A confession....

[veggiegirl228]

I have a confession to make. I've been thinking of turning DD around. She is 30.5 lbs dressed and it's getting harder to get her into the carseat. Her history is about 1 lb a month so at this rate by the end of summer she'll met the RF weight limit of her EFTA. She'll be 2 next month. I'm holding out as long as I can FWIW.

[Starlight]

OMG!!! The world is coming to an end because you want to turn your 2 year old who weighs 30 lbs! How dare you risk her safety like that?????

J/K

Seriously. She's nearly 2. Turn her on her birthday, and feel blessed that you were "smart" enough to keep her RFing til 2.

:love:

[joolsplus3]

I'll admit it, it's SO much easier to keep a kid RF when you have a very low profile seat in a big minivan... I could keep Leah happily RF till 5ish in my van, in a Radian..but in a car with smaller doors, more upright seatbacks, deeper convertible seat?...uh...well, she's alread been FF for a few months in dh's car... :o (same with my first dd...it was a breeze in the Marathon in the Minivan, but in the Echo/Prius? Forget it, I HAD to turn her much earlier, it was trying to re-pack sardines in the little can!)

Just top tether the seat when it's forward facing (do you have anchors? they can be added to your car if not) and don't worry :thumbsup:

[veggiegirl228]

Nope on the anchors. I know you can get the kit but how hard is it to install it (95 accord)

[scatterbunny]

It's super-easy! :thumbsup: I installed my own anchors in a 91 Accord. Two kits cost me about $20 from an online parts store, installation was less than 15 minutes. :D

[joolsplus3]

If you can see the little plastic caps in the package shelf, it's super easy to install them. If you have speakers up there and can't see any little plastic circles, then it'll be harder (plastic caps pop out, anchor screws in...if you have speakers, it may be more involved). Call the dealer, and if they are confused about what a child seat tether anchor is, try calling it a 'plate assembly'. (my LATCH book is across the room, but it has the part numbers in it...in fact I bet they are easy to search for here, we post them all the time, all Hondas are the same, lol).
:)

[scatterbunny]

LOL, my LATCH book is in the car, and I'm too lazy to go get it. :p I forgot about the speaker issue, too. I remember that being a problem with some Toyota Camry models.

[southpawboston]

OMG!!! The world is coming to an end because you want to turn your 2 year old who weighs 30 lbs! How dare you risk her safety like that?????

J/K

Seriously. She's nearly 2. Turn her on her birthday, and feel blessed that you were "smart" enough to keep her RFing til 2.

:love:

seriously, i second that! i can already say (without any guilt) that we will be turning DD2 at about her second birthday (she's already 27-28 lbs).

[lovinwaves]

Woohoo, you made it this long! Kudos to you! :thumbsup:

[BookMama]

I have a confession to make. I've been thinking of turning DD around. She is 30.5 lbs dressed and it's getting harder to get her into the carseat. Her history is about 1 lb a month so at this rate by the end of summer she'll met the RF weight limit of her EFTA. She'll be 2 next month. I'm holding out as long as I can FWIW.

Great job keeping her RF this long, really! :thumbsup:

If you DO want to try to keep her RF a little longer, try teaching her how to climb into her seat. My DD has been climbing into the car and into her seat completely on her own for several months. ("I do it mySELF, Mommy!") Makes it much easier for me to get her in the seat.

[mommyto4kiddos]

I'd say don't flip her until you get the tethers installed. You can get them done free at chevy dealerships and buick too, but they were kinda rude to me.

[veggiegirl228]

I don't have the plastic caps

[veggiegirl228]

I called Honda and at first the guy had no idea what I was talking about (plate assembly) and then comes back and says it's 13.43 plus 1/2 hr to install (43 some dollars) I didn't see the plastic caps so would it be worth having Honda do it? Does anybody know what the weight limit is for my car. I looked in the owner's book and didn't see anything regarding this.

[joolsplus3]

If you can afford that, I'd do it, it'll just be a lot easier that way. There's maybe a legal limit (Honda's nervous lawyers), but you should always use a top tether...there's no case of them ever failing at any weight, and heavier kids need them even more than light kids to prevent excessive head excursion.

[Starlight]

OT, but Jools, I'd almost swear it looks like that baby is in a CrappySport, FF. Am I wrong?

[mimieliza]

Good for you! :thumbsup:

I've already given myself permission to turn DD at two years and 30 lbs... I have a 33 lb. seat, and I don't want to have to worry about monitoring those last few pounds.

[veggiegirl228]

How do you install the anchor? I looked in the book and nothing. Also how can I tell when looking in the trunk where the it's already setup? If DH can do it that will be worth it, I hate going to the dealer, but will if necessary.

[joolsplus3]

OT, but Jools, I'd almost swear it looks like that baby is in a CrappySport, FF. Am I wrong?
It's my 8 yo in a Cherished Cargo when she was almost 2. Funny, huh? I just like to keep y'all guessing... :whistle:

[joolsplus3]

How do you install the anchor? I looked in the book and nothing. Also how can I tell when looking in the trunk where the it's already setup? If DH can do it that will be worth it, I hate going to the dealer, but will if necessary.

If you look up under the package shelf in the trunk, you might see three identical reinforced 'weld nuts' behind each seating position...you might be able to poke up through them with a pencil and it might push carpet up, and then you could just cut some of the carpet out and screw the part in....

