I'll bite on the rf limit. Just because it's hard to get parents to rf past 20 or 22lbs, doesn't mean that they shouldn't have the option. For the option to be taken away because most people aren't going to do it anyways, does a disservice to those parents who want to follow best practice.
I know most health units around here won't mention rf'ing past 20lbs, and most fail to acknowledge that carseat manufacturers for the most part have a 1yr min age to ff and ok 9 and 10mo olds ff'ing. But that doesn't stop me from telling every parent I talk to at a clinic about erf'ing. More and more parents are going to start erf'ing - and in my city there is already a growing # of parents choosing to do that, but they're limited by 30lbs. Some parents feel very upset about they're 14 or 15mo old potentially having to ff in Canada, when they might get another 6 or 8 mos rf'ing with a 33 or 35lb rf'ing weight limit seat. That extra 6 to 8 mos of bone ossification is a huge difference.
Anywho, if it comes up with Barb again, feel like playing devil's advocate? Or if you want to pass her email on to me through PM, I know somebody who I'm sure would love to contact her as she has a young child who is closing in on 30lbs. :thumbsup:
I'm going to get on my soapbox here for a minute, because this bugs the heck out of me - just because most parents don't follow the bare minimums, doesn't mean that they shouldn't be told about best practice, or encouraged to follow best practice. And if a seat already passes at a higher rf'ing weight limit then manufacturers should be allowed to label that seat to higher limits in Canada. (I still haven't seen a CMVSS regulation preventing them from doing so, but keep hearing this "universal weight limit to keep it simple for parents" thing from manufacturers even when they've said their seat was tested at a higher weight limit for the CDN market.)
Parents who WANT to follow best practice, should have the same ability to follow best practice as our friends in the US do. Especially considering that not so long ago we did have that ability, and then it disappeared.... :twocents: