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]
Re: Forwarding facing at a year? (Poll inside)
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.
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.
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.
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.
DD1 9.24.06
DS 7.1.08
twins due 9.7.11 lost twin A at
DD2 4.7.12
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).
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.
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.
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!