how long do you plan on ERFing your child??

penguingrooves · Nov 29, 2010

i ask because i'm debating if i should import a swedish britax or get a new britax like a marathon 70. my petite child is 3.5 years old and can still RF but is near the weight limit. if i get a multi tech it'd be fine until oh age 9 or 10... so maybe i can get away with a cheaper US car seat, thanks.

chay · Nov 29, 2010

My DS is coming up on 4.5 and RF in a Radian with quite a bit of room height wise and more than enough weight wise. On his growth curve he won't hit 40lbs until 6/6.5 so the 45lbs RF limit is way more than we'll be able to use. The only other North American seat he could RF in is a Complete Air. He is now too tall to RF in the older style Marathons (and therefore the new Marathons and likely the MyRides as well). Anything else he'd be over the 35lbs RF weight limit.

HTH

Pixels · Nov 29, 2010

I would get a US seat, for several reasons. One, using an imported seat is illegal. And, with all the options we have now, there is no good reason IMO to import, unless we're talking a 44 pound 12 month old. Also, why spend all the extra money to import, when we have perfectly good options here.

rachelandtyke · Nov 29, 2010

To answer your first question, my daughter was ERF until she was 4y4m. She was right at 35lbs clothed in her cold weather clothes, but below the height limit. I went ahead and turned her so I didn't have to worry about what pieces of clothing or shoes would put her over the RF limit. At her age, I didn't feel it was necessary to purchase a different seat to keep her RF even longer. We could have turned her back RF when spring/summer came, but didn't, and she has finally passed 35 lbs now.

I plan to ERF DS until at least 4, and hopefully longer if he has not outgrown our seats rf, which I don't suspect he will as he is even smaller than DD was. He's not technically ERF yet as he's not even 20 lbs.

In your situation, if I needed to buy a new seat anyway, I would buy a seat here. There are plenty of options that can keep a smaller child rf for a long time. They are much more affordable and legal.

jnamommy · Nov 29, 2010

I would not consider importing a seat for a 3.5yr old. There are plenty of seats here with a higher weight and/or height.

My dd will fit RFing for quite a while. I plan to RF to at least 4, and evaluate it then - maybe give her the option at 4, maybe not, just see how things are going then and if she is complaining at all or not :twocents:

Mommy0608 · Nov 29, 2010

Pixels said:
I would get a US seat, for several reasons. One, using an imported seat is illegal. And, with all the options we have now, there is no good reason IMO to import, unless we're talking a 44 pound 12 month old. Also, why spend all the extra money to import, when we have perfectly good options here.

:yeahthat:

My 4.5yo DD is RF in one vehicle and FF in the other, her choice (at this age, I let her decide). My 2yo DS is RF 100% of the time. He has a 40lb RF seat in the main vehicle and a 35lb RF seat in the secondary vehicle. He's 30-32lbs depending on the day. My goal is age 3, so I really hope he can hold off on weight gain until after he turns 3 in August. If he's not yet 3 before he exceeds 35lbs, we'll either switch the 40lb seat back and forth, or sell a seat to fund another 40lb RF seat.

StPaulMom · Nov 29, 2010

penguingrooves said:
i ask because i'm debating if i should import a swedish britax or get a new britax like a marathon 70. my petite child is 3.5 years old and can still RF but is near the weight limit. if i get a multi tech it'd be fine until oh age 9 or 10... so maybe i can get away with a cheaper US car seat, thanks.

Personally, I'd do neither of these things. An imported seat is $$$ and illegal, and not something I'd do for a 3.5 year old because there are US options. The Britax 70 isnt ideal for ERF a 3.5 year old because most kids at that age are near or at the RF height limit anyway.

How much does your child weigh? How tall (or more importantly, torso length?)? The Radian is probably your best option to ERF a child over age 3.

My almost 3 year old is ERF in a TrueFit, but he's a light weight and nowhere near the 35 lb limit yet. He is tall for his age, but because it's a tall seat, he still has tons of room in that department, too.

penguingrooves · Nov 29, 2010

thanks for the replies. my 3 1/2-year-old is 36 inches tall and almost 30 lbs, so very small. another worry is that my car is a Honda Fit, so not much space... and a rear tether is a must. also, she's very big-headed (95% there), so i want to EERF. and i have a younger 1 year old who's much taller but skinnier, so another reason why i wanted maximum flexibility. i should read more about the truefit which i don't know much about. i must admit that i have a bias towards britaxes though...

i think the reason why the swedish are illegal here is because they can't be latched. even in sweden, car seats can't be isofixed (European latched) over 40 lbs.

StPaulMom · Nov 29, 2010

penguingrooves said:
thanks for the replies. my 3 1/2-year-old is 36 inches tall and almost 30 lbs, so very small. another worry is that my car is a Honda Fit, so not much space... and a rear tether is a must. also, she's very big-headed (95% there), so i want to EERF. i should read more about the truefit which i don't know much about.

Well, the ONLY seats that allow a RF tether are the Sunshine Kids Radian and the Britax seats and I personally wouldnt have it as a "must have". FWIU, even the experts cant agree on how much more beneficial it is than not tethering. If you have a seat that allows it, I'd use it, but I wouldnt rule out seats just because they can't be tethered RF. :twocents:

The nice thing about ERF and fitting seats in a smaller car is that you can install the seat at a less reclined angle (instead of the 45 degrees for a newborn), so they often take up less room than you'd think.

urchin_grey · Nov 29, 2010

Until at least 6, but he's special needs. We've only got 5 more months until then though and he's only 25lbs so I'm quite sure he'll make it.

