RFing after 2?

Rink08 · November 2012

DS2 turned 2 on Monday which is when I had planned to turn his seat around. He's only 23lbs and in the 20th percentile for height. So I feel like I need to keep him rear facing a little longer. DH says to do whatever I want.

Is anyone else going to be rear facing after 2?

Five Months to Plan · November 2012

We have chosen to rear face as long as the hight of the seat allows. She though is 90% for height, and now needs to be turned in my car, and my moms. She has another inch till DH's. We will be turning her this weekend becuase she is so tall, if not for this we would leave her rear facing.

GrayGhost13 · November 2012

Yes, DS is very small for his age, and he's doing just fine RF-ing, so we're going to leave things alone for now. When he sizes out for RF or if he starts to have a problem, we'll reassess, but for now, if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?

lrn327 · November 2012

We are! C's about 25lbs and 90th for height but it's no contest to me. He doesn't seem to mind it and we don't either. I don't think I'm making this number up, but I seem to remember toddlers are 70% less likely to be seriously injured in they are RFing. That figure might be for 1-2 yr olds but I'll just try to keep him RFing for as long as possible. I don't know anyone IRL though that has an (almost) 2-year-old and still will RF.

lrn327 · November 2012

lrn327:
We are! C's about 25lbs and 90th for height but it's no contest to me. He doesn't seem to mind it and we don't either. I don't think I'm making this number up, but I seem to remember toddlers are 70% less likely to be seriously injured in they are RFing. That figure might be for 1-2 yr olds but I'll just try to keep him RFing for as long as possible. I don't know anyone IRL though that has an (almost) 2-year-old and still will RF.

I guess I should mention that we have a Britax Blvd so as we move the height of the harness up, the shell raises too and allows him to RF for longer. It makes it hard to see out my side windows though so have to be careful.

onlymeggan · November 2012

I'm in the minority but my kid has been forward facing for awhile. His height and weight made it an issue to keep him RFing. I obviously worry that something will happen but it was a decision my H and I had to make. Especially when we did a 13 hour car ride, I couldn't make the kid have his knees to his chest for 13 hours.

kj07 · November 2012

B is tiny too, so I really want to keep him RFing, but DH really really doesn't. It's a pretty decent source of tension between us right now.

EVM1216 · November 2012

onlymeggan:
I'm in the minority but my kid has been forward facing for awhile. His height and weight made it an issue to keep him RFing. I obviously worry that something will happen but it was a decision my H and I had to make. Especially when we did a 13 hour car ride, I couldn't make the kid have his knees to his chest for 13 hours.

We are FF here too. Basically because it makes a long distance drive with just you and LO so much easier. Now that she's been FF she throws a fit to be RF.

I say if LO is fine with be RF go for as long as you can!

OhSewCrafty · November 2012

C is 33lbs and 36" and he's still happily RF. We'll keep him that way until he hits 40lbs. or the height if we can. :-)

JoJoMama730 · November 2012

EVM1216:

onlymeggan:
I'm in the minority but my kid has been forward facing for awhile. His height and weight made it an issue to keep him RFing. I obviously worry that something will happen but it was a decision my H and I had to make. Especially when we did a 13 hour car ride, I couldn't make the kid have his knees to his chest for 13 hours.

We are FF here too. Basically because it makes a long distance drive with just you and LO so much easier. Now that she's been FF she throws a fit to be RF.

I say if LO is fine with be RF go for as long as you can!

Same here, but I would have kept her RF for safety reasons if she didn't raise holy he!! every time I put her in the car. Even a 15 minute car ride was a nightmare.

OhSewCrafty · November 2012

kj07:
B is tiny too, so I really want to keep him RFing, but DH really really doesn't. It's a pretty decent source of tension between us right now.

What are his reasons?

[Deleted User] · November 2012

We will keep P RF until she's 18. Well, not really. Even if she wasn't small, she is safer & doesn't mind RF. We've even taken long car rides & she's fine, so we are quite lucky.

tiffanyp · November 2012

We'll do RF as long as possible. One of my friends is so passionate about it that she bought the Radian Diono R120 when her 2.5 year old outgrew the RF Britax guidelines. I might do the same since baby #2 will likely need a convertible carseat before Avery is big enough for a booster seat anyway.

missmuffin87 · November 2012

I'm having trouble deciding to turn her at 2 or wait a while. It's so difficult to cram her in the car RF, especially in FI's car. But I have a feeling that as soon as turn her there will be a huge snow storm and I'll get in accident and I'll feel guilty for turning her. So I might wait till spring.

I turned the seat in my moms car the other day because my parents move the seat between cars a lot and they are freaking incapable of installing it so its level. It's easier to do FF so I figured better that she FF safely than be RF incorrectly. She hasn't been in that seat since I turned it though.

Cheekers2010 · November 2012

G is still rf. I feel really strongly about it. Also, he doesn't seem to mind so we're lucky. I will probably buy the Foonf or the Diono Radian after he outgrows his current carseat so he can keep rf. My goal is to keep him that way until at least 3. I know I'm probably an outlier but the research I've done has convinced me thoroughly.

