Rearfacing how long?

MomtoRyan

New member
Now before I get into a long story let me say that I am a HUGE advocate for rearfacing.

My DH is having issues with DS still RFing at 31lbs and almost 3 years old. I would like to get a SK Radian XTSL to rearface to 45lbs. We currently have a BV and a TF.

Any suggestions and research regarding older kids rfing?

Please help me to keep my DS RFing!!
 
ADS

champatlife

New member
To begin with I want to say, I am "new" to the concept of extended rearfacing. So, this isn't the most informative response you will get. My 4 1/2 year rearfaced to 2 years old because of her low weight, I never knew of the true benefits at the time, but she is now rear facing again in a RadianXTSL about 31lbs 42 inches tall. My Dh, at first was pretty skeptical about the whole idea and not really open to me turning her back around.

Until I showed him the youtube video for Joel's Journey (www.joelsjourney.com) of course my husband doesn't try to look up information to prove me wrong. So, it made it easy to convince him by simply saying "look the child in the movie weighs more then Adah. That hit home for him. Yess at 4 1/2 my daughters bones are more ossified then an 18 month old, but he never asked. I think they say bone ossification happens between 4 and 6 years old. So the longer, closer I can get to age 6 the happier I will be.

Also with the radian I used it as a selling point of "it's reinforced with steel, it has an 8 year shelf life and can harness to 80lbs" which in our state a child has to be in some type of child restraint til 80lbs. I never went into "she could outgrow it by height before she hits the 80lbs. I was selective of telling him information to convince him to RF (and get the radian I wanted) without telling him too much.

(might be kind of wrong, but everyone agrees RFing is safer.)
 

myliljunebugs

New member
My goal was to rear face DD to 6 because of the fact that I felt a certain guarantee that her bones would be ossified by then. I am comfortable, if not happy, with the fact that she made it almost to 5 years old. She is definitely not happy to be FF now, but understands that short of spending $500 on a seat for her to rear face further it isn't going to happen LOL. You might tell DH that most children find RF'ing more comfortable until they are much older?
 

wvmommy007

New member
LOL "Reinforced with steel" is all my hubby needed to hear. I guess that works on men pretty well. After meeting our Radian, he loved it for DD, even if it is pink and flowery. :D
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Also with the radian I used it as a selling point of "it's reinforced with steel, it has an 8 year shelf life and can harness to 80lbs" which in our state a child has to be in some type of child restraint til 80lbs. I never went into "she could outgrow it by height before she hits the 80lbs. I was selective of telling him information to convince him to RF (and get the radian I wanted) without telling him too much.

(might be kind of wrong, but everyone agrees RFing is safer.)

Your state is eight years OR 80 pounds, not AND. Whichever comes first.

I don't know that I'd buy a new rear facing seat for a 3.5 year old. I'd wait and see how long it takes to get to the 35 pounds on your seats. If it's two months, maybe. If it's closer to a year (Piper gains about four pounds a year) then I wouldn't.

Wendy
 

emandbri

Well-known member
I'd totally get a radian because it has SOOOO much more leg room! I've been very happy with mine.
 

urchin_grey

New member
I think it really just comes down to your comfort level. There are many people here that would be perfectly fine turning a 35lb 3.5 year old FF and then there are just as many that would go out and get a higher weight seat.

Personally, I plan to keep my 5yo RF'ing as long as he fits but my biggest deciding factor is that he has a suspected growth disorder so his bone age may not be in line with his chronological age.

If I were in your situation though, I think I would just wait and see how long it takes him to gain those last few pounds. It might be much longer than you think. Or, if you just really want a Radian, get one! :) I admit I didn't buy mine to keep DS RF'ing at all. He has TONS of room to grow in his True Fit. I just really love the Radian. :whistle:
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
I RF'd my son to 3 1/2 years old. I had him FF at times as well. 3 was the age that I was comfotable with FF, so that is where I wanted to get to. My DH dissagreed with me & thought I should have turned him before I did. I told him when he did the research I did & could prove to me that it was safer or just as safe to turn him, then we could turn him. He stopped arguing with me then.

We did make a compromise when he was about 2 1/2. He could ride FF in his car, which he rarely rode in, but he would stay RF in my car. Also if we went for a longer trip in his car then he went back RF in that car.

As far as research showing that older children are safer RF. I am not sure that there is much that shows anything past the age of 2. I know that most all of the studies that people talk about here are to age 2. However I know the AAP reccomends to keep a child RF to the limits of the convertible seat & untill a minimum of age 2.

