When will you turn your LO forward-facing in the car?

[Logan Sapphire]

Assuming you waited (or will wait) until LO turns 2, when will you turn him or her forward-facing? Most people say when their kid outgrows the rear-facing limits of the seat.

I had hoped to keep my son RFing (who will be 2 in mid-April) for a long time- was envisioning at least 2.5 or 3, but now I see that he'll most likely outgrow it by height fairly soon. He is long-torsoed and has outgrown a Roundabout 40 RFing already. I'll reinstall that seat in our second car FF- it was RFing, but DS has only been in it 3 times total. We never use it with the kids (in fact, there's only one car seat installed), so I feel mostly comfortable that he will FF the less than 1x per month he'll ride in it. But his seat in our mini-van is a Roundabout 55 and I think he only has 1 to 1.5 inches or so left in that until he'll outgrow it by height. When that happens, would you turn him, even if he's only not even 2.5?

 

[janinegirly]

Wow good for you for wanting to make it to 2.5 or 3. No help here because I turned the seat FF at 2 or just over and thought that was pretty good that we lasted that long. Our DD was v. uncomfortale RF and also got car sick a few times - and I feel it is safe FF at this point, but interested to others' thoughts.

 

[NovemberBride]

Like JG, I turned my daughter right around 2. She was very uncomfortable and also miserable rear-facing and it was very distracting to me while driving. I was glad I kept her rear-facing till 2, but felt safe turning her then. I would not keep a child rear-facing once they have outgrown the rear-facing limits either by weight or height, imho that would be much less safe than turning them front-facing.

 

[Pandora II]

Probably around 4 or 5. DD is tiny and so probably won't outgrow the seat till then.

I don't know anyone else in the UK IRL who rearfaces past a year max.

 

[Laila619]

As long as possible! It's just so much safer. His seat RF until 45 pounds, so I hope he will be at least 2.5 by the time I have to switch him to FF.

 

[fieryred33143]

We just turned her at 32 months. She outgrew the height on her grandmother's chair and was FFing in their car while RFing in our cars. She got close to the 1inch mark on the Safety First seat in her dad's car so we turned her there too. She was still RFing in my car but because of her being FFing in the other cars, she hated it. She would scream and distract me in my car. Sometimes movies and her leappad help but othertimes it's long drives of screams so I turned her recently. I'm still debating as she has so much room to grow in the first year. The difference between that seat and the safety first is huge! I may buy another first year for her dad's car and then turn them both around.

 

[nfowife]

By outgrowing by height, do you mean the stated height of the seat or.....? Because they can be rearfacing as long as they are withing the stated RF weight limit and as long as their shoulders are AT OR ABOVE the shoulder slots. So really, until they are at the weight limit of RF, there is no need to turn them before 2 as so long as they have 1" from the top of the shell (which shouldn't happen until they are like 4-5+ years old) they should be fine. The stated height limits on the seats are just averages because all kids carry their height differently so it's just easier for the manufacturers to put an "xy inches limit" rather than put guidelines that aren't crystal clear and easy to follow. Very few kids outgrow RF by height before weight. Meanwhile, most kids outgrow FF by height before weight. So until at least 2, unless you have like a guiness record tall kid, they should be fine RF and that is what the AAP recommends (came out with the "until 2" recommendation in 2010).
My oldest (almost 7) RF until 28 months. My middle (now 5) RF until 19 months when we moved overseas and into a tiny car that wouldn't fit his carseat RF anymore. My youngest is now 15 months and will remain RF until at least 2, longer if I can do it.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

By outgrowing by height, do you mean the stated height of the seat or.....? Because they can be rearfacing as long as they are withing the stated RF weight limit and as long as their shoulders are AT OR ABOVE the shoulder slots. So really, until they are at the weight limit of RF, there is no need to turn them before 2 as so long as they have 1" from the top of the shell (which shouldn't happen until they are like 4-5+ years old) they should be fine. The stated height limits on the seats are just averages because all kids carry their height differently so it's just easier for the manufacturers to put an "xy inches limit" rather than put guidelines that aren't crystal clear and easy to follow. Very few kids outgrow RF by height before weight. Meanwhile, most kids outgrow FF by height before weight. So until at least 2, unless you have like a guiness record tall kid, they should be fine RF and that is what the AAP recommends (came out with the "until 2" recommendation in 2010).
My oldest (almost 7) RF until 28 months. My middle (now 5) RF until 19 months when we moved overseas and into a tiny car that wouldn't fit his carseat RF anymore. My youngest is now 15 months and will remain RF until at least 2, longer if I can do it.

I mean outgrown by the fact that his head is higher than the shell. I'll post a picture of his one seat...I believe it's outgrown, but maybe I'm wrong. His height is in his torso and he is still well below weight-wise.

Btw, he doesn't ride in the car with his jacket on, before people tell me it's not safe We were just playing outside and I plopped him in to take his pic.

