WWYD (Re: 3 y.o. approaching RF limits)

NatesMamma · Apr 10, 2012

Nate is right around 33lb fully clothed with shoes. He just turned 3 y.o. last month and is fast approaching the 35 lb RF limit of his TFP, which is in our CR-V, the primary vehicle. My RF goal is 4 yrs, and I'd love some opinions on where to go from here!

Here are the options as I see them:
(1) Keep him RF in the TFP and cross the 35 lb bridge when we're actually there. (It could take him 6 mnths or more to gain 2 more pounds, right?)

(2) Move the RN RXT from DH's Corolla into my car in order to keep DS RF in the primary vehicle and put the TFP FF in the secondary vehicle. We use DH's car for trips around town on the weekend. Because of the novelty aspect of it, DS always wants to ride in Daddy's car on the weekends.

(3) Purchase a new seat to keep Nate RF in both vehicles. Either a CA or another RN would work (although I really dislike Diono and hate Dorel even more). Are there any seats I'm missing that would accommodate him RF? He's 37.5" and 32lb clothed in shorts and a t-shirt w/o shoes. He's just a hair away from maxing out our MR by height.

So, WWYD? Any suggestions for me?

djma · Apr 10, 2012

*If* buying a seat is a not-so-bothersome thing, than I would try a new seat. The new EFTA's go to 40 pounds rf.

If not, than I would move the radian to the main car and rf to your goal.

If neither of the above work or are desired, I would flip the TFP ff and go. You did great keeping him rf so long.

Brianna · Apr 10, 2012

:yeahthat:

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Syllieann · Apr 10, 2012

With another lo otw to pass seats down to, I'd probably spring for another radian but I'd also be ok w/ option 2 if finances are on the tighter side.

crunchierthanthou · Apr 10, 2012

don't feed him until the foonf is released.

as a more serious answer, my 3 year old will probably outgrow her RA55 by height sometime this summer. I'm not planning to buy a new seat for her.

Phineasmama · Apr 10, 2012

My 3yo (turned in December) is RFing in an RXT in our primary vehicle and FFing in our secondary vehicle that he rides in like twice a week.

I would wait till he hits 35 lbs and see where you're at, and then if you're still really uncomfortable with it switch car seats with DH and continue RFing in the primary vehicle

ElfJewel · Apr 10, 2012

I would probably wait until he is 35 lbs and then switch the seats. 3 is when I'm comfortable with them FF occasionally in other cars, and you have a seat to keep RF in the main car. If you want to buy another seat you could do that too, but only you can decide if it's worth the money.

carseatcoach · Apr 11, 2012

*I* would not buy a new seat to keep a 3yo 100% RFing, especially since the last two pounds could take a while. I realize I'm in the minority here. I would move seats so the child would be RFing in the primary vehicle.

CTPDMom · Apr 11, 2012

carseatcoach said:
*I* would not buy a new seat to keep a 3yo 100% RFing, especially since the last two pounds could take a while. I realize I'm in the minority here. I would move seats so the child would be RFing in the primary vehicle.

:yeahthatlove:

kathysr98 · Apr 11, 2012

I would wait a while to make the decision. I keep telling myself that FF is ok every once in a while after 3, but I still put a TF RF in a Jeep yesterday & loaded by unzipping the back window. My dd will be 4 in 2 weeks! I *know* it's ok, but still have trouble doing it.

Suzibeck · Apr 11, 2012

I would swap seats and let him ff in daddy's car.

My youngest turned 4 on Easter. She is peanut at 38" and 28# but I have had her ff in daddy's car since she was 3 yr 9 mo. That has only been a handful of times, less than a dozen for sure. Most of the time I have my 40# rf RXT in there too. Dh drives a Jetta and a rf seat just doesn't work with us tall people so she just didn't ride in there until she was older and now she ff in there. She will stay rf in the van until age 5 at least that is my goal right now.

NatesMamma · Apr 11, 2012

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I know this is a question that gets asked 25 times a week here, and I appreciate your humoring me.

I'm still not quite sure what we'll end up doing, but for the next couple months, at least, I think we'll just keep the carseats where they are and wait for him to gain some weight.

djma said:
*If* buying a seat is a not-so-bothersome thing, than I would try a new seat. The new EFTA's go to 40 pounds rf.

Ooh! I didn't realize that. I've never had an Evenflo seat, so I know next to nothing about them, but I would feel much better buying an Evenflo than another Diono or Dorel, I think. How does the EFTA shell compare to other seats? Fairly tall? Or shorter like the MR? Like I said, he has just about outgrown the MR. He's not a super tall kid, but he has a HUGE head, and he seems to outgrow seats a bit sooner by height than other kids his same size.

What about the "line to level" deal with the Evenflo seats? Are they still holding firm to that and saying that their seats must be at 45* at all times? If so, have they ever even hinted that having them more upright might be OK (ala Dorel & the CA)?

crunchierthanthou said:
don't feed him until the foonf is released. .

LOL!

kathysr98 said:
I would wait a while to make the decision. I keep telling myself that FF is ok every once in a while after 3, but I still put a TF RF in a Jeep yesterday & loaded by unzipping the back window...I *know* it's ok, but still have trouble doing it.

Yeah, that's where I am, too. I know FF-- esp only for part time-- is perfectly reasonable for a healthy 3 y.o., but bringing myself to actually turn the seat is such a huge deal! Amazing how we all agonize over this decision when our kids are preschoolers and yet pretty much everyone we know IRL has been blissfully zipping around town with their kids FF since the age of 10 months, huh?

djma · Apr 11, 2012

I haven't had an EFTA in a while, so I cannot comment on the recline angle issue. But I believe it has a bit taller shell than a MR. It's one of those seats where it depends on the car, the install, and the kid. LOL

I loved my EFTA and would love to get my hands on another one to give DD more legroom.

Brianna · Apr 11, 2012

NatesMamma said:
Ooh! I didn't realize that. I've never had an Evenflo seat, so I know next to nothing about them, but I would feel much better buying an Evenflo than another Diono or Dorel, I think. How does the EFTA shell compare to other seats? Fairly tall? Or shorter like the MR? Like I said, he has just about outgrown the MR. He's not a super tall kid, but he has a HUGE head, and he seems to outgrow seats a bit sooner by height than other kids his same size.

What about the "line to level" deal with the Evenflo seats? Are they still holding firm to that and saying that their seats must be at 45* at all times? If so, have they ever even hinted that having them more upright might be OK (ala Dorel & the CA)?

Here are my pictures of the nearly outgrown MR and Triumph http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=2224915&postcount=21 There at least another half inch in the Triumph, possibly an inch- even though I got the same internal shell height for both seats.

With my line level to ground, it's fairly upright. Thanks to the bowl shape of the Triumph, I can put both of my front seats all the way back in my Malibu without touching the Triumph.

cookie123 · Apr 11, 2012

This time last year, I was also trying to decide what to do. Matthew was just 3 and maybe 31 lbs iirc. I finally decided to just ff him. He gained the last couple pounds pretty quickly. By June I think.

How things change. Now he's 4 and today I was on the way to Fleet Farm, and when going by their house I thought maybe he'd like to go too, and contemplated briefly just throwing in a booster. I decided that would be a bad idea, and went on without him.

The now me would just ff in dad's car and rf in the main car as long as you can. Good luck with your struggle!

rxmommy · Apr 11, 2012

carseatcoach said:
*I* would not buy a new seat to keep a 3yo 100% RFing, especially since the