When Did you Forward Face? - Page 3

[Maedze]

Originally Posted by eclipse 


What, I'm supposed to read the whole thread before jumping in?

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by alittlesandy 

This is my car seat. I never said I had a Britax. I was showing their website to show that they don't have a rear-facing car seat that goes over 35 pounds.

Our carseat is an Evenflo, and it was the best one we could afford.

As has been explained, your carseat rear-faces to at least 35#.  An Evenflo is a fine, safe seat and it is even safer when it is used according to best practice standards, which means rear-facing to the limits.

Most Britax convertibles rear-face to 40#.  I realize you don't have a Britax, and Britax is not the be-all and end-all of car seat safety, but they do have seats that rear-face to 40#.

[pers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alittlesandy 

This is a large car seat, not a convertible. It's a full-size car seat designed to hold a child up to 70 lbs. One of the top recommended car seats in Consumer Reports. However, the warning label on the car seat clear states, "Not designed to be used in a rear-facing position with a child over 20 lbs."

http://www.britaxusa.com/learning-center/car-seats-101/car-seat-basics (see the section on forward-facing only seats)

Which seat is it, exactly?  A Britax, I assume, since you linked to a Britax page? 

If it is a forward facing only seat, then you are correct, the minimum weight is twenty pounds and the seat can not be used reaf-facing at all with a child of any weight.  However, this sort of seat is meant  for older children.  A fifteen month should be in a convertible which can rearface.  

If it was a seat that can rearface or forward face, then it is a convertible seat.  The wording on the seats is similar to what you quoted, but something more like "to be used rearfacing only under twenty pounds" which is very annoying for being confusing, and I really wish they'd fix it.  A lot of people take that to mean it can only be used rf to twenty pounds and then must be turned forward, but that is not what it means.  It actually means that under 20 pounds it can only be used in the rearfacing position, you can not turn it forward until at least 20 (or 22 for most Britax?) pounds, not that you can't continue to rearface beyond that.  There is a bit of overlap when the seat is  allowed to be used either way.  If you check the label, it will tell you what the actual limit for rearfacing is.  

The now long-expired Britax Marathon I bought for my daughter in 2003 rearfaced to 33 pounds, and there were several seats at the time that went to 30 or 33 pounds rf.  I'm pretty sure by the time I was shopping for my now five year old, while there may have still been a seat or two around that had a 20 lb rf limit, I didn't see a single one on the shelf.  I know that was the case when in 2009 when I was shopping for my youngest. 

ETA: well, darn.  I thought I hit post before I went to Costco, but came back and found it still sitting here, so posted... and there has been a page since then.  

[chickabiddy]

oops, double post, sorry

[chickabiddy]

Alittlesandy, there seems to be some confusion.

The seat you have IS a convertible.  It has a rear-facing limit of 35# and a forward-facing limit of 50#, not 70#.

Britax seats with 70# limits ARE convertibles with 40# rear-facing limits.

Britax seats that are NOT convertibles have 85# harness limits and do not rear-face at all.

[MJB]

Kid #1: 15 mos. I didn't know any better (this was in 2004).

Kid #2: 2.5, when he hit the 33 lb. limit of his Radian (in 2008).

Kid #3: RFing at 1.5 and will probably not outgrow her seat RFing until 4+. I don't plan to turn her before then. 

[CTH3989]

I turned my children at the age of 2. 

 

[sosurreal09]

Didn't read the thread but do you have a mirror back there? (The kind so you can see her/her you?) That helped us a lot.

[katelove]

Ok, so I just went out and read the label on my carseat. It is a Safe N Sound (Britax) Compaq Deluxe which is a convertible. It says "To be used only in a rearward facing position for a child weighing up to 12 kg." There is no other discussion of weight or height on the label. The forward facing maximum is 18kg. Can I use it rearfacing when my LO is over 12kg or not? Thanks.

[Maedze]

Nope.   Are you Australian?  Unfortuantely Australia is lagging behind the US in keeping kids rear facing.  12 kilos is the max rear facing weight limit of you seat sadly.
 

Originally Posted by katelove 

Ok, so I just went out and read the label on my carseat. It is a Safe N Sound (Britax) Compaq Deluxe which is a convertible. It says "To be used only in a rearward facing position for a child weighing up to 12 kg." There is no other discussion of weight or height on the label. The forward facing maximum is 18kg. Can I use it rearfacing when my LO is over 12kg or not? Thanks.

[Maedze]

Oh, look, your location says Australia.  I'm so observant.  LOL.