IncogNeato · November 2012

I'm not turning her. I don't really have any reason to turn her, and rear facing is always safer. We got a carseat with a high weight and height limit for this very reason. I honestly have no idea when I'll turn her but it's not even on my to-do list for quite a while.

kj07 · November 2012

OhSewCrafty:
kj07:
B is tiny too, so I really want to keep him RFing, but DH really really doesn't. It's a pretty decent source of tension between us right now.
What are his reasons?

He wants B to be able to see things, thinks B is scrunched back there (despite the fact that B doesn't protest his car seat very often), and thinks it will be easier to get him in and out.

None of these, to me, are very good reasons.

MrsDe2008 · November 2012

Sam is a peanut at 21 lbs. and 32 inches, so I think we will be keeping her RFing for as long as we can.

enjoylife · November 2012

If I can convince DH to let A stay rearfacing when we drive to California in a few weeks I think we'll be fine to continue for awhile. A is comfy (we have the diono radian....LOVE IT!) so I'm hoping to keep him RFing for awhile longer.

kat81again2 · November 2012

No, we're the flammable people who already switched because we had a hand-me-down seat that didn't RF. So we switched this summer when DS couldn't fit in the infant seat anymore.

If I were you I'd keep your DS RF unless he hates it. Most kids prefer FF. It's safe enough to be FF now but it's ALWAYS safer to be RF (for EVERYONE, including adults if that were an option.)

Sonadora · November 2012

IDK. She hates the car no matter what way she faces, we tried to FF her a few months ago to see if that would help with the screaming fits. It didn't, so we flipped her back. It's actually unsafe to drive with her imho because she will actually scream bloody murder for the whole trip almost every time and I find it very difficult to concentrate on driving. We've tried different seats, nothing works.

We have a long trip coming up for Christmas, we'll keep her RFing at least through that, my H is going to sit in the back with her and we bought a portable DVD player for the trip in hopes that between those two things she won't scream for 6+ hours. She's only got another less than an inch before she outgrows one of our seats for RFing and I'm not buying yet another seat that she will just scream at me from, so I'll likely turn her when she grows just a bit more.

--halo-- · November 2012

We will keep him RF until he hits the h/w limit for his seat. Then I will consider buying an extended RF seat. I would ride RF if I could. lol

I have a cousin with a 4 year old who is still RFing in a Diono, and she kept her step daughter RFing until she was 6. Granted, she was a small 6yo.

Cheekers2010 · November 2012

--halo--:
We will keep him RF until he hits the h/w limit for his seat. Then I will consider buying an extended RF seat. I would ride RF if I could. lol
I have a cousin with a 4 year old who is still RFing in a Diono, and she kept her step daughter RFing until she was 6. Granted, she was a small 6yo.

Right on!

Smores730 · November 2012

He'll be staying RFing probably til 3. That's when we turned #1 around.

bosha711 · November 2012

I would have loved to keep DS RFing past 2 since he's small, but we had to turn him FFing once DD came, in order for both car seats to fit in the car.

[Deleted User] · November 2012

mands629:
Can I ask a stupid question? What are the RF weight/height recommendations before turning FF? I honestly haven't thought about when I should turn L FFing so I haven't done any reaserch.

Here's the AAP linky.

It depends on your seat, if that's what you're asking. 1 inch from the top of the seat, and the weight limit if your carseat.

jessrenee11 · November 2012

I really don't want to turn DD around but we can't fit 2 RF carseats in MH car. I think I might keep her RF in my car a little longer just because I can fit both seats RF but if it becomes a problem then we will FF her in my car too.

Strunella · November 2012

We just started FF a few weeks ago. DS is over 99% in height and weight and he was just getting too big. He didn't mind RF though, so I would have kept him that way if his knees weren't in his chest!

jillybean800 · November 2012

bosha711:
I would have loved to keep DS RFing past 2 since he's small, but we had to turn him FFing once DD came, in order for both car seats to fit in the car.

This. I was upset, but my husband is a very big guy and couldn't even fit behind the wheel when the carseat was RFing.

msualum96 · November 2012

I would have RF as long as he was w/in the height/weight limits; he's a big kid and I don't think he would have made it much past 2 anyway, but we turned him when we had to put the carseat bases in for DD. RF he was in the middle, and there was no way the seat would fit RF on either side unless the seat was all the way forward, and even FF on the passenger side, his feet hit the back of the seat! GAH, I have no idea what we're going to do when DD has to move to RF in a convertible...get a bigger vehicle, I guess! LOL

TripMomma · November 2012

I would let him stay RFing.

We turned the trio about 2 months after they turned 2, they were almost 34 lbs. Jericho is probably 27 lbs and will probably be RFing longer than the triplets did. He doesn't mind RFing so I am going to keep it up a bit longer.

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