advice moving front facing toddler back to rear facing

laurarams

New member
I admit I was not educated enough about carseats and I switched my first child to front facing at 20 months. I regret it to an extent, but I am lazy and dont want to fight it. It's been over a year of her front facing. And now that we're moving the baby into a convertible car seat (still rear facing, I have learned to keep that as long as possible!), I was thinking about switching my first child (now 2 1/2 yr old) into a convertible booster. But then I think I should keep her in her convertible and return her to rear facing.

The problem is my patience I guess. We have tried to rear face her for about 2 weeks with lots of screaming and tantrums. Is it worth trying to force her to be rear facing now that she's been front facing for a year? Do you have any advice to ease the transition back to rear facing. I think the main problem is she can't see around much. And it's a hard for me when she's asking for snacks, drink, etc and I can't reach back to her without getting out of the car.
 
ADS

chay

New member
We recently switched our 3.5 year old RF again after being FF for a year and it went shockingly well. He got a new seat (his sister outgrew her SS1) and I hyped up his new seat and that he got to RF just like his little sister who moved into his old seat. He was so excited about it. My DH was absolutely shocked that he agreed to it and even more shocked that he actually likes it.

In our case he can actually see fairly well (but obviously that depends on your car and your child's height). We talk about the cars behind us and we have a tonne of construction that we drive by everyday which he loves. I think I can actually hand him things easier RF because he's closer to the front and he can reach to take something out of my hand (when he was FF I had a hard time reaching that far back). He's also been trained to accept that I can't do anything unless we are stopped but that hasn't been the easiest thing to learn. If it's a longer trip (or I know they are hungry) I get them all set up before we even move.
 

momto3girls

Senior Community Member
I also turned my dd back to rear facing recently. She'll be 3 in April. I talked it up riding backwards just like her little sister and how much fun it would be. I turned her car seat around and she loves it. For the first week she kept asking me every time I told her we were going bye bye if she could ride backwards.
 

rodentranger

New member
I let my 3 yo pick his rf seat-he chose an orange CA. I hate orange. It really clashes with the green car... But he loves it and he knows that he can only ride rf in it.
 

Twinklefae

New member
Could you maybe put him rear facing with someone else? I know that my middle daycare girl was forward facing with her parents, but rode rear facing with me til she outgrew the seat with little complaint.

If you could put him in a friend's car or the grandparents rearfacing and then send him somewhere fun, you could talk up the experience.

"Wow! Look, your seat is backwards, just like in Grammie's car! You had a lot of fun at the playground with Grammie!"
 

tiggercat

New member
I just put my daughter (4.5 yrs old, 41lbs) rearfacing in the XTSL we just got, and she didn't say a word. I just installed it in the car, and the next time we got in, she just climbed in and I showed her how to cross her legs. She thinks it is really funny to ride facing the back like her brother, and she likes that she can rest her head and pretend to sleep in it.

I think it is worth it at your child's age to try rearfacing again, and I like the idea of letting her chose the seat (or a new cover for the seat maybe?). Can she explain why she is upset facing the back? Have you tried sitting next to her so she has someone to talk to back there to ease the transition?
 

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