When did you switch to forward-facing? - Page 2

[LeighPF]

Monkey was RF until he was just past three. A bit tall for his age and about 35lb. In a Radian 65 so still more room to RF but we are car less and I was tired of installing it RF every damn time. Oddly gets more carsick facing forward.

Bee is still RF in her Coccoro at 20 months and will do until she is 36" tall and it has to go FF. If we had a car I would have gotten her a Radian too for the longer RF.

Most states (and all car seat manuals I have read) have RF until a minimum of 20 lb AND 1 year. Monkey hit 20 lb at 4 months.

[~Adorkable~]

a point on carsickness, FF is very often not the answer certainly not the only one, i actually had both my twins start getting super carsick last summer and as i am plauged with carsickness myself to the point were i can barely be a passenger,  i was very sympathetic and was frantic to fix whatever i could.  the biggest point is to give the person prone to sickness something in the distance to look at. avoiding looking at stationary things within the car AS WELL AS the fast moving nearby stuff that is usually found out the side windows. 

this can often be easier to do RF actually!

as a view out the rear of a car is often less obstructed and with less distracting  of stuff in the way if it is there.  we took off the head rest of the rear seats, i know others that moved the kids to the 3rd row if you use all 3, i fold my 3rd row down for stroller but make sure everything is below the seat backs( both for the view as well and safety in a panic stop). i then worked on making sure the fresh air blew near them and in my case i was lucky and could make sure it was never really warm air. as soon as i did those things, my 6 weeks of my two 18 month olds puking nearly every other day stopped abruptly! 

it may not be the magic bullet for everyone, but just want to point out that neither is FF. specially if that is facing the back of a front seat or a busy dash stereo area that draws their eyes.

[~Adorkable~]

as for the difference between minimums and what is good for your kids, we all can point to many things where the "rules" are far lower a bar than it should be, heck like folks saying you only need to nurse for 6 months because that is what the official statement is in the US, we all know that doing it much longer is way better for our kids and most of us do.

as important a choice that is, this is way way more so.

So yeah someone might live in a state that has stupidly low car seat regulations, it doesn't not make it "right" to follow them, just "technically correct" a huge difference.  

So while i will not spend my energy calling anyone a bad parent for just doing the minimum of a badly written law, the name calling does not help the kid.

I will, and repeatedly do, go on recored as pointing out that turning FF based on weight rather than age is in denial of the science of why the law was written.

Also that turning earlier rather that finding a way to make it work is choosing to place convenience over a very real life and limb safety issue.

Until the laws change and I hope in terms of carseats someday they do, parents have a right to do all sorts of dangerous things with their kids including FF way too young, but they do need to own that choice they make and not expect me or anyone to buy the excuses they give themselves.

I have this talk with all my friends heart to heart  and many folks i barely know. I have help turned back around a number of kids and helped a handful of others find ways for it to work to keep them RF much longer, like I did with my own horrible problem. 

this is such a easy clearly good thing in a world of confusing grey areas of parenting, i make no qualms about being an activist for it.

[colsxjack]

We turned DD at 2 3/4 yrs. I did not not want. I wanted to RF until she reached the limits of her seat (which is now at 3.5 yrs). But we turned her for a couple of reasons.

The biggest reason was that we could not come up with a way to have her be comfortable in the car and not screaming. The screaming was causing a situation where we were more likely to end up in a car accident. She screamed in the car from birth. But we didn't drive all that much.

She is a very sensitive child. I dont know if it was car sickness or motion sickness or what.

I do know that she is VERY sensitive to noise and light. And the sunlight coming in the back window was causing severe discomfort for her. Dark sunglasses didn't stop the screaming. A shade in the window made it hard to see when driving. Holding blankets over her head caused a larger blind spot for the driver.

We chose to FF and see if that helped. It did. Our DD all of a sudden became capable of being in the car.

We now have twin infants that tolerate the car very well. In fat, car seats are like valium and they just fall asleep. Hopefully it stays that way.

We also have a different vehicle that has tinted windows, allows for seating out of the suns blare and has ample room for extended RF.

These kids will RF until 40lbs. If they are like their sister, that will be 3.5yrs.

[neonalee]

We are RF at 2.5 yrs in I think a true fit. I plan to keep him there as long as possible. Thanks to the info in the first? reply now DP is convinced as well. I don't know anyone who stayed RF after 1, not because of illness, but because it's more convenient or they were uninformed

That said I feel very lucky that DS has no trouble with it.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk, please ignore typos.

[sunwillshine]

When you know better, you do better. :-)

Cady is 26 months and RFing happily in her Diono Radian 120. She's 33 lbs and around 37-38 inches, and I hope to RF her for a good long while yet. Even if she starts complaning or getting carsick, I figure sick and/or grumpy is better than dead or severely injured, were the worst to happen. 

[somegirl99]

DS is almost 2.5 and is still RFing in our Complete Air, and we plan to keep him that way for a long time to come.
 

[luckiest]

I had planned to go until we maxed out his Britax Marathon (35 or 40lbs I think), but we turned him at 21 months.  The car seat had been a constant source of frustration since birth, getting worse as he got older.  And the older he got, the more vehemently he resisted until we were effectively housebound.  Getting him in the seat required physically pinning him down while he cried and struggled so hard he would vomit.  Reluctantly turned him around, skeptical that it would even help anything and prepared to turn him back RF if it didn't help, but it was night and day.  We tried everything we could to avoid FF, but it was the only way I was able to leave the house without tears for both of us.  Hopefully it won't be an issue with our next kid(s) and they can RF until they max out their seat.

[loveandgarbage]

We did this at 2 even though I wanted to wait until longer. With my older son it just wasn't possible (99th+ percentile for height/weight) and with my younger one it was a matter of keeping him happy in the car.

[crunchy_mommy]

DS is 4yo and still RF'ing. A few months ago we tried FF'ing for a week or so to see if it would help with carsickness. We were desperate, and I figured since he was almost 4yo it wasn't a huge risk to at least try it. It didn't help with the carsickness and in fact he actually asked to turn the seat back around. He'll probably remain RF'ing for another year or two, basically 'til he outgrows the seat RF limits. He is the only one of his friends who is RF'ing but they think it's cool that he gets to ride backwards, and it's fun when we put his carseat in a friend's car because the kids get to face each other. Once in a while he asks to turn the car seat forward (just for fun I guess?) but I just remind him that it is much safer RF'ing and that's the way we keep him.

I would not turn a kid FF'ing before age 2, even with fussiness, carsickness, etc. After age 2, I might try FF'ing for long trips if carsickness was an issue, though I'd try other ideas first, and FF'ing would be more of a last resort.

This is a good reference on RF'ing http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html and the whole site is great for car seat info.

[sassyfirechick]

For all of you that RF practicially into the teen years, what do you do when your child rides a bus to school?  Just curious bc school busses don't even have seat belts never mind booster seats so how is any of this truely making a difference....

[Lovemy2boys25]

My son is 15 months and he weighs 38lbs and is 33 inches long, so hes a big boy too, he has a foward facing carseat and has had it since he grew out of his infant seat. He met the height and weight requirements to be able to use that car seat and to sit front facing and my family all said it was fine for him so thats how I let him sit.

[tribord]

To me this is a safety issue, so my decision was easy.  Keep them RF basically as long as possible.  DD just switched to forward-facing last month when she turned 5.  She still has a couple pounds to go before hitting the RF limit in her car seat but she had been asking for a while and I had promised her for her 5th birthday she could go FF.

DS will stay RF until the 45 pounds weight limit or he is too tall, whichever comes first.  DD is all-around large but DS is more tall and skinny so he may hit the height limit (which is head either 1/2" or 1" from top of shell, I can't remember which) before the weight limit. 