[jocelyndale]

Back to the OP:

My son hated the carseat.  We switched him to a rather plush convertible when he was 7mo, hoping the cushiness would help.  We did more upright installs to get him at a better angle.  He screamed and screamed.

So I took the bus or walked when possible. We saved car-necessary errands for times when someone could sit in back with kiddo--grocery shopping at night with DH, friends to come on trips to coffeeshops, etc. He still screamed, but I felt better knowing I was with him.

When he was two years old, he started tolerating rides of 15 minutes or so.  Over that year, he started tolerating longer rides.  He's now a fabulous traveler, aside from his backseat driving (which he did even when RF) and incessant questions about being there yet.

He RF until he was 4yo.  I gave him the choice then and he flip flopped for awhile, which was fine.  This past summer, he hit the weight limit on his carseat (2007 britax blvd, so 33lbs) and went FF fulltime.  

We used the ipod, snacks, songs, you name it.  I think part of his issue was not being able to see out.  The seats are low in my sedan and the headwings on the blvd block a lot of the view.  Once he was finally a bit taller, he could actually see out the windows a bit and enjoy the ride.  I miss the RF days.  Every time he makes a fire engine noise, the siren goes straight to my ears.  Was better when his voice had to go to the back window and bounce back.  And he complains about his feet/legs falling asleep now.  Won't keep shoes on because they weigh down the legs. Really frustrating when it's pouring out or cold.  I try to keep a pile of blankets on the floor in front of him for foot support, but they always end up kicked around.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by Maedze 

Nope.   Are you Australian?  Unfortuantely Australia is lagging behind the US in keeping kids rear facing.  12 kilos is the max rear facing weight limit of you seat sadly.
 

Thanks, that's what I though [sigh]. Yes we are lagging badly in this area. I don't know why, usually we're pretty good about safety stuff.

[cristeen]

I flipped DS to FF shortly (days) after his 2nd birthday, when I realized he was 37 pounds in a 35 pound limit seat. 

[ThankfulMama]

Hi! I agree that the structure of the wording is not the best.  

It says: "Use ONLY in a rear-facing position with an infant weighing less than 20 lbs." (caps mine)

That means: if kid is under 20lbs, must be rear-facing.

Sometimes it helps to really think carefully of what it is and is not saying, and sometimes breaking down the sentence or coming up with an alternative wording helps.  

For example, it does not say "use in a rear-facing position ONLY with an infant weighing less than 20lbs"  Now that means something entirely different.  

That sentence means: if rear-facing, kid must be under 20lbs.  

Wishing you all the best!!

ETA- BTW, DD is 2.5 and is still rear-facing.  Not sure when I will turn her.  With twins on the way around the time she will be almost 3 I'm not sure I can do 3RF with my current seats. 

[treehugginhippie]

5 yrs 3 mo

[sunnygir1]

It's only been a couple years, but I can't really remember why I did it.  I think maybe dd outgrew her seat rear facing (we didn't have an extended rear facing kind of seat).  I also didn't know how important it was.  I actually did some reading and considered buying a seat to turn her back around but in the end I didn't.  She was 2.5, I think, when we turned her ff.  Ds is 2y 2.5m, and I intend to keep him rf longer that I did dd.

[Megan73]

I'm actually curious to see how long I'll be able to keep DS1 RF. He's a tall, slim almost 3.5-year-old in a 45-pound RF limit Radian. I assume he'll outgrow it by height long before he's 45 pounds.

[sunnygir1]

Originally Posted by Megan73 

I'm actually curious to see how long I'll be able to keep DS1 RF. He's a tall, slim almost 3.5-year-old in a 45-pound RF limit Radian. I assume he'll outgrow it by height long before he's 45 pounds.

I think that's pretty standard.  My kids have only ever outgrown car seats by height.

[Devaskyla]

I picked 2 options. Ds1 was somewhere around 18mths. Bearing in mind that was in 2002/early 2003, I had him rear facing far longer than anyone else I knew of. I had to hunt & hunt to find a seat I could use rf'ing over 20lbs & I only managed to find 1 at the time, a crappy tray shield type.  By th time ds2 came along, there were a few more seat options & I kept him rear facing until he was just over 2. With ds3, I would have liked to keep him rear facing longer, I even spent a fortune on a Radian (despite not owning a car, I need seats for when we drive with my mother), but it doesn't fit rear facing in my mother's car as it touches the seat back & the car's manual specifically forbids that. So, I turned him forward this summer at about 2 1/2 when he outgrew his Alpha Omega by height.