How long did you rear face your child's carseat?

[tlbwriter]

We turned DD at age one (she was over the weight limit) because my husband was really gung-ho about having her face forward, and I regret it. I would not do it again. After that, I explained to him that he could make the carseat decisions if he was willing to be the one who did all of the research. And he wasn't.

I turned my child around at 1 and would do it again.

I couldn't STAND not to be able to see my child when I was driving. I think IT"S NOT SAFE!

I think it's less safe to try to watch your child while you're driving. If DD needed something, I pulled over safely instead of trying to deal with it while I was driving.

Also, we did many long car trips, and we used portable videos on them, which is hard to do if you are facing the back of the seat.

I found that it was actually MUCH easier to entertain DD when she was rear-facing, because I sat in the back seat with her on long (multi-hour) trips, and she was facing me. If a parent isn't willing or able to sit in the back, then obviously that's not going to be a bonus for you. On shorter trips (about an hour) she usually fell asleep - having a car sleeper is a great thing! - so it wasn't an issue.

 

[Minniemouse07]

DD (now 9yo) was turned ffing at 22mo in one car, 24mo in the other. Outgrew both convertibles by height in each case.

DS (now 5yo) was turned ffing at 25mo in one car, 26mo in the other. Outgrew both by weight in each case.

Both children were in the largest seats available to them at the time.. seats are much larger now and if we had them available then, they would have been rear facing longer.

Ds actually HATED being ffing. He preferred looking out the back window of the car at the trucks and when ffing his legs hung too much and his feet would fall asleep.

It didn't matter either way for dd.

 

[~Kristina~]

That worked with the first child child, but not the 2nd and 3rd in my experience. The younger kids knew the difference because they saw how their siblings sat!

I'm sure the reason my youngest hated being rear facing is that both her brother and sister got to face front. Add in the fact that we have an in-car VCR that she couldn't see because she was facing backwards, and that being in the middle seat of the middle row of a minivan facing the rear offers zero view of anything interesting, and we reached a point where she hated car rides to the point of crying before we even got her buckled in. It may not sit well with the folks who follow every safety recommendation as gospel, but at that point the hazard of a constant screaming/complaining distraction in the backseat was a much more immediate issue than the potential safety risks of allowing her to face forward at 2.

I honestly don't care what anyone else is doing, hence me just stating what happens in our truck. I'm pretty sure I wasn't flaming anyone either for their actions. They are your kids, not mine. Mine rearface until the age of two because I feel that is best for MY children.

And if the lower portion of your comment wasn't for me, I apologize for my grumpiness.

 

[kohlby]

BTW, doesn't your nearly 3 year old hate facing the back of the car seat?
DD was rfing until right before 3 and had no problems with rf-ing. She didn't know anything else so there was nothing to compare it. As for comfort, their legs bend. Kids are flexible. Folded legs is not a big deal. My oldest was ff-ing at that time but DD understood she was smaller and younger than her older brother so for safety, she would be rf-ing for longer.

*3rd child is almost 2 and I think he prefers rf-ing since he can see his big brother better that way. So older siblings can actually sometimes work the other way!

 

[Derby]

I'm happy to hear that your nearly 3 year old loves looking at the back of the seat . I guess mine was more interested in the rest of the world.

I was simply answering the question the same as you were.

You are aware that rear facing kids can see out the back of the car and the windows, right?

 

[jodifla]

We turned DD at age one (she was over the weight limit) because my husband was really gung-ho about having her face forward, and I regret it. I would not do it again. After that, I explained to him that he could make the carseat decisions if he was willing to be the one who did all of the research. And he wasn't.



I think it's less safe to try to watch your child while you're driving. If DD needed something, I pulled over safely instead of trying to deal with it while I was driving.




I found that it was actually MUCH easier to entertain DD when she was rear-facing, because I sat in the back seat with her on long (multi-hour) trips, and she was facing me. If a parent isn't willing or able to sit in the back, then obviously that's not going to be a bonus for you. On shorter trips (about an hour) she usually fell asleep - having a car sleeper is a great thing! - so it wasn't an issue.