[~Adorkable~]

Originally Posted by sassyfirechick 

For all of you that RF practicially into the teen years, what do you do when your child rides a bus to school?  Just curious bc school busses don't even have seat belts never mind booster seats so how is any of this truely making a difference....

sine this is clearly rude and facetious i will ignore the tone and innuendo and address that actual question hidden beneath it.

many busses actually do come with seat belts first off, and even those that dont are very very large and do not react in the same way when they are hit in a crash. are they perfectly safe? no. and i will cross that bridge when i get to it. would i let a kindergardener on one unrestrained? no i personally wouldn't and would prefer to carpool or do something else where i can do what i know to be correct in the life and limb safety of my kid.

this is coming from a mom that does very much believe that kids get hurt all the time and are just fine, you wont find me stopping my kids from climbing trees and such just because they could fall. there is common danger and there is avoidable deadly danger and i know which one to avoid and what stuff to just accept.

in the end we address the issues that we can and work to not fret too much about which we cant not control. i will keep my kids safe in the best way i know how and still go on with our lives (for instance it would be safest to not ride in cars but that is not practical in our modern life and i accept that risk and take action to minimize it)  by the time my kids will likely ride on a school buss they will also have done a heck of lot more growing into their bodies. i will hope and look for a school district that has modern busses that do have proper restraint systems and teach my kids to use them well.

Quote:

so how is any of this truely making a difference....?

 because any time you are safer it helps, and just because you cant do the best thing all the time does not negate the benefit of doing it any time you can. because the most likely time they will be in a severe crash is in the car they drive in most, mine. and so i am addressing the most common safety risk in a responsible way.

please no more snideness, it is not helpful or welcome, if you have actual questions about the science or logistics of car seat safety, im sure many of us would be happy to address them.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I want to remind everyone that snark is not welcome here. Acknowledging that this subject is sometimes divisive and emotional, let's talk about personal choices and perspective while remaining respectful. 

Originally Posted by Flopsy 

When did you switch your child to forward-facing in their carseat?

What made you decide it was the right time? (Age, weight, height, something else?)

If your child is at or near the age/height/weight range for being able to be forward-facing, but is still rear-facing, what made you choose that?

My DC is 21 months and reading this thread is the first time I even considered the option of FF. I don't know a lot of parents my kid's age so I kind of forgot about FF. 

I will make my decision when the time comes based on a few things including the law in my state, the recommendations of some organizations like the APP and etc. I will also make my decision based on our driving habits. 

[~Adorkable~]

as A interesting note 5 states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) have seat belt requirements for school buses. Texas requires them on buses purchased after September 2010.  I'm sure this will continue to grow as awareness of this issue and state passenger car laws keep getting better as well

[sere234]

Originally Posted by sassyfirechick 

For all of you that RF practicially into the teen years, what do you do when your child rides a bus to school?  Just curious bc school busses don't even have seat belts never mind booster seats so how is any of this truely making a difference....

It makes a difference when my kid rides in my car. ANY time I can help him be safer, be it only for one 15 minute trip a day, I will choose safety. Why not? If it works for my family and keeps my children safe, why in the world would I not do it? It's as simple as that!

[Nightwish]

We turned ds FF at 1 y/o because he outgrew his carseat and bought a FF carseat / booster seat that couldn't be used RF.

We turned dd at 18 mo, her seat can be used both RF and FF.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Originally Posted by ~Adorkable~ 

as A interesting note 5 states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) have seat belt requirements for school buses. Texas requires them on buses purchased after September 2010.  I'm sure this will continue to grow as awareness of this issue and state passenger car laws keep getting better as well

Also, is the issue of the physical and practical differences of bus riding. Bus on bus accidents are rare and a bus/car accident is in favor of the bus riders. Plus, a larger percentage of bus rides are at slower speeds with trained professional drivers. I've never found the comparisons all that useful. I also don't see the use (personally) of comparing an urbanites occasional use of a taxi (without a carseat) with the habits of a hard core suburbanite. 

[sk8boarder15]

The schoolbus issue is easy for me. We are going to homeschool! :P 

I try to avoid cabs and take buses or trains instead when we are in a city and don't have a car seat. As is stated above a bus is much safer in an accident than a car.