If you ERF, how long will you do it?

Liz342 · May 2011

I feel like I should probably post this on 12-24 but everyone goes nuts over the carseat issue over there! I am just curious. We ERF DD and she is 2 1/2. We definitely get some comments and weird looks but I am very happy with my decision to ERF. She is content but her legs have to be crossed now. She isa small girl, she weighed 26 pounds at her 2 year appt. and I don't think she's a whole lot more now. If we kept her that way until she reached the weight limit on her carseat, she'd probably be in school then!

I said I was going to switch her to FF in the summer but it has suddenly gotten a little easier now that we don't have to deal with wet, muddy boots all over the back of the car. I am thinking of keeping her RF through the summer but DH is starting to think she is getting uncomfortable and hinting that I am a little crazy with the issue.

How long will you RF?

myantonia · May 2011

Good question! I've been wondering when the "right" time is too. DS isn't even 2, so I'm not thinking of switching him yet, but most of my friends switched at 18 months and think I'm a little crazy that I have no end in sight. So far, DS is content and does fine, even with his long legs crossed. But I've always wondered how I would know it was the right time to switch!

The_Jen626 · May 2011

My goal was tomake it til she was 2... DH flipped the seat in his car right after she turned 2, but mine is still RF... at this point, she's still doing great RF and she's comfortable, so I won't be turning her around anytime soon, I don't think.

bim38106 · May 2011

I switched DD1 at 18 months, but that was because I couldn't comfortably fit 2 RF carseats in my car and DD2 was due to arrive...

DD2 will be 19mo next week and is a big girl (off the charts tall and 90th weight) but she's still totally fine RF. I'd feel comfortable turning her around at this point if we needed to, but she's happy that way, so why change it I'm actually driving DH's Tahoe now because it gives us more room for DD RF as well as the passenger seat...Honestly, I kinda miss my car. I hate driving the Tahoe. But for now, we're just doing it day-by-day

DD1 actually sat RF in DD2's carseat a few weeks ago and loved it and keeps asking to again. She was fine and comfortable and she still fit at 3yr3mo!

EnglishMajor03 · May 2011

R is still RF and she is about 19 months. Her feet are just barely starting to touch the seat so I have no reason to turn her.

I've wondered what to do once her feet start getting smushed in there. Good to know that you just cross them

babypuplove · May 2011

We turned DD #1 around when she was 2, and will do the same for DD #2.

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · May 2011

I changed ds around 18-20 months, can't remember exactly. I would have left him much longer but he screamed and cried so bad that I was having great difficulty concentrating on driving and at that point it was no longer safe. If he hadn't hated it so much and been so distracting, he still probably would be.

charlatti · May 2011

DD is 2.5 and 28ish lbs, and I haven't yet found a reason to change her to FF. She's perfectly happy and comfortable, and she's well under our seat's weight limit for rear-facing. At this rate, she'll be 4 and still RF!

cjsbdl · May 2011

My son is still RF at 21 months and I have no immediate plans to turn him...in fact, I'm researching car seat option to buy one with a bigger shell because he's about to outgrow his height-wise. We'll need an extra convertible anyway in a few months when my DD moves into one, so I'll get a new one for him and she can use the one he is currently in.

I guess I'll just leave him RF until I have a compelling reason to turn him around.

eta: he is 95th% for weight and off the charts for height (BIG boy) but he doesn't seem uncomfortable RF.

Emcat1980@yahoo.com · May 2011

My son is almost 26 months and still RF. The only concern I have is that he's in the Britax Marathon (classic) and its weight limit for RF is 35 lbs. He's about 33.5 now so getting close.

I drive a sedan and I'm not sure if I will be able to fit the infant seat in there w/ his carseat RF as well so I may have to flip him when the baby arrives. I'd prefer to leave him RF as long as he tolerates it though. He is perfectly content right now.

prism207 · May 2011

Sam outgrew the rearfacing limits of his Marathon when he was about 3 years and 4 months. The next kid will have longer RFing b/c they have higher limits on the new seats and Sam's seats will expire before this kid could use them (Sam is still FFing in them now and no where near outgrowing that).

tabi_ja · May 2011

I have a feeling that Miles will let me know when he's done RFing. He's not quite 20 months, and I'd like to keep him RF until 2, if possible. That being said, this kid is pretty strong-willed, and if it gets to a point that he is ridiculously unhappy, I'll turn him. My goal was at least until 18 mo, and we made that, so my new goal is 2. If he's still comfortable and within the limits at that point, we'll re-evaluate.

FWIW, Miles is in the 50% for height, and the 5% for weight, so we probably have awhile before he passes the 40 lb limit for RF on his Graco MyRide.

gatogrrl · May 2011

I RF DD for two years. She didn't mind at all, although her legs were a little long for it. We gave her a mirror so she could see me in the front seat.

Interestingly, 2 weeks after I turned her around, we were in a major car accident where we were rear-ended by a moving van on the highway. The driver had fallen asleep and didn't slow down when traffic had stopped. In this one particular case, it was very lucky that she was forward-facing -- none of the crap that flew from the point of impact through the back of the car ended up hitting her, as it would have if she had been rear-facing. But I'm told this kind of accident is more rare then a collision from the front or side.

Boizmom · May 2011

DS3 is 16 months old and weighs 19lbs. Needless to say we'll be RF for while. I don't have any plans on turning him around before he's 2. If he's still a small fry he'll continue to be RF after he's 2.

I wish I knew what I know now about ERF. My older two boys were turned at a year. (Granted they were both well over 20 pounds at a year.) And they were both in boosters by 3. (Again, they met the height and weight requirements.)

Temp174496125006552 · May 2011

I kept Ben RFing until he was 28 months. I would have kept him RFing longer, but he's tall, so he outgrew the RFing height limit of his seat.

Temp174496125006552 · May 2011

I also wanted to add I saw some mentioned that their kids have long legs and they just cross them. Make sure you know the height/weight limits for RFing for your particular carseat. I thought that their heads had to be an inch below the top of the seat and I was mistaken. I was told by a carseat technician that there are RFing height/weight limits on each seat and that once they exceed those limits, they are actually safer being FFing - vs. RFing in a seat that's too small to protect them properly in the event of a crash.

lynne114 · May 2011

DD is 21 months and we are still RF. I want to make it till DD is at least 2. We will see how things are then. Shoes have never been an issue for us because we just remove her shoes before putting DD into the car.

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