In the end, I would be fine with turning a 3 year old FF. If I did not have the funds to purchase a new seat when he outgrew his current seat, then I would turn him without breaking the bank. Now that would be a different story if he were barely 2. So I think that whichever decision you make is fine. Just make sure if you turn him that you have his seat top tethered.
 

cryway903

New member
I'm with the other posters that say ossification happens between 4 and 6. So therefore I believe that the closer to age 6 they can be before ff the safer they are. I only recently learned all this and ff my girls to almost 3, 3, and 3.75 yrs in order of age. I rf them that long because it was "safer" but had no idea why it was safer or where I heard it. A few weeks ago I started reading about carseat safety because I was bored. WOW! Look what I learned in just a few weeks. That's when I found out why rf is safer, that there are actually dangers to ff and about bone ossification. Two weeks ago I bought a Radian xtsl to re rf my DD that will be five the middle of next month. If she hits 45 lbs or outgrows her radian before she turns six I will buy her another seat to keep her rf. If at that time they still can't be had in the us I will import one. She's 34.5 lbs now. But those are my personal beliefs and feelings. I know there are others on here that are perfectly comfortable ff at 2,3 or 4 yrs old. Its all a matter of what you are comfortable with. I personally am no longer comfortable ff before age 6 and am willing to import seats that I know are not legal in the states if it is the only way to keep my lo rf until age 6.
 

ntrenary

Active member
The reason I will keep my DS RFing as long as possible is not only because of the risk of internal decapitation, but also just looking at the crash test videos. Even if the neck doesn't break they are going to be SO sore for weeks after their body was strapped down while the neck, arms, & legs flew forward. When they're RFing they hardly look like they move at all, so they're going to have little to no muscle sorness after a accident.
 

hrice

New member
Our goal is 4 years old. If we make it to 4 in the XTSLs and still have room to grow we will keep going!

I am hoping for 50+ RF seats in the US by then!
 

niccig

New member
I think they say bone ossification happens between 4 and 6 years old.


My Human Oesteology texts say that vertebral ossification happens between THREE to six years old. Actually, there are 2 or 3 centers of ossification for each vertebrae - depends if it's cervical, thoracic or lumbar vertebrae - and the age of ossification for each center and each vertebrae varies. Eg. the neural arches of each vertebrae fuse between 2-3 years, but then they don't fuse to the body of the vertebrae until 3-6 years old. Some cervical vertebrae fuse earlier than others - eg. C3-C7 neural arches fuse to the vertebrae body by 3-4 years old but C1-C2 aren't ossified until 5-6 years old. All this comes from "The Osteology of Infants and Children" by Brenda J. Baker, Tosha L. Dupras, Matthew W. Tocheri

Remember that it is a process, and that more of the bone is present with each year. So, a 2 year old has more ossification than a 1 year old, a 3 year old has more than a 2 year old. You can also see the line where the 2 bones are joining into one bone. And how complete the line is, is how ossified the 2 bones are. Sometimes it's really obvious, and other times there is just a faint line showing where the 2 bones are joined, but not quite complete hence the line. When you can't see ANY line, is where the ossification is complete.

Without an x-ray, you don't know how a particular child is developing. For me, RF to 3 is the minimum, and anything after that is bonus.

Also, the vertebrae are still forming through out childhood, teenage year and into early 20's. After age 22 or so, then the vertebrae look like yours or mine, until then, they are still not completely formed.

So for going a little OT, the body is pretty amazing...
 
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StillThankful

New member
Now before I get into a long story let me say that I am a HUGE advocate for rearfacing.

My DH is having issues with DS still RFing at 31lbs and almost 3 years old. I would like to get a SK Radian XTSL to rearface to 45lbs. We currently have a BV and a TF.

Any suggestions and research regarding older kids rfing?

Please help me to keep my DS RFing!!

Some information about rearfacing older kids is that I would get a seat that can use the RF tether (Britax Seats & Radians) or one with Anti-rebound bar (ARB) (like the Truefit Premier). Heavier kids who are Rfing tend to rebound alot more than lighter kids.

I have DD1 Rfing in RNXTSL. Likewise, DD1 is rfing in an MA and RA50. All the RFing seats I have use the Rf tether.

There are some TC videos that show Rf crashes--and some of the dummies rebounded quite hard:( But the ones with the RF tethers performed much better.

Too bad we don't have available in the US the "foot" like some of the swedish seats have b/c I would purchase that in a flash:p
 
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