I wouldn't import a seat for a typically developing 30lb 3.5yo though. There are perfectly fine options here. We have a Radian and a True Fit and they are both great seats with tall shells. The Radians can all be RF tethered, and you can get the True Fit with an anti-rebound bar, which sort of serves the same purpose.

abigaylebelle · Nov 29, 2010

penguingrooves said:
thanks for the replies. my 3 1/2-year-old is 36 inches tall and almost 30 lbs, so very small. another worry is that my car is a Honda Fit, so not much space... and a rear tether is a must. also, she's very big-headed (95% there), so i want to EERF. and i have a younger 1 year old who's much taller but skinnier, so another reason why i wanted maximum flexibility. i should read more about the truefit which i don't know much about. i must admit that i have a bias towards britaxes though...

i think the reason why the swedish are illegal here is because they can't be latched. even in sweden, car seats can't be isofixed (European latched) over 40 lbs.

I have a honda fit (08) with a rf britax boulevard 70. My 3.5 year old is rf in it. His stats are around 32lbs/37.5" and he has lots of room rear and forward facing. We're quite pleased with the boulevard 70 and it installs nicely in all 3 rear seats of the fit.

ETA I forgot to mention the radian was not a good fit rear facing in this car but pretty much any other rf seat will work.

NannyMom · Nov 29, 2010

The reason Swedish seats are illegal here is because they can't pass our testing. They require use of a foot prop, and the American test sled has no floor. Only seats that can pass our testing are legal to be used here.

For a 3 year old, I wouldn't import a seat. My minimum for forward facing was 4 years. My daughter had her 1st forward facing ride 4 days before her 4th birthday. She's still back and forth between rear and forward facing, but prefers forward. I'd look at the True Fit (the Premiere has an anti-rebound bar, which works similar to a rf tether), or the Complete Air.

mumof2 · Nov 29, 2010

at this stage I will likely have to FF my daughter when she is 4-4.5 years as when I get a radian for her brother I cant have 2 rearfacing radians.

but if I get a new car and can have 2 rearfacing radians then I will continue to rearface both children till they outgrow either in height or weight but preferably not before 4 years

icnee · Nov 29, 2010

My oldest RFer is 5y and she is in a Multi Tech But she askes all the time to be in the CA because it is more comfy for her but she is over the weight limit for the CA. Although some times she does FF in it , and when we are out in the van cleaning or what ever she will climb in and just sit there. So with her I am hopeing to at least get through the winter rf ing in the MT by then she will be about 5 1/2. With my other 2 I would like to go until the limits are reached but we will see how things go (that is what I wanted to do with DD2 originally) I will not let them ff before 4.

babygirlsmom1005 · Nov 29, 2010

Madeline is 5 years 1 month old, 36-37 lbs clothed and rides 90% of the time rear facing, her own choice in a RNXT. She just prefers it to FF'ing seats. She knows once she hits the 40 lbs weight limit on it, she has to stay FF'ing. For my DS (19 months old), it'll be a min. 4 years old, and then I will give him the option for FF'ing if he wants too.

simplychels · Nov 29, 2010

penguingrooves said:
thanks for the replies. my 3 1/2-year-old is 36 inches tall and almost 30 lbs, so very small. another worry is that my car is a Honda Fit, so not much space... and a rear tether is a must. also, she's very big-headed (95% there), so i want to EERF. and i have a younger 1 year old who's much taller but skinnier, so another reason why i wanted maximum flexibility. i should read more about the truefit which i don't know much about. i must admit that i have a bias towards britaxes though...

i think the reason why the swedish are illegal here is because they can't be latched. even in sweden, car seats can't be isofixed (European latched) over 40 lbs.

Your DD's stats are the exact same as my DD's who turns 4 in one month.

We just bought her a new seat to continue rf'ing in past her "old" MA's 30lb limit (which was our spare seat and I was not ready to ff her even for a few rides here and there). Anti-rebound is also very important to us. I went into buying a new seat for her knowing I had 3 choices. A britax, A Radian or a True Fit premier. We tried the MA70 first and I was horrified!!! She had a good amount LESS of torso growth room then her original MA. So I moved onto the TFP. It swallowed her. So much growth room. And of course we already own a Radian so I knew how that one fit her. We ended up going with the TFP and I really enjoy the seat. Ample growth room, it's comfy, easy to install. She also really likes it.

chay · Nov 30, 2010

I'd try the Radian before ruling it out. I know abigaylebelle said it didn't fit in her Fit but I know I installed one at a clinic a few months ago and it worked great so I'd try it and see.

pepsicola · Nov 30, 2010

I guess I'm the odd one out here, because I would not buy another rear facing seat for a 3.5 year old. My goal is 3 years, but I have 35lb seats and will turn her when she reaches it. I am okay with that.

cookie123 · Nov 30, 2010

My goal has become 33 lbs, because that's the rf limit of the Radians we have. I would have said age 4, but Matthew will be 3 December 9 and weighs 30 lbs. He could also rf in the Avenue a couple lbs beyond that. Also his mom has been bugging me to let him ff. And since she IS his mom....

I'm still hoping to get him to spring.

flutie128 · Nov 30, 2010

My goal is 3 for DD, she is about 26 pounds, 36 inches and 2.5 years old. When I had DS he was about 30 pounds at one year and I owned a comfortsport so he turned forward facing and I didn't know any better. I had him in a booster at 3.5 because he weighed 40 pounds which meant he was too heavy for his seat. I looked at higher weight limit seats but my mom convince me a booster was fine even though I was not that convince. The only seats on the market at the time that went higher than 40 pounds were Britax and the radian neither of which I could afford. DD was born a few months later and I realized how poorly he sat in his booster. I bought a Nautilus since it was on the market and much more affordable. I found this site and have kept both of them much safer.

how long do you plan on ERFing your child??

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