How close to the RF weight limit do you let your kids get?

zactayaus · Jul 4, 2011

Gavin has gained another pound! He's 31.5lbs without shoes. I have higher weight seats that will accommodate him RF but I love his MA's (35lb RF limit) and want to use them till he can't any more. So do you take it right up to the limit or do you make the switch to either a higher weight seat or a FF seat a pound or two before your kiddo hits the limit? Just wondering as I think we have another couple months before we'll need to make a switch.

violets_mommy · Jul 4, 2011

I would be comfortable using the seat until the child weighed 34 lbs. Then I would switch.

xursusmaritimusx · Jul 4, 2011

when my DD was 33lbs without shoes on i started weighing her every couple of days cos she was a fast gainer (still is... up to 46lbs at almost 5)
when i got tired of weighing her everyday i switched her FF..... then like a week later i had mommy guilt and bought a MR which she quickly went up to 38lbs in and i just put her FF full time in the nauti and MA lol (sorry... kinda got going there!)

gsdguenter · Jul 4, 2011

If I had a scale at home and he was okay being weighed every day I'd switch at 35 lbs. Otherwise I'd switch at 33 or 34 lbs. depending on growth spurts.

My LOs seem to gain a few pounds then stay at that weight fora while and then gain a few more lbs. etc.

Lea_Ontario · Jul 4, 2011

I don't like weighing kids all the time, so I weigh them when I *think* they're close and go by that.

That said - I think they've all stayed RF until within a pound or two of the stated limits of their seats.

AtTheSouthDam · Jul 4, 2011

I like to switch when they within a few pounds but when DD2 passed 35# we let her ride RF in RN until she hit 40# for a solid week. I feel more comfortable with a large gap between my children and the top weight limit for some odd reason. I love the fact that as long as she fits in the ProSport harness I don't have to worry about weighing her

rachelandtyke · Jul 4, 2011

I weighed DD each time if we were going to leave the house. When she hit 34.5 dressed but without shoes on, I turned her. I wanted to squeak out as much time as we could, lol. I didn't have any seats that rf'ed past 35 lbs, and she was 4y4m at the time, so no need to buy something else.

DS is even smaller than DD, so I am hoping I can make it to 5 for him with the seats we have.

Mags462 · Jul 4, 2011

I flipped them when they were consistently within a lb of the limit. I don't weight daily.... too much hassle, but if they stepped on the scale 2 or 3 times and it was within a pound of the limit i flipped them. That being said all of my children were old enough where i knew FF them was a safe option.

canadiangie · Jul 4, 2011

If the RF limit is 35 I'd switch at 34-35. This is assuming kiddo has adequate shell above the head. I'm far more anxious about shell. Personally I prefer more like 2-3" of shell above head. Just me tho...

bobandjess99 · Jul 4, 2011

I'm okay with going all the way up to the limits. As far as turning them earlier..i guess it would depend. I'm not going to weigh anyone daily. At all. (with the exception of course of a child who for extreme medical reasons needed to be, etc ) i weigh maybe monthly if that, but our scale has been broken for like 4 months now, so im really just guessing at weights at this point. It also depends a lot to me how old the child is...like an 18 month old pushing the limits of a RF seat? I'm going to work harder to eek out every bit of time. A 4.25 year old? eh.

cookie123 · Jul 4, 2011

Matthew is 32.5 lbs. His radian has 33 lb rf limit. I usually install ahead of time so he's done. He's 3.5 years.

Babywearing Meghan · Jul 4, 2011

so what about the safe stop situation, Fiona is 39 lbs.. I still use the safe stop for her radian.

Jan06twinmom · Jul 4, 2011

Babywearing Meghan said:
so what about the safe stop situation, Fiona is 39 lbs.. I still use the safe stop for her radian.

I asked this question recently too. It's better to keep using the safe stop at her size. It would be better for her to be over 40lbs and using the safe stop than under 40lbs and not using it. Apparently, they used to have the safe stop up to a higher limit, so it's okay to go over a lb or two.

Melanie

luckyclov · Jul 4, 2011

I use the same 3 lb rule (my rule) for RF weight limit, FF weight limit, and LATCH weight limit.

msg221 · Jul 4, 2011

Zain has been fluctuating between 33.8 and 34 lbs. On Saturday his mom asked me to go ahead and and help her with turning his TFP around. He made it to 3 years and 1 month RF in that seat. However, in my car they will still be RF! I have the RNXTSL for Zain now and either the TFP, MA70 or an 80SL (until my friend decides he is ready to buy it) for Nour as she is only at 27-28 lbs. I can't bring myself to turn them yet!

monstah · Jul 4, 2011

canadiangie said:
If the RF limit is 35 I'd switch at 34-35. This is assuming kiddo has adequate shell above the head. I'm far more anxious about shell. Personally I prefer more like 2-3" of shell above head. Just me tho...

You're not the only one.

I :yeahthat: all of that.

Sent from my Nexus One using Car-Seat.Org

Jennifer mom to my 7 · Jul 5, 2011

I am pushing the weight limit right now. about 31.5 pounds in a 33 pound boulevard. I need to get a complete air, but we are just too busy right now...I am fine going to the full 33 pounds of the older classic britax seats.

nmb · Jul 5, 2011

IMO, if it says 35 lbs, then a 35 lb child can RF safely. I know they have to engineer it with a margin of error -- just no way of knowing for certain at what weight exactly it will fail so we have to go with published limits.
I would let a child ride it in until the first time they weight in at the limit (with a full tummy & fully clothed to include shoes). Assuming you have a scale at home or otherwise are able to weight often, at least 1x a week. If you have to really on Dr's visits or WIC appointments or some such for a weight and can't get them weighed more often than every few weeks, then switch at a lb or two below. If you go months between weigh-ins, then better to switch earlier.

ETA - in talking to an avg parent (ie not a carseat addict) though I'd recommend switching a bit sooner; ie a 33 or 34 lb kid in a seat that RFs to 35 at a check, I would probably recommend to FF, unless the child is very young (ie, 1 yr), to make sure they did not go over the weight limits before turning.

veggiegirl228 · Jul 5, 2011

DD was .5 to 1 lb away from the limit.

Pixels · Jul 5, 2011

I let DD get to 28 pounds before I pulled her out of the 30 pound ComfortSport, because I had other seats with a higher RF limit. Just not worth weighing her every day. If it was a question of having to turn FFing, I would have gone quite a bit closer to the limit.

How close to the RF weight limit do you let your kids get?

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