forward facing seat: Do I have change him??

[MSSANDRA]

Ok, Our DB (our almost grandbaby) is 14 mo, and 27 lbs. He is in a evenflo Triumph facing backwards. I love the seat and he loves sitting backward as i have a wagon and he watches everything out the back window. The seat requirments for facing backwards are 30 lbs and ears 1 inch below top of seat. We are good here for a while but getting close to the weight. I have been reading that weight wise i have some wiggle room but height i need to be more concerned. He is going to hit that 30lbs by the first of the year I would expect. Is he safer to turn when he hits that 30 lbs???? Is it worth buying a seat that forward faces to 35 lbs???

BTW- We bought his mom one of the higher end seats that rears to 35 as we THOUGHT ours would be the secondary seat but he is in our car with us more that in his mom's. She however turned him the morning he turned one. . She waited till them so she would not get a ticket! AGGGG. Don't think she wants to trade with us.

How do i best keep him safe???

 

[Skwinkles]

It really depends on the car seat you have. My daughter's seat says rear facing from 5-33 pounds. Another one I saw said rear facing from 5-35 pounds. Try the Babies R Us website and see if they have you seat on there. They generally give the guidelines in the product information section.

 

[Melissa_E]

I think he'll be absolutely fine to turn forward, unless he has a medical condition that requires him to face backward. Considering his mom already turned him in his car at a year (which is perfectly fine as well), that isn't a consideration. Other industrialized countries turn their children earlier than a year (Australia for example).

 

[hmacmahony]

It is SAFEST to keep him rear facing as long as possible, maybe switch car seats with his mom. My oldest was rear facing until almost 3, the second one was 2 1/2 and the third was almost 2 1/2 when we flipped them forward. But, follow the weight limit, that is what keeps him safe, I would try to switch seats with his mom, since that one has the higher weight limit.
Yes, some countries turn there kids earlier, but in all honestly, it should be later. One and 20 pounds is the earliest to turn your child. They are always safer when seated backwards.
I know I have read posts from some car seat techs on this board, I am sure they can even post some links as to why extended rear facing is safer.
good luck

 

[MSSANDRA]

Thanks,

I know how much safer he is backwards and I want to do what I can to keep him that way. i too am hoping some of our experts come by with some idea on how much wiggle room i have with that weight limit. the newer model of the triumphs go up to 35 lbs and i would love to know if there are any changes to the seat or if they just re-rated the weight on that seat. Mom thinks it is silly for me to keep him rear facing and LIKES her really nice seat so doubt she will change.

 

[hollyk]

I know you want to be the safest. but I do believe that he will be perfectly safe forward facing, and it's really not worth spending $100 or more for 5 pounds. the car seat manufactures make the seats to a certain weight and it will be safe. ours turned at 21 pounds, and is just fine. the main thing is to make sure it is secured properly that's all. I really think you will be fine and he will be very safe turning at 30 pounds

 

[tanyaandallie]

I know you want to be the safest. but I do believe that he will be perfectly safe forward facing, and it's really not worth spending $100 or more for 5 pounds. the car seat manufactures make the seats to a certain weight and it will be safe. ours turned at 21 pounds, and is just fine. the main thing is to make sure it is secured properly that's all. I really think you will be fine and he will be very safe turning at 30 pounds

There is safe and there is safest. Sure, the baby has met the minimum requirements to turn ff, but it is FAR safer for a child to remain rf as long as possible. Children who are ff are 4 times more likely to be injured in an accident. Did you know that the AAP now recommends that children remain rf to the max of their carseat and they no longer recommend they turn ff at 1 year and 20 lbs.

All that said, when this babe hits the weight limit of the seat, he has to go ff. The weight limit is set in stone. Baby can remain rf as long as he is below the weight limit of the seat and there is more than 1 inch of shell above his head. The only place there is wiggle room is overall height. Since kids all grow in different ways (long torso, long legs, etc) there can be some wiggle room in overall height.

If you really want to keep him rf, you could look into getting a Scenera. It rf to 35 lbs and is taller than the Triumph so would likely last him a bit longer. It is a low cost seat, only $40 at Target/Walmart. Just make sure you get the 5 pt harness and not the overhead shield.

 

[thepeach80]

He is ABSOLUTELY safer rfing, yay for you for realizing that! Here's a great video on it for those of you who don't realize that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8 My son will be 3 on Friday and is still rfing.

If you have the old Triumph, he can be rfing in it till 30# (so once he hits 30# he has to go ffing) or the top of his HEAD (not ears) is w/in an inch of the top of the seat. At 14 mos, I absolutely would spend the $ on a new seat to keep him rfing. The Cosco Scenera rf to 35# and is a great seat for the price (I have one as a spare). It's $40 at Wal-Mart and Target, be sure to look at the 5pt harness kind, not the over head shield one.

