how old is your toddler & are they FF or RF in their car seat? - Page 3

[tabrizia]

Originally Posted by chel 

do kids not outgrow seats by height much now?  with my dd1 it was always her height that got her moved from one type of seat to the next.  though from thr post here it seems all about the weight

Sure they do outgrow by height, but there are a lot of car seats now with high backs.  DS outgrew 2 car seats by height rear-facing, and would likely outgrow the one I could rear-face him in currently by height as well.  He just isn't likely to outgrow it by height for at least another 4+ months which would make him 4 before outgrowing it by height.  There are a lot of car seats out there now that are good for extended rear-facing, and that make it unlikely that your child will outgrow it rear-facing by height before 3 or 4 at the earliest. 

[jellybeanandkids]

DD is almost 19 months and is RF and will be until she outgrows the seat. I don't know anyone IRL that RF's beyond age 1.

[Cavy]

I have known about RF for many many years but I have never had any of them RF beyond about 15 months (when they outgrew their first seat).I don't know anyone in RL who would RF so late.  I know a lot about RF seats, but when I research it closely I'm not convinced enough to go to the trouble (a lot of trouble it would be for me, too).

[jammomma]

Our 18 month old is RF, and he will be until he is at least two or older.

[starbuckmom]

Originally Posted by Cavy 

I have known about RF for many many years but I have never had any of them RF beyond about 15 months (when they outgrew their first seat).I don't know anyone in RL who would RF so late.  I know a lot about RF seats, but when I research it closely I'm not convinced enough to go to the trouble (a lot of trouble it would be for me, too).

Just curious:  How would it be trouble for you?  Is it getting the kids in and out of the seats that is hard or having your driver seat set closer to the steering wheel to accommodate the rear facing seat?

[an_aurora]

My kids are 18m, 3y10m, and 5y6m and all are rear-facing :)  Four is my minimum to FF, and my oldest likes to RF, so she is still RF'ing. She is in a Complete Air and that's the only seat she can RF in (she is too tall for anything else, including the Radians).  The youngest is only 18lbs so he will be RF for ages and the almost-4yo is only 27lbs.  

The safety benefit is huge, and although it can be a bit of a PITA, it's so worth it.  I had my DD2 FF when she turned 3, as she hated RF and would get her arms out of the straps, but then I was in a bad crash in August and it scared all of us, so she's RF again.

[ElaynesMom]

My dd is 3.5 years old and is still rf in a True Fit, but is getting close to outgrowing it rf. I'm currently debating if I should purchase another seat to rf her longer as my goal is 4 years, but she may be so close to 4 when she actually outgrows it I'm not sure it's worth another 150+ dollars.

[LROM]

DD is 25 months old and has been FF since she was 21 months or so, even though we have the carseat we have because of the ability to RF much longer.  She was just so miserable RF and it was just getting exhausting with the daily battles.  It does still bother me that RF is safer and we're not doing it but compared to the grumpy parents she'd have and the trauma to her and us of wrestling her into the seat every day, I still feel like it's the right decision for our family.

[Spring Lily]

My twins are 27mos and RFing, and will be as long as possible. At least another year!

[staryla]

DS is 28 months old and RF.  My current goal is to make it till 3 years at which point I will re-evaluate.  We have another baby coming in June and I've already determined that it is possible to have a RF convertible and an infant bucket in my Toyota Corolla.

When we were out looking at XMAS lights I felt bad for DS because he couldn't see them as well as if he was FF, but he still really enjoyed it!  Since he doesn't know any different he doesn't complain. 

IRL I know ONE other person who rear-faced till about 18 months.  Around here I see way too many 3 year-olds who aren't in any sort of carseat at all, much less a rear-facing one!

[tourist.]

My 23 month old son is FF (and has been since about 13 months), but only because each and every trip in the car resulted in him screaming the entire time.  If we didn't have to drive so often, that would be one thing, but we're driving with him nearly 2 hours a day on most days.  The constant distraction was not a safe way to drive.  I'm really really really hoping that DC2 will be happy to RF for as long as our carseats allow (which is a really long time!). 

[sweetcheeks]

We had to turn DS2 at 18/19 months (can't remember the exact month!) as he hit the 30lb RFing limit on his seat. Would I liked to have him RF longer? Yes. But at the time, the only RFing past 30lbs options we had up here were going to set us back at least $200, which wasn't feasible for us at the time. So we turned him.

[1stBabyAt39]

I bought a car seat that would accommodate rear-facing up to 45 lbs so I could keep DD RF as long as possible.  However, at around 16 months, she started screaming when we put her in the seat.  Once we turned her FF, she no longer screamed and would say "whee!" as we were driving.  So, while I hated turning her FF so soon, at least she enjoys being in the seat more now.

[Belia]

Colin is 29 months and between 35 - 40 pounds.  He is FF in one car with a True Fit (max RF weight = 35 lbs) and RF in the other car with a Complete Air (max RF weight = 40 lbs).

DH gives me crap about ERF every dang time we're in the car together.  Even though he acknowledges that RF is safer, he says that the likelihood of our being in a crash is too small to justify keeping DS seated in an uncomfortable position.  Even though DS doesn't complain and is happy as a clam no matter which way he sits.  And even though we totaled our car this past summer.  

    

I don't care.  DS will stay RF to the limits of his seat.  DH can bite me, and he knows it.  

[olien]

Originally Posted by chel 

do kids not outgrow seats by height much now?  with my dd1 it was always her height that got her moved from one type of seat to the next.  though from thr post here it seems all about the weight

My DS will definitely outgrow his seat by height. He is in the 95th %tile. That was the case with his infant seat too.
 

[samstress]

dd will be four in april and is still RF and will remain RF until she's 35 lbs (right now she's about 32 lbs).  expecting another in may and s/he will RF as well.

[plantnerd]

13 months/26 lbs, still rear facing.  He doesn't mind and it's safer for his neck.

[RedPony]

My littlest is 20 months and about 24 lbs, rfing.  :)  My oldest was 2 yrs 7 months when we flipped her ffing, she'd hit the limits of her seat heightwise but not weightwise.  It didn't occur to me at that time to look for a larger seat!  I plan on keeping my 20 month old rfing for as long as possible, and yes, we will get a bigger seat!

[MrsBone]

We RF'ed until DS was 13 months. At that point he was still in his infant seat. He's super tall and skinny. The reason we flipped is that he is so tall, and there is evidence to support both ideas of thought on this. Depending on the type of car accident you are in will depend on which way is safer. I just went with my gut on this one :)

[butterfly_mommy]

DS will be 3 at the end of the month and is 38 lbs he is RF in a Radian but wants to turn FF.  I would like to keep him RF until the limit of my seat  but he has been asking  why he is RF and why he can't be FF for a few mons now (my almost 4 year old daycare girl is FF and has been  for a year in my car) A few weeks ago I noticed that the boot that you need to use to RF the seat was damaged so turned DS FF until the company sent a new one. Well he was so happy,  he talked non stop about all the stuff he was seeing for the first time (signs mostly) when I got the boot in the mail I was all  excited that we could turn him RF again but he begged me not too :( so I made a deal  with him that he could  be FF until we went to my mom's at Christmas. We had to drive  on the highway and I wanted  him RF. He is still RF but is  asking when he can turn forward again. Also  it was very pleasurable to get a bit more space in the front seat again. Anyway I am not sure if I will turn him before the limits or not.