A quick glance in the rear view mirror of you FF child lets you know they are OK. No different than checking your speed or side view mirror; completely safe.

The older a child gets and is RFing, the more possibility there is for trouble. My specific worry is choking. A toddler can easily get a piece of something they shouldn't have, put it in their mouths and start to choke.

I was reading on a book by a parent of a special needs child, and a child had gotten a button off, swallowed it and was turning blue in the back seat. No noise. Luckily, the child was ff and the parent was able to see what was happening and save the child. If the child had been RFing, parent would have arrived at his destination with a dead child.

 

[kohlby]

A toddler can easily get a piece of something they shouldn't have, put it in their mouths and start to choke.

They're strapped in their seats. There isn't much they can get. I don't let my toddler eat in the car. The case you mentioned with the button is scary, but clothes should be inspected frequently for things like loose buttons since we don't stare at our kids 24/7. I know my toddler would spit the button out by this age anyway, though not all kids will. I would wager a guess that the chance of getting into a car accident while driving is higher than the chance of choking while driving - especially since choking is much more under our control no matter what the crazy drivers do.

 

[jodifla]

They're strapped in their seats. There isn't much they can get. I don't let my toddler eat in the car. The case you mentioned with the button is scary, but clothes should be inspected frequently for things like loose buttons since we don't stare at our kids 24/7. I know my toddler would spit the button out by this age anyway, though not all kids will. I would wager a guess that the chance of getting into a car accident while driving is higher than the chance of choking while driving - especially since choking is much more under our control no matter what the crazy drivers do.

But they have dolls, toys, etc. They can find a penny that's been left on the seat by a previous passenger.

Many of my car trips were multi-hour, so we were certainly eating and drinking in the car. Of course, since my son was FF, he was also watching DVDs or tapes, making the trip a lot easier.

If people want to RF, they should. But I was never comfortable with it and was glad the moment I could turn him. I'd hate to see this become another law that parents are forced into!!!

 

[ashleyasiegel]

My Daughter rear faced until 28.5 months in a Graco My Ride. The reason she turned around was due to the fact that she kept throwing her leg over the side of the seat and getting it caught between the seat and car door. She was 35 inches and 31 lbs when we turned her. If it wasn't for the leg thing she was doing she would still be that way but she would start screaming because of her stuck leg and even continued after we got her out of the car so I think she pulled a muscle or something.

We were able to strap a portable DVD player to the headrest in our car for her to watch videos on a long car trip without any cords getting near her to play with so the video thing wasn't a reason to turn her around early. We have a Buick Rendzvous and a Pontiac G6

 

[mejkjj97]

Both my girls turned at age 1 and they were both 20 pounds. they used to get car sick and scream rear facing and now that they are forward facing we don't have the issue as much.

 

[kohlby]

But they have dolls, toys, etc. They can find a penny that's been left on the seat by a previous passenger.

Mine are given toys that they can't choke on. A penny was never in the seat since the only previous passenger was the child. For long car rides, I did sit next to the seat when they needed to eat or drink or entertainment. (Though it was easier for DD to hold the DVD player in her lap when rf-ing. She was over 2 and had no problems doing it without help. At under 2, my kids don't watch tv). I never had to drive for hours without my husband so that does make it easier.

 

[BLAZEY]

My DD is now 21.5mths old, 25lbs, 31.5" Tall and still RF. We have Britax Marathons in my car & DH truck. They go to 30lbs RF, FF to 65lbs. All the Grandparents have Truefits the RF to 35lbs. She will RF until she hits the max limits for her seat. I may even switch out the marathon in my car as we also have a spare Truefit in the dry storage when she hits the 30lbs as it is the car she rides in the most. She like to RF as she like to sleep in the car.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

DS only till his 1st B-day *I didn't know any better* luckily nothing happened. DD RF'd till shortly before her 4th B-day ~ why because she could and it's much much safer

 

[deegack]

They're strapped in their seats. There isn't much they can get. I don't let my toddler eat in the car. The case you mentioned with the button is scary, but clothes should be inspected frequently for things like loose buttons since we don't stare at our kids 24/7. I know my toddler would spit the button out by this age anyway, though not all kids will. I would wager a guess that the chance of getting into a car accident while driving is higher than the chance of choking while driving - especially since choking is much more under our control no matter what the crazy drivers do.

My daughter almost choked on vomit while she was RF driving back from the doctors office. The trip was less then ten minutes. She was half asleep when she vomited so didn't cry or anything. It sounded like a little cough. Thankfully I happened to look back and saw through her mirror that she looked a bit funny. I was able to push her head forward so the vomit could spill out.

We turned the car seat that evening. That was the last straw. I would handle the tantrums every time we put her in, but not that.

btw I can't remember who said they like RF because their kid sleeps, DD sleeps just as well FF as she did RF.

 

[Derby]

As I said before, my DD is rear facing. I have driven her and my neighbor's DD at the same time. My neighbor's DD is 6 weeks younger than my DD and is forward facing. When I drove them at the same time, I had a MUCH clearer view of my DD. We have this mirror and it's awesome - http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2402035. I can see her head and torso.

 

[waltskids]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We do have a mirror for both vehicles so we do see her while we are driving, although I never considered the choking hazard. My niece is 3 years old but is only 28 lbs and about 38 inches and faces forward so I didn't know if people turned at a certain age, as opposed to weight limit of the seat.

 

[TinyDancer]

I just turned my DD ff at age 3, 29 lbs, 37" tall. The main reason being that I just had another baby and it was easier for everyone. I think children should RF until at least age 2 and/or 30 lbs.

 

[Erica09M]

The Graco Comfortsport is a really small convertible car seat, my child wouldn't have made it to 2 years old in that seat.

However, my youngest is 2.5 years old and still rear facing in her Graco My Ride 65. 3 years old is my minimum age to turn her, but as long as she still fits rear facing, she will be rear facing. She's currently 37.5 inches tall and around 34 pounds.

 

[justhat]

My oldest was 22 months when she outgrew her seat by height. She was still tiny though and only 23lbs so I really wish I had gotten another seat and kept her RF. Clearly she's fine and we didn't get in any accidents, but knowing more about it now, I would have gotten another seat.

My son was 27 months and still had room to go for both height and weight, but I turned him for a 4 hour drive so he could watch a movie on the overhead DVD player and then just never turned him back. He actually preferred rearfacing as we installed his travel seat FF in a rental car when he was just 2yo and he complained. That seat had a shorter shell though, so he had to be FF in it.

My 3rd is almost 1yo (11 days!) and she will be rearfacing forever! She's currently about 28" and is 16lbs, 2.5oz. So even if I wanted to turn her at 1yo, she's nowhere near the weight limit. She's still in her infant seat and has plenty of room to grow in there, but when she does need to move out of that seat I'll be looking for a convertible with a high weight limit. The Marathon and Decathalons we have now for our son will be expired before she could get much use out of them, so she'll definitely be getting her own seat.

 

[erin327]

We still have both of our daughters rear facing. Our youngest is only 6 months old, so she isn't extended rear facing yet. Our oldest is 44 months old (will be 4 in May), weighs 35 pounds and is 38.5" tall. She is still rear facing in a Radian XTSL. She understands rear facing and forward facing, but has no problem rear facing. We have also had great luck with our mirrors. I can see both girls each time I glance in the rear view mirror. She can not only see out the back and sides of the car, but uses her mirror to see out the front. I am in awe at the things she can see off in the distance out one of the front corners. She either puts her legs up against the seat, sits criss cross applesauce, or hangs them over the sides. She can hold books and toys in her lap without them falling to the floor if she drops them. She isn't much into tv, but when she does watch in the car we use a mix max which is small and lightweight and she holds it. She can climb in and out of her car seat on her own. Extended rear facing is safer and it works for us. We haven't decided when we will turn her. We started out with the goal of at least 4 years. As 4 years approaches I don't know that any of us (including her) see any good reasons to turn her. We might just keep going a while longer.