Please try and share this video w/ your dd and I can get more info if you want on why it's so important to keep children rfing as long as possible. Even the AAP agrees children should be rfing till they outgrow the limits of their seat by height or weight (30-35#).

 

[CastleCreations]

I was always told to keep them rear facing as long as possible. We kept all of ours rear facing until their little legs were too long, then we turned them around. For me, it was a safety thing. I guess drivers are more likely to hit something head on, then to be rear ended, and if that's the case, the child will be better protected rear facing.
Everyone's thoughts are different, so I would just do what I was comfortable with. Good luck and enjoy the little one!

 

[thepeach80]

I was always told to keep them rear facing as long as possible. We kept all of ours rear facing until their little legs were too long, then we turned them around.

Remember legs don't matter when deciding when to ff. You can fix a broken leg (which has never been recorded as happening) easier than a broken neck.

 

[all4fun]

I agree 100% with tanyaandallie and thepeach80. In the Evenflo Triumph, your db can be r/fng until 30lbs or until the top of head (not ears) has less than an inch of shell above it. At just 14mos, I definitely would recommend either switching car seats with the mom - since she's going to have him f/fing anyway, why NOT have the seat he can still r/f in, in the vehicle he's in most often? Makes sense to me. Or you could get another Higher Weight limit seat for your own car. The new Triumph ADVANCE goes to 35lbs r/fing, 50lbs f/fing and has a nice tall back and 17" top harness slots. That is just one option and it is not terribly expensive as far as Higher Weight Harness seats go. It normally retails for $130-150.

Oh and I absolutely did this for my ds as well. He outgrew his 40lb limit seat at 32mos by height for r/fing, but was only 27lbs... I went ahead and bought a bigger convertible so I could keep him r/fing to the limit of that seat. He liked r/fing and I liked that he was so much safer that way. He was able to stay r/fing until he was 3-3/4yrs old.

And also, legs & feet touching the back seat is really not a safety concern. The main thing for rear facing is the top of the head has to be below the top of the shell so the childs head will be contained by the shell and won't impact anything in a fwd collision. This is also why the straps need to be at or below the shoulders when r/fing. It may be possible for a leg to be broken however legs are much easier to fix than spines. [stepping off soap box now] ...

hth!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Thanks again,

I am glad I asked as i was wrong about the weight wiggle room. i think I will look into the new triumph or maybe break down and get the britex like i got his mom. Her's is so easy to install and use that i really want it in her car even though he is not rear facing, she is more likely to use it installed correctly and use it every time.

My DS is now 15 and it makes me shurder to remember what the car restrant laws were just 15 years ago. He did not hit 40 lbs till 6 or 7 and was the only child in kindergarten to ride in a booster. The high back boosters did not even come out till he was in kindergarten and there were no five point harness to be found. I guess I have always been a little over protective in the car restrant area but when he brings me his shoes and looks up at me and says" Nona, go by by ? ," my heart melts and I will do any thing to keep him as safe as in can.

 

[puffkin]

Wow, you must all have really cooperative kids! My son absolutely hated being rear facing even though he could have stayed so longer in his seat (Britax Marathon). He would cry and scream and carry on because he couldn't see out enough. He even was figuring out how to remove the restraints. We turned him forward right around his first birthday and now we don't hear a peep out of him! He was 27 lbs when we turned him.

 

[Melissa_E]

Jennifer, I've seen that video a few times, each time I say the same thing, the FF seats in the video do not have a top tether properly attached, nor are they placed correctly. Therefore, you are shown the extreme of what can happen when a car seat is installed incorrectly. A correctly installed FF seat will not have the amount of movement that the video shows (with the top tether attached, etc...). It is amazing that the same video shows no movement for the RF seat, but so much movement for the FF seat.

It is also important to note that after 40-48 pounds depending on your car manufactorer's recommendation, you can't use LATCH anymore.

Sure keeping your child RF as long as possible is the safest, but then so is putting them in the middle vs. one side (which many people can't do because they have multiple children), buying a car with the highest safety rating (again, not possible for some parents) and keeping them in a 5 point harness until they reach 100 pounds, but not many people are going to spend nearly $300 on a Britax Regent seat. So people do what they consider to be the safest within legal guidelines.

 

[thepeach80]

Jennifer, I've seen that video a few times, each time I say the same thing, the FF seats in the video do not have a top tether properly attached, nor are they placed correctly. Therefore, you are shown the extreme of what can happen when a car seat is installed incorrectly. A correctly installed FF seat will not have the amount of movement that the video shows (with the top tether attached, etc...). It is amazing that the same video shows no movement for the RF seat, but so much movement for the FF seat.