[veggiegirl228]

Thanks Jools, I'm going to check that out. Hopefully the speaker won't be an issue but since she's in the ctr shouldn't be right now!

[Calideedle]

Great job keeping her RF this long, really! :thumbsup:

If you DO want to try to keep her RF a little longer, try teaching her how to climb into her seat. My DD has been climbing into the car and into her seat completely on her own for several months. ("I do it mySELF, Mommy!") Makes it much easier for me to get her in the seat.

Oh yeah my DD LOVES climbing into her seat.

I have a Jetta and have never had an probs getting her into her seat but it is nice to open the door and have her climb up there.

She is 2yrs, 27/8lbs but will RF to 35lbs because I want her too, lol.

[veggiegirl228]

Ok I looked and I have no idea what i'm looking at, Anybody possible with pictures?

[joolsplus3]

Yeah, it's finally that time where we DEFINTELY need pictures (we used to have a webpage we could reference with great ones, but it's gone :( )... Hmmm... I haven't got access to an older Honda sedan or I'd be on it :o

[Jeanum]

I don't have access to a Honda for photos, either, but there might be something about the locations for installing top tether anchors in the Accord's owner's manual. Fingers crossed there's a diagram or photo in there.

[scatterbunny]

I sold my 91, and it had a different body style than the 95, anyway. :o

[joolsplus3]

I don't have access to a Honda for photos, either, but there might be something about the locations for installing top tether anchors in the Accord's owner's manual. Fingers crossed there's a diagram or photo in there.

Or maaaaaaaybe... she could order the part and ask for the instructions. I know in my 99 CR-V the manual said nothing, but a printed page with the anchors had all the info I needed (so I installed them myself before they got me to pay for the labor...)

[Patriot201]

I turned my DN FF in my car when she was 24 months old for much the same reason Jools did.

Putting a squirmy two-year-old into a RF Boulevard in my Civic was getting difficult. She was also being turned FF in her parents' cars and it was their wish that she be FF in my car too. I felt okay about turning her at 24 months. :)

[scatterbunny]

ITA with Julie, the parts kit should have the instructions, they were super-easy to follow, too. :) If worse comes to worse, you can always take your parts kit into the dealership.

[Jeanum]

DD2 is distracted and won't try to steal my LATCH manual (she thinks it's a great purple covered coloring book, lol) so I took a peek in the Honda section. There's a blurb saying detailed installation directions are in the owner's manual, not with the tether anchor kit. Either way, the info. should be somewhere accessible to the OP and hopefully not involve the dealer for labor charges. :thumbsup:

[veggiegirl228]

So i called the dealer and asked: does it have instructions on how to install it? Yes. I get there to buy it and said it again, even saying I hope it has pictures so I know where it goes. And the paper inside the anchor does nothing. The owner's book does nothing. It sounds easy enough don't want to pay $43 to have it installed, kwiw? Any ideas?

[Jeanum]

I was going to suggest you start a thread in the installation and technical forum but I see you did at http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=42300 and found the tether anchor points in the owner's manual. :thumbsup: Anyone with how-to pictures of retrofitting tether anchors in their Honda, please share in that thread for the OP and for a helpful future reference for other Honda owners in the same situation. :)

[veggiegirl228]

Got it installed so as soon so when it's time to turn around, i'm good to go. Of course I'll have questions for using both the belt and the top anchor.... That sucker was super easy to install now going to get one for DH's car (same car so that makes it easy to remember) Thanks everyone :thumbsup:

[cryswilkins]

I have a 99 Civic, and I can take pictures in the next few days of the plastic caps. If you still need them....

[BeanJeepin]

Thanks for posting this. DS2 is 2 tomorrow and about 27 lbs and DH is pushing me hard to turn him now since he's difficult to get buckled in and getting harder. It's not so much the climbing in part, he does that on his own, and loves being able to see the 3 kids in the third row. He doesn't like to keep his legs crossed and fights putting them into positions where we can get the hip straps tight enough on his hips when buckling/tightening. I even half agree with DH, but then feel guilty about it. I'm hoping to get at least a couple more months out of it but I think at 30 lbs he'll be turned.

[southpawboston]

He doesn't like to keep his legs crossed and fights putting them into positions where we can get the hip straps tight enough on his hips when buckling/tightening.

this is why we plan on turning DD2 around her 2nd birthday. her legs make it very hard for us to tighten her harness properly, and we end up spending several minutes getting her in correctly. for us, this poses a safety risk, since so many of the times we are loading/unloading her, we're parked in the street. the longer DW or i spend with the door open against moving traffic, the more likely we are to get hit by a car passing by. by contrast, getting DD1 fastened properly (FF) takes us 15 seconds.

[BeanJeepin]

this is why we plan on turning DD2 around her 2nd birthday. her legs make it very hard for us to tighten her harness properly, and we end up spending several minutes getting her in correctly. for us, this poses a safety risk, since so many of the times we are loading/unloading her, we're parked in the street. the longer DW or i spend with the door open against moving traffic, the more likely we are to get hit by a car passing by. by contrast, getting DD1 fastened properly (FF) takes us 15 seconds.

I buckle 5 kids into 5 point harnesses when I go somewhere 6 AM - 6:20 PM M-F so time is an issue for us too. When I only have my two with me I can wait for the almost two year old to futz around until he's OK with me pulling the straps tight but when I have 5 to do up.... I just don't have that kind of time. And while his safety is worth all the time in the world to me I feel we're kind of getting to a point where it's almost "ok".