STMs - How long did you RF in the car seat?

melissad23 · November 2013

Just something I was wondering about as we looked at convertible seats this weekend.

suedell · November 2013

I had a really small Kia at the time and ds' knees were in his throat. At the time, he was at the current height, weight and age minimum so I thought we were ok. That being said, now that we know better, we will keep LO rear facing for longer even though he is equally enormous!

AnnieJar · November 2013

I didn't actually say "screw it" he was rear facing when the recommendation for RFing was one year and then they changed the rec right about the time we turned him. He was about 18 months and our car was tiny so the front passenger seat was so far forward it was unusable. Also we thought he was too big to be RFing. Now we know better and will keep DD RFing at least until two.

elbou · November 2013

AnnieJar said:

I didn't actually say "screw it" he was rear facing when the recommendation for RFing was one year and then they changed the rec right about the time we turned him. He was about 18 months and our car was tiny so the front passenger seat was so far forward it was unusable. Also we thought he was too big to be RFing. Now we know better and will keep DD RFing at least until two.

This. I dislike the way you worded it. The recommendations for rear-facing have changed fairly recently. We followed the current guidelines at the time that we needed to make that decision for our girls.

kelsea1031 · November 2013

DD1 will be 2 in a few weeks. She is still RFing and will be until she reaches the height/weight limit for RFing. As long as she's under the limits, we plan to RF until closer to 4. We'll do the same with DD2.

Kate_C · November 2013

DS is a month past his 2nd birthday and still RF. We will probably turn him when we move DD to a convertible in the next couple months. He has about an inch left RF I think, maybe a little less, so it will be the right time to switch.

JSS1002 · November 2013

Can somebody post a link to the guidelines?

Thanks,
Jess

melissad23 · November 2013

elbou said:

AnnieJar said:

I didn't actually say "screw it" he was rear facing when the recommendation for RFing was one year and then they changed the rec right about the time we turned him. He was about 18 months and our car was tiny so the front passenger seat was so far forward it was unusable. Also we thought he was too big to be RFing. Now we know better and will keep DD RFing at least until two.

This. I dislike the way you worded it. The recommendations for rear-facing have changed fairly recently. We followed the current guidelines at the time that we needed to make that decision for our girls.

I tried to edit but it won't let me - sorry!!! And I probably worded it that way because I have had a couple of friends who essentially have had that mentality. I meant no offense!!

kelsea1031 · November 2013

@JSS1002 - here's the link to the AAP's guidelines: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/788.abstract?ijkey=8185e8aee72726925a221bd9edb5547fb1beffae&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

JSS1002 · November 2013

kelsea1031 said:

@JSS1002 - here's the link to the AAP's guidelines: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/788.abstract?ijkey=8185e8aee72726925a221bd9edb5547fb1beffae&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

Thank you!

KrisM86 · November 2013

I also didn't say "screw it" but our car is AWFUL when it comes to RFing car seats. DD was 18 months and well over weight/height minimums for FFing when DS was born and we couldn't fit both seats RF and still have the driver's seat far back enough to safely drive. We didn't have a lot of options, short of buying a new car, which just wasn't a possibility.

We will be RFing DS until at least 2, probably longer.

OhSewCrafty · November 2013

There's no option for it, but Charlie is still RF. He is 35lbs, 39" tall RF in a Radian RXT. We're hoping to get to 4 years.

The recommendations say 2 years, but science and physics say 4 years. Before the age of 4, a FF child's spinal column can stretch up to 1-2" during the impact of a crash. A spinal cord only needs to stretch 1/4 - 1/2" to snap. You do the math.

It is common and widely accepted for children to RF in Sweden up to 5 years old and their child mortality rate for car accidents is almost non existent.

Lhyacinth888 · November 2013

I voted 3 to 4 years. My son is one month shy of 3 and it is still rear facing. I plan on keeping him like that for as long as I can.

Angela814 · November 2013

DD1 only made it to 2.5 years in our main car seat. She was way above the height chart as a toddler/preschooler, and good extended rfing seats weren't out in 2006.

DD2 is 3y4m and rfing in our main car. (DH just switched her in his car because he can't fit passengers in front of the seat when he goes out for lunch at work. I'm not happy about it since she hasn't reached the height max yet.) Anyway, she's about 35 lbs and 42" right now. I'm hoping to keep her rfing until close to 4 yrs, although I may have to switch her when DD3 outgrows the infant seat. That will be around 3y9m.

Angela814 · November 2013

The recommendations from car seat manufacturers and experts has always been to rear face to the limits of the seat. The AAP just finally got on board with their 2 year recommendation, which is really still just a minimum.

PepperBug · November 2013

We rear faced until 2 years. The recommendation changed just before we needed to buy a convertible seat, and we bought the one that had the biggest height limit since our son is tall. He still outgrew RF in that seat by the time he was two. Car seats (at least back then) were not designed to RF for extended periods.

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