It is also important to note that after 40-48 pounds depending on your car manufactorer's recommendation, you can't use LATCH anymore.

Sure keeping your child RF as long as possible is the safest, but then so is putting them in the middle vs. one side (which many people can't do because they have multiple children), buying a car with the highest safety rating (again, not possible for some parents) and keeping them in a 5 point harness until they reach 100 pounds, but not many people are going to spend nearly $300 on a Britax Regent seat. So people do what they consider to be the safest within legal guidelines.

What people consider safe and what IS safe, are often 2 different things. Unfortunately most people don't know enough about carseat safety and consider the laws safe, they generally are not. No, we can't always put all our children in the middle (though 2 of my 3 are) and we can't always have the safest cars, but you can afford to go buy a $40 carseat to keep them rfing till 35# and if not there are people who can help. We would never turn away a parent who can't afford a carseat for their baby at a carseat check. It's also a lot cheaper to buy a new seat and use it correctly vs buying a new car. We are not talking about buying $300 seats in this thread btw.

The carseat in the video is properly installed, we are not required to have top tethers here and many people don't have even have tether anchors to use. Using a top tether has to reduce the head excusion from 34" to 28". Measure 28" from the back of your backseat, that's a REALLY big distance for such a little head. Here's a still frame a rfing vs a tethered ffing seat.

Trust me, that video is definitely not the extreme of what can happen w/ an incorrectly installed seat. I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by arguing w/ facts except to rationalize your own decisions.

Even if you can't use LATCH anymore after 48# you can still install carseats w/ the seatbelt. Though this wasn't even mentioned in this thread I don't think.

 

[jodifla]

What people consider safe and what IS safe, are often 2 different things. Unfortunately most people don't know enough about carseat safety and consider the laws safe, they generally are not. No, we can't always put all our children in the middle (though 2 of my 3 are) and we can't always have the safest cars, but you can afford to go buy a $40 carseat to keep them rfing till 35# and if not there are people who can help. We would never turn away a parent who can't afford a carseat for their baby at a carseat check. It's also a lot cheaper to buy a new seat and use it correctly vs buying a new car. We are not talking about buying $300 seats in this thread btw.

The carseat in the video is properly installed, we are not required to have top tethers here and many people don't have even have tether anchors to use. Using a top tether has to reduce the head excusion from 34" to 28". Measure 28" from the back of your backseat, that's a REALLY big distance for such a little head. Here's a still frame a rfing vs a tethered ffing seat.

Trust me, that video is definitely not the extreme of what can happen w/ an incorrectly installed seat. I'm not sure what you're trying to prove by arguing w/ facts except to rationalize your own decisions.

Even if you can't use LATCH anymore after 48# you can still install carseats w/ the seatbelt. Though this wasn't even mentioned in this thread I don't think.

We don't need to "rationalize" our own decisions. I look at the facts, and make my own decisions.

I turned DS around at 1 year old. He was happy to be forward facing, and I was happy to be able to see him.

I didn't think it was safe when we drove for hours and I couldn't see him.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Thanks again,

I am glad I asked as i was wrong about the weight wiggle room. i think I will look into the new triumph or maybe break down and get the britex like i got his mom. Her's is so easy to install and use that i really want it in her car even though he is not rear facing, she is more likely to use it installed correctly and use it every time.

My DS is now 15 and it makes me shurder to remember what the car restrant laws were just 15 years ago. He did not hit 40 lbs till 6 or 7 and was the only child in kindergarten to ride in a booster. The high back boosters did not even come out till he was in kindergarten and there were no five point harness to be found. I guess I have always been a little over protective in the car restrant area but when he brings me his shoes and looks up at me and says" Nona, go by by ? ," my heart melts and I will do any thing to keep him as safe as in can.

Sounds like he is a heavy kiddo so you might want to get the Triumph Advance over a Britax seat. The TA has a 35 lbs rf weight limit while the Britax seats have a 33 lbs rf weight limit. It's cheaper and would give you a few extra lbs. My guess is he still has some time in the current seat, though. They do tend to slow down in the weight gain dept as they get older.

 

[CastleCreations]

Remember legs don't matter when deciding when to ff. You can fix a broken leg (which has never been recorded as happening) easier than a broken neck.

I guess I should have been more clear. Our son was 2 and 1/2 when we turned him. He was very tall and his legs had no where to go. He knees were bend and practically pulled up to his tummy, so we knew he couldn't stay turned around. I keep mine rear facing for as long as possible, and even though, they are tall enough now...my 6 and 4 year old are still in their seats. I had to buy them booster type seats for larger children, but they don't mind using them.