For those that do extended rearfacing

Holly

New member
I was just thinking about extended rearfacing and had some questions.
What do you do if it's snowy or rainy? Do you take off your childs shoes as you get in the car, or do you have a towel or something pinned up on the seat back for their feet to rub against? What about the regular dust and dirt from their shoes from everyday walking? Doesnt it make your car all dirty?

Also, does your child climb in on their own or do you need to lift them up and into it?
 
ADS

singingpond

New member
My DS#2 is RF at 31+ months, so we're definitely into the shoe problems, LOL. I do take his shoes off if they are at all wet or dirty, although I sometimes leave them on if they are clean/dry underneath (putting shoes back on and redoing those double knots is a pain too). At the moment he is in a center seating position, and has to scramble over his older brother's booster to get there, so that's another reason for taking off shoes. Also, since he sometimes waves his feet at said older brother when they are both in the car, my older child is safer if the little one isn't armed with shoes :) .

Fortunately he does get into his own seat much of the time, if he wants to get into the car, that is. When he doesn't want to get in, I have to lift him in and over, and then sit in his brother's booster while holding him down and strapping him in... but that would be the case for an uncooperative toddler in a forward-facing seat also.

I do carry a small vacuum cleaner in the car (plugs into cigarette lighter) so I can vacuum the seats promptly if some sand or debris ends up in them.

The shoe issue does make RF less convenient than FF, but I think it's definitely worth it for the added safety.

Katrin
 

amy919

New member
Well, as for the first question, my seats are leather and Teagan is only 18 month old. So for her, I carry her in and if her shoes get the back of the seat dirty, I have Amorall Leather Cleaning Wipes in my car and just wipe the back of the seat off. No big deal.

When Kaylie was RF and got the age where she could climb in herself, she was able to. But at that point we had a Ford Explorer, so she was able to use the step guared thing and just climb up and hop in. Not sure this will work on my new car, though. The Explorer had dark gray cloth interior, so it never showed any dirt. When it did get dirty, I just cleaned it.

Amy
 

natysr

New member
My son doesn't like wearing shoes in the car anyway. In our car that has leather seats, I just buckle him in and he removes his shoes right away.

In our car that does not have leather, he climbs in, sits in the outboard seat, takes his shoes off, puts them on the floor, climbs in his seat, and I buckles him in.

In both cars he insists on climbing into the car and into his carseat by himself. He even always makes sure his butt is all the way back and is sitting up straight. He does the chest clip, I do the crotch buckle and we both tug on the harness strap together.

It doesn't snow here, but it does rain sometimes. On rainy days, I explain ahead of time that I need to put him in the car and he can't climb in. If I'm not driving I get into the front passenger seat with him on my lap, then I put my seatback back and he climbs into the back, and I buckle him from the front seat. We also park in a garage at home, so the weather is rarely an issue.
 

Suzibeck

Active member
Living in MI, we had to deal with the shoe problem and honestly it is the reason why I turned dd ff most of the time at age 3 even though she was still under 33 lbs. Our garage is also not attached to the house, so shoes are always dirty!

Usually, I'd slip her shoes off. I bought her easy on/off shoes for this reason, but then my hands were always needing to be washed. Sigh. For a while, I put one of those waterproof lap pads on the back of the seat. I put it under the headrest, it sort of held it in place, and then tucked it partially between the carseat and the van seat (after the seat was solidly installed), letting the end sit on the bottom of the car seat to keep the cover clean too. It didn't stay in place very well however and I was often pulling it off in frustration.
 

keri1292

Well-known member
In the winter, I keep a towel in the car for wet, snowy feet. If we're shopping, I carry him from the store or push him in the cart. He doesn't mind because he doesn't want that snow up his pant legs!
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I haven't had an issue yet in my car, but I do know that my friend has an oilcloth fabric square (with ties attached) tied around the headrest and draping down the seat. It is waterproof, dirt-proof, and VERY easy to clean.
 