 

[fieryred33143]

Logan the pic may be deceiving but it looks like he has outgrown that seat by rearfacing guidelines. He cam stay in the seat as long as his head does not pass the 1in mark and it looks like his head would rest right at the top of the shell. Again the pic may be deceiving but based on what I see it needs to be turned around or you need another seat. Did you say how tall he is and what seat you have?

 

[Pandora II]

Just wanted to add, I don't know if the have it in the USA, but I have the BeSafe Izikids Isofix Combi which can be used both FF and RF.

It's been very useful - my parents car doesn't have Isofix, so we FF'd the seat using the seatbelt latching system and then we RF in cars that do have Isofix.

(I think you call Isofix something different in the USA as well ... it's the thing under the back seat that the carseat fixes onto)

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Pandora, I think you're talking about LATCH in the US. There's one seat that I have my eye on as a replacement for when DS outgrows his seat- a Diono Radian. It can be used a RF and FF seat, as well as high-back booster. My daughter has recently moved to a Britax Frontier, which is a harness-to-booster seat, which we've been pleased with as well.

Fiery, here is a pic of him totally leaning back. He is 36", or possibly taller, and as I said, has his height in his torso, which is why I think he's outgrown this particular seat (Roundabout 40). He's only ridden in this seat (used to be my daughter's before she outgrew it by weight and moved to the Frontier) 3 times over 3 or 4 months, and the 1st two times, my husband drove him and didn't pay attention. This 3rd time, I drove him and immediately noticed that he appeared too tall. I have the seat in my living room while I figure out what to do with it. I've messed around with the recline angles, but he still seems too tall for it.

In our van, he rides in a Roundabout 55, which is taller than the 40. But, last night I measured how much room he has, per the Britax manual's directions on how to do so, and I estimate that he has 2 inches or less to remain RFing in that seat. I don't know how fast 2 years old grow though- that could last him a year, I guess, right? So maybe all my angst is for nothing

 

[vinjewels]

This has been an interesting read because I am so tempted to go ahead and turn DD. She's almost 2 and her little legs are going to have to stop getting longer or she's going to have to learn how to do a split.
I am going to measure her though to make sure. We have a Britax Marathon. I am assuming the rear facing measurements are on there?

 

[nfowife]

Hmm, I see that he is almost at the top. Have you tried installing the seat a bit more upright? It can be as upright as 30 degrees (though the actual seat must still be in the "reclined" setting for RF). I don't know if that will make any difference but it's worth a try.
I've never used the Roundabout, we have Marathons. I didn't realize the older roundabout was quite so small! You've got quite a tall kid I guess!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Hunter was too big to rear face by about 18 months to 2 years. He was just miserable! Ryder is already 29 inches at 8 months so I don't think he will last much longer.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

Yeah, I didn't really realize how much smaller the older Roundabout was either. We never had an issue with height for our daughter, who will be 4 in May. She was about to outgrow the seat weight-wise (38lbs when we switched her- the limit is 40), but was totally find height-wise, as she is very short. In fact, since she's short and he's tall, there's only a 1.5" difference in height btwn them and she's two years older than he is!

We had no idea that DS would be as tall as he is, just b/c my sister and I are short and Asian, so we figured our genes would bring the average down. If I had known all this, I wouldn't have gotten him the Roundabout. Oh well- I figure we have about 1/2 year left, which would put him at flipping at 2.5.

 

[qtiekiki]

If you want to keep him RFing, then you just have to get one of the bigger seat (marathon, blvd, etc). We turned DS over about two weeks after he turned 2.

 

[Jennifer W]

Probably around 4 or 5. DD is tiny and so probably won't outgrow the seat till then.

I don't know anyone else in the UK IRL who rearfaces past a year max.

I suppose I don't know you IRL, but well, Amelia just outgrew the rear facing seat (recaro) a couple of months back, and she's coming up for four. I kept her in it for as long as possible, it is just so, so much safer. I cringe when I look at her in her new ff seat. She seems so small. If I could have kept her RF until she was in her 20s, I'd have done it. I used to share an office with a couple of traffic cops (long story) who had specialised in accident scene investigation. The take home message from them, loud and clear was that you don't FF a child until you have absolutely no choice, according to height and weight.

 

[KimberlyH]

My kiddo turned two last month and is still rear facing. I'll probably turn her when she hits the limit in her seat, which means another year or so of staying put.

 

[Mara]

My son is just about 26mo and he rides RF'ing in my car as his primary car...but he is FF'ing in my husband's car. Surprisingly enough he doesn't seem to mind one vs the other even though he is obviously way more comfortable in my husband's car. We turned him in his car about a month ago and he rides there once a week. I was happy to make it to 2 but figure let's see how long we can go in my car! We have the Blvd and he's about 34.5inches I think.