is safest for the car YOU have - whether kid should be in middle or on the side, and whether kid should rear face.

I used to drive a Hyundai Elantra, so I can sympathize with the folks who just could not have rear facing using convertible seats, especially with two or more kids.

SoonToBeMrsDTS

DS will be 2 on Thursday and he's still RF. I think we're going to turn him soon because he's getting pretty cramped. His carseat says it's RF until 65 lbs. I don't even know how that would be possible. There is no way my 31 lb 3.5 year old could fit in it RF!!

LMH1209

SoonToBeMrsDTS:

DS will be 2 on Thursday and he's still RF. I think we're going to turn him soon because he's getting pretty cramped. His carseat says it's RF until 65 lbs. I don't even know how that would be possible. There is no way my 31 lb 3.5 year old could fit in it RF!!

What seat do you have?  The highest weight limit for RF I've seen is 45 lbs (Sunshine Radian80SL), and I think the RF limit for Britax convertibles is 35 lbs., even for the ones that go up to 65 lbs FF.  In any case, my DS will probably hit the height limit on any seat before he hits the weight limit.  I think the usual rule for height for RF is until the child's head is an inch from the top of the shell (and until the top of the ears are at the top of the shell for FF). 

AgrippaRidesAgain

We turned DS at 20 months.  He wasn't 20 lbs at his 1 year appointment anyway, but I had read the reports about it being safer rear facing.  My original goal was to make it to two years, but a variety of factors made us switch DS early, the primary one being massive carsickness explosions. 

What kind of convertible carseat do you have?  Could you move it to behind the passenger seat?  That's where DS's seat has always been.

 Also, you could teach your DS to climb in himself, and then you'd just have to buckle him.  DS LOVES doing this. 

ETA:  I have a Corolla, so it's comparable in size to a Civic.

MrsTiara

BabyCrown will have to be FF when we install the infant seat for #2.  I hate, hate, hate having to do this, especially since he'll now be on the driver's side, too (which won't fit any RF behind it).  But we just could not justify getting a minivan until #3, so our Echo will have to do.

barkers4jmm

DD is still RFing at 21 months, and we have no plans to turn her soon.  When #2 arrives, DD will be 28 months and we can't fit two RF in our cars, but we're planning on getting a minivan anyway. 

hokies94

We kept DD#1 rear facing until she was about 18 months.  DD#2 was a whole different story.  She was a screamer in the car from the day she was born.  It made even the shortest trip miserable, stressful and incredibly nervewracking for the driver.  Nothing we did made it better-until we turned her around.  We actually turned her a few weeks before her first birthday.  

DS just turned one and he's still rear facing.  He's a little guy (just hit 20 lbs) so I'm not sure how long we'll keep him that way.  Probably a few more months.   

eeclem

AgrippaRidesAgain:

What kind of convertible carseat do you have?  Could you move it to behind the passenger seat?  That's where DS's seat has always been.

 Also, you could teach your DS to climb in himself, and then you'd just have to buckle him.  DS LOVES doing this. 

ETA:  I have a Corolla, so it's comparable in size to a Civic.

It's a Cosco Scenera and it's already in the passenger side. Because of the way DH's car is shaped and because it only has two doors, you have to climb in to the back to really access it. That's the biggest problem.  I guess it will be easier once he can walk, but DH will still have to get back there to buckle him in.

DH wants a new car anyway, but we really haven't budgeted for it yet. I think we have other options, including having him take my car a few days a week. He has a longer commute and my car burns more gas, but it's still cheaper than buying a new car!

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

AgrippaRidesAgain

eeclem:

AgrippaRidesAgain:

What kind of convertible carseat do you have?  Could you move it to behind the passenger seat?  That's where DS's seat has always been.

 Also, you could teach your DS to climb in himself, and then you'd just have to buckle him.  DS LOVES doing this. 

ETA:  I have a Corolla, so it's comparable in size to a Civic.

It's a Cosco Scenera and it's already in the passenger side. Because of the way DH's car is shaped and because it only has two doors, you have to climb in to the back to really access it. That's the biggest problem.  I guess it will be easier once he can walk, but DH will still have to get back there to buckle him in.

DH wants a new car anyway, but we really haven't budgeted for it yet. I think we have other options, including having him take my car a few days a week. He has a longer commute and my car burns more gas, but it's still cheaper than buying a new car!

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Stupid me, I missed the 2-door part of your post.   Hope that you got some helpful info from everyone though!

JKM416

We had DD RFing until she was 34 months in a Britax Diplomat behind the passenger seat once DS's infant carrier was in the middle.  But our car is bigger than yours and has four doors...I can see the difficulties for you.  It was a pain to have to lift her in and fold her legs up, etc. (she's 35 inches and 29 lbs).  But I saw enough of those videos, and read enough tragic stories (though they're the exception, not the norm, and you don't know if they were installed or buckled correctly), that I was paranoid.  And she was perfectly fine with riding that way since she knew no different...so I had no compelling reason to change it until recently.