Contemplating the flip early

vanverth · March 2012

Michael will be 2 in May. We are having work done on the van that will take several days (new transmission) so I will be driving the nephews POS 1994 Hundayi Elantra and the back seat is small and I have long legs so the seat will have to be all the way back for me to drive comfortably and safely. I am thinking about turing him around early so I can adjust the front seats as needed. Please tell me he will not explode if I do this. He is over 30" tall and weighs over 28 pounds at this point.

BrideBuddies · March 2012

He'll be fine.

We switched when C was about 18-20 months or so. We were about to go on a long road trip and our pedi said because he was over 30" (I think 34" at the time), he's be much more comfortable sitting forward now. I know the rules have changed and she admitted she wasn't supposed to condone it, but reality is reality. If his legs are all pushed up into his chin, that's not good, either.

kikijbunny · March 2012

Sounds reasonable to me (and now I'm wondering, eek! DS is already over 30" tall and only 11 months... DH asked me the other day how long DS is supposed to remain RF because he's already pushing off the back seat).

mojito14 · March 2012

I have been thinking about this as well. It won't be "early" for us, but I"m still a little nervous about it.

He does just fine where he is, but we are going on a 16 hour drive in June and I just feel he would be more comfortable during this trip to be able to see what is coming (instead of what just went)...lol. Plus, he would be able to watch the DVD player (not that he even watches t.v. yet, but still).

jlw2505 · March 2012

I would turn him. My kids are a bit older and we turned them at 18 months (DD#1) and a year (DD#2). Granted this was before they changed the recommendation to keep them rear facing until they are 2.

stever · March 2012

He'll be fine. I turned Big M at 26 months but, to be fair, his knees had been up by his chin for at least 6 months by that point.

It's definitely scary, but if they're big enough, they're big enough.

Strunella · March 2012

DS is still RF, but I'm sure we'll have him FF well before he is 2. He's almost 15 months, but he's about 32.5" and 28.5 lbs. He'll probably be 5 feet tall by the time he's 2! LOL!

NewMrs07 · March 2012

I turned A's seat forward when he was about 18 months. He didn't fit well anymore and he screamed every time I put him in his seat. I think he wanted to look forward to where the action was. After the switch he still complains sometimes, but nowhere near the tantrums he had before.

robynlesley · March 2012

I turned my A around the same time as NewMrs07 did. He was 19 months and basically kicking himself so hard that I couldn't buckle him into his car seat rear-facing. Plus he'd have tantrums like crazy. Once he was forward facing, he was much happier.

Maggee206 · March 2012

Good luck....my older one was not a day older than 1 bc that was the recommendation back in 2007 and there was no room in our car. With this one I will try to leave him RF but there is no room in the car and we even have a family car. I will save the soap-box discussion of nothing family about family cars. BTW I am so excited to see someone else still drives a 90's car!!!

gimmietimmies · March 2012

fredalina:
Ok, he won't explode, but it's definitely safer to RF as long as possible. I drive a Prius and the seat is all the way back for my 6'4" tall DH and LO still RFs at 36" and close to 3. They can be pretty vertical as toddlers so you may try to RF before installing FF just in case. Or put him behind the passenger and take 2 cars until yours is back running. It would be worth it to me, but if you feel more comfortable FF, then do it. FWIW my kid just crosses her legs or straddles the seat; they aren't up to her chin lol.

All of this. I still rf S, and she will be for a while. But judging by K she may outgrow her Radian rf by 3 or so. She still has tons of room, and her seat is fairly upright. She's 28lbs, and I last measured her at 32"...a few months ago. The kind of vehicle you have doesn't matter a ton rf, with the right installation, the right seat, etc. We rf a Radian in a Mini Cooper - an Elantra is a boat in comparison. Michael won't explode though. He'll be okay, but it is up to you. I wouldn't be comfortable, but that's my preference.

And the older vehicle thing isn't a barrier either, we've properly retrofitted older vehicles that we used to have (79 Grand Lemans, 95 Mazda 6, etc) with top tether anchors and the correct kind of seat belt (by the dealer) - and we're talking with ds 15 years ago, and they recommended the extended rf long before then. It's just that North American car seats are only now catching up to this. You should have seen the flak I got trying to get my hands on a proper car seat for ds, when at 1 he was 34/34, and the highest weight limit here at the time was 30 rf in a convertible. We've come a long way for the good.

Cheekers2010 · March 2012

I will not be forward facing DS until after he is 2. Heck I'm going to try and RF until he's 3. Most kids can sit cross legged and are comfortable even once their legs are longer. As I understand it, height isn't the issue. The issue is the strength of their necks and the size of their heads vs the size of their bodies. Big heads on small necks and bodies cause issues with FF. I was originally going to FF at one year but the videos on You Tube changed my mind for sure.

hopanka · March 2012

You will be fine...i turned my kid around at 12 months.

madamsmurfette · March 2012

All of you who are saying you turned your kid at 12, 13, 18, etc months and they are fine.... they are only fine because you've been lucky enough to have not been in a serious accident with LO in the car. To know the research and risks and still turn them before absolutely neccesary is just irresponsible to me.

OP - If having LO RF in the nephew's car makes it so that you are too uncomfortable to drive safely, I would turn LO while you have the loaner and then go back to RF once you have your own car back. If RF in nephew's car makes it uncomfortable, but you feel you can still drive safely, then I think you just need to deal.

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