TxMomma

New member
My rf toddler is 26 months and I always carry her to the car, so for right now we don't have to worry about the dirty shoe issue. When I start letting her walk to the car I'm sure we'll take her shoes off.

As for getting in the seat, I still put her in and probably will for quite some time.
 

lynsgirl

New member
I was just thinking about extended rearfacing and had some questions.
What do you do if it's snowy or rainy? Do you take off your childs shoes as you get in the car, or do you have a towel or something pinned up on the seat back for their feet to rub against? What about the regular dust and dirt from their shoes from everyday walking? Doesnt it make your car all dirty?

Also, does your child climb in on their own or do you need to lift them up and into it?

Ds2 was RF until 4yrs 2 mos, so obviously, we dealt with some shoe issues :p. Most of the time, I just had him take his shoes off as soon as he climbed into the van. His shoes traveled right in front of the van seat his MA was on. Yes, it was sort of a PITB sometimes to have to put his shoes on every single time we got out of the car, but he pretty much did it himself, with help sometimes from any one of us. In reality, sometimes I'd wish the older kids had to take *their* shoes off, since they're tracking dust, dirt, rain, etc into the van, too LOL. I did have a towel up at one point when he was around 2.5, but if I remember right, it didn't want to stay put very well (the way that particular seat was in that van), so I just ditched it after a while.

Most of his shoes were velcro-based for time-saving reasons, or he had sandals he could just pull on in the summer. As far as climbing in vs. lifting in, it depended on how much time I had or on the weather. If it was pouring out, then he was getting lifted up and plunked down pretty quickly :whistle:, but for the most part, he climbed in himself and I buckled him (or dh, if he was around). Honestly, I didn't really ever consider these "inconveniences" to be a pressing reason to turn him FF full-time before he got to the RF limits of his seat. He was FF a few times and for a couple of short stints and when I had to turn him FF full-time, I dreaded it for the simple fact that he was much more comfortable RF and thus, much nicer to be around in the car :rolleyes::p:whistle: lol.
 

bethng

Active member
Unless his shoes are really filthy, I leave them on. I have tan cloth interior and so I have a towel over the back of the seat. I tucked it in under the headrest and it stays just fine. Every now and then I take it inside and wash it.
 

becca011906

Senior Community Member
last winter this was an issue between me and dh when it came to how long it took me to get the kids in b/c of coats, shoes, buckles ect... this was the first winter i knew about coats in car seats, and about extened rfing, ect. so the winters before it was lossen the harness so coats fit, and they were ffing at 1 year :( ... i now know better! :)
Usally i let her walk to the car b/c she's becoming miss i can do it myself, but lucklie she doesn't want to climb in or buckle herself so i do back and flip the crocs off as she swings her feet around. Usally if it's rainy or cold i will carry her and she's usally ok with that. I think by the time it's cool enough to wear shoes again she'll weight enough to go ffing. My middle dd who's ffing always takes her shoes off in the car, she's ffing but she HATES her legs hanging down and would LOVE to still be able to rf, but she just removes the shoes and sits criss cross in her seat, and puts her shoes back on her self.
 

beebear23

Senior Community Member
I hung a towel over the back of the seat where his feet would be.. But mostly I just took off his shoes. When doing errands, the shoes stayed on and he couldn't jump in mud puddles until we got home. But after preschool they were always muddy or full of rocks, so even in warm weather the shoes came off before he got in the car..
 

JessicaS

New member
My DD is 14 months old and I carry her to the car and put her in the seat. The bottoms of her shoes aren't dirty because I don't usually let her walk outside unless we're at a playground, and the one we usually go to has rubber on the ground. :) Also it doesn't snow here in North Carolina. Usually. So I have yet to experience any of those difficulties with dirt!
 

SPJ&E

New member
My boys are rear-facing at 31 months and 15 months. When it's snowy or rainy, we usually just carry them to the car without their shoes on, take their shoes off when we get in the car, or just forget about it all together and leave them on.

