How long would you keep your child rf if size wasn't an issue?

[brennan]

Dd is tiny, she is almost 2 and just hit 22lbs (the minimum for turning ff). I have no intention of turning her anytime soon, but being that she is very small (she is short as well) I don't think that she is going to outgrow rf limits on carseats until she is much much older. Dd's cousin was around her size and is currently 40lbs at almsot 7 (yes TINY!) so she would fit in a radian xt rf.

So at what age would you switch if there were car seats avalible to let you rf until they are much older (like 6 or 7)? Is there an age where developmentally they are ready for ff?

[Mal85]

I'd keep my daughter rear facing as long as possible, by weight. However, from what I've read, the spinal cord fully forms by age 4. So a 4 year old should be as safe forward facing as a 10 year old would be.

I've had this same question. My niece has brittle bone disease and will likely remain very tiny for the rest of her life. She's 4 years old right now and is about the size of a normal 2 year old (her almost 2 year old sister is in the same size clothing and shoes as her right now). Because of her condition, if she were mine, she'd remain rear-facing pretty much indefinitely. Now, if I could just convince her mom of that.

[chickabiddy]

For a typically-developing child, I'd RF until 4 and then take her wishes into account.

[treeoflife3]

Honestly, if kiddo is still small enough to be rf, I'll probably turn her ff when she starts school, or about 5 unless she is truly okay with still being rf and it doesn't interfere with seating in the car the way it does now (the passenger seat is left with just barely enough space currently but I hope to have a new car within the next 5 years so we'll see)

[an_aurora]

We were in the same boat with DD2. She hit 20 pounds after she turned 2, and now at 3.5 is 27 pounds. She RF'd until her 3rd birthday, and then I turned her FF. I would have RF'd her longer but she hated it and was constantly pulling her arms out of her seat. After a couple months FF, she went back RF and is RF'ing with no complaints. She will probably RF through this winter and we'll re-evaluate on her 4th birthday in March.

My DS is 15 months and just hit 17 pounds so he has a long way to go before he'll be FF as well. I'll aim for 4 with him as well.

BTW, my 5 yo is 43" and 37 pounds and she is in kindergarten this year, and rides RF. She loves RF and was RF'ing even when her little sister was FF.

[MJB]

I would consider turning them after 4 if they really hated RFing. I have big kids, though, and will be overjoyed to make it to 4 (my second had to turn FFing at 2.5 due to the limits of the seats that were out then; only 2 years ago!)

[TheGirls]

After 4 I'd definitely be willing to turn the child if they wanted it. Maybe after 3 if the child was really seriously complaining about it long-term. If they didn't care and it wasn't causing any other problems (fit in the car, needing a seat for a sibling, etc) I'd keep them RF until they outgrew the seat, even if that was much older. Currently my 2.5yo doesn't know the difference and hasn't complained. She's ridden in the car with a number of younger FF kids and hasn't said anything yet. I'm hoping for 4 or 40lbs.

[leighi123]

At 6, I will turn him if he complains. I've heard the spine is fully developed between 4-6yrs old. Ds has growth issues and a very big head, so thats why I say 6, not 4 for him.

He was 20lbs on his 2nd bday and 24lbs on his 3rd bday. He is 3yrs, 3months now and 25lbs. And 35" with a short torso. So I'm guessing he will make it to 6 in his Radian. The 5yr old I babysit for once in a while fit and she is average height and 40lbs.

[mama2soren]

I would do it until he was ready for boostering. So, 5-ish.

[alegna]

I'd keep them rf until 6 if they were cool with it.

Until 4 unless there was something HUGE that made them miserable about it.

-Angela

[Aliy]

i wsih i could still have my ds1 rearfacing he turns 4 very soon but he outgrew his seat. he was rear facing with no issues at 3. i wuld keep them for as long as possible. But granted once they are 4-5 ish they definatley need to be listened to and if they have a vaild reason i would change them after some discussion

[DahliaRW]

As long as possible. Was hoping to keep ds2 rfing until 4, but he was sooooo upset at 3 and begging to be turned and for peace in the family we decided to turn him. He was within a few pounds of outgrowing his seat rfing anyways. We'll see how long dd lasts, but 2 is my absolute bare minimum (that's when I let them ride ffing in other people's cars or on vacation when we don't want to lug the huge seats) and 3 is the minimum in the main vehicle, hopefully longer!

[canadiannancy]

My 5.5 year old still wants to rearface, but is 46lbs, so cannot. If we had higher rf limits I would have them rf until about 6 or somewhere around there. However I do NOT have petite kids and so about 4 is when they would seem to outgrow radians rf.

[leighi123]

Originally Posted by mama2soren

I would do it until he was ready for boostering. So, 5-ish.

Thats my plan - I want to RF ds and then go right to a booster.

[mamadelbosque]

I'd hoped to keep ds1 rfing till at least 4... but he broke his leg and simply won't fit comfortably rfing anymore (cast from his foot up to mid-thigh...), so he got flipped ff (hes 3.5, ~30#s and ~37-38"...). I'm OK with that, though not thrilled... and as much as I might like to rf him again after he gets his cast off, I doubt it'll happen.

[bobandjess99]

I too hope to RF - straight-to-booster, so I'm shooting for 6.

[waiting2bemommy]

I RF ds full time until he was 2.5. The last few months I have sometimes turned him FF if I have to reinstall his car seat after a stay at Grandmas or something and we are in a rush. at the moment his carseat is ff because that's how I put it a couple days ago when we cleaned out the car and then had to go somewhere quickly. I will turn it back today though. We are committed to RF'ing at least through his third birthday (in December) and then we will probably reevaluate.

Ds is decently tall (about 3ft 1 or 2 inches) but he is super skinny, so were I keep him rf to the weight limits of the seat he would probably still be rf in first grade! And I personally don't see a real need to rf past 3.5 or 4, so I will definitely turn him permanently by next september, I think.

[MovingMomma]

We turned our tiny DD2 (28 lbs) at 4. I would have kept her RF longer, but it was a compromise w/DH.

[Katie T]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy

For a typically-developing child, I'd RF until 4 and then take her wishes into account.

This. My 4.1yo wants to be rfing again but he is too big for his seat to be rfing (weight wise, he rfed till 3.6yo)

[Amila]

My DD is 4.3 and was totally fine RFing- shes about 35 pounds, but we have raidans. However, with the new addition coming and therefore a different carseat configuration, as well as the fact that radians son't install well in my sienna, I turned her. I feel pretty ok about it. It would have been nice to have her RF for that last 10 pounds, but I am just happy we made it this far. She LOVES FFing, lol.