I don't worry about the dirt and what-not from everyday walking. I actually haven't noticed anything on the seats, but it doesn't matter to me. I figured I'll just clean the seats really well with a shampooer when it's time to turn them forward-facing...it'll be fine.

I'd rather have a dirty car and really safe kiddos than a clean car and less safe kiddos.

My 31 month old climbs in on his own and I lift my 15 month old in over the top of his seat. I have a 2-door car, so it's tough, but we manage.
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
We use the Prince Lionheart Seat Saver BUT we only use the portion that goes on the vehicle seat back, NOT the part that goes under the carseat.

For the most part Mikkel gets carried to the van and in the winter the boots come off. He's a car sleeper (both kids are actually) and Mikkel always kicks off his shoes within minutes of driving in order to go to sleep. So in the winter, I beat him to it and just take the boots off.
 

southpawboston

New member
I'd rather have a dirty car and really safe kiddos than a clean car and less safe kiddos.

how does draping a cloth down the seat back make the kiddo less safe? i hear this all the time on these boards, but i have a really hard time understanding why some people think it's an "either/or" situation. it's not as though keeping your car clean means you have to compromise your DC's safety. you can have BOTH, utmost safety AND a clean car, provided you choose your method carefully.

as other PPs have mentioned, we also just draped a thin cloth down the back of the seat. it doesn't interfere in anyway with the safety of an RF seat. we actually poked holes in the cloth and "skewered" it in place with the headrest posts. :D that way, there's never any sliding down the seat.

and for the OP, let me also say that you will have the same problem when it comes time to turn your kiddo FFing, if his or her feet can reach the front seat. we basically do the same thing with the back of the front seat. we bought a $0.99 artists's apron (made from that same thin material as used in the disposable hats and gowns that medical professionals wear) and dressed up the back of the front seat with it. it doesn't block or interfere at all with the side air bag, it just hangs down the back from the headrest posts and the bottom tie straps are tied to the seat rails.
 

Holly

New member
Thanks for all the replies! My 2 year old is actually already FF but that's because we don't have room in the backseat for her seat (a Radian) to be RF because of how far back the driver's side needs to be to have room for us up front.
We have an 8 month old too and her seat (a Scenera) is RF behind the passenger side, and it fits there because we can have the passenger seat up more because the passenger doesnt need as much room as the driver. I was wondering because I want to keep the 8 month old RF past her 1st birthday, and thats in November, but I also hadn't realized that I will still be carrying her to the car and into the store and other places we go because she will still be so little, and maybe not even walking yet.

Do you think it's bad to ERF one child and not the other? We can't afford to get a new (more roomy backseat) car or van right now, and because of the driver's seat needing to be so far back, there isn't room to RF 2 seats back there.
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
Those are pretty narrow seats you have. You may be able to have both seats RFing side by side (one in the middle) so that your DH still has room to push his seat all the way back for room in the front.

If you can't get your two year old RFing again, then he will be okay. Children under two are significantly safer RFing... after two the benefits start to drop, although RFing is still safe(r).
 

scatterbunny

New member
Like Jen said, kids over age 2 are much less at risk FF than kids under 2; it would still be nice to have the 2yo RF, but less "necessary" at this point. :)

What vehicle do you drive? The Radian just might work RF in the center because of how narrow it is.

Also, re: the space the Scenera takes up RF pushing the front passenger seat forward, as your baby gets older you don't need a 45 degree recline. It can be as upright as is comfortable for your baby. And it can touch the front seat. :) That might help some!
 

Holly

New member
We have a 2007 Toyota Camry. I havent tried the Radian rf in the center yet, but I'm not sure it would fit because we just took a trip to CA and put the baby in the center so I could go back there occasionally to keep them entertained or to hold a bottle and anyway, the Scenera barely fit there without having to move the drivers seat, isn't the Radian taller so it would probably take up more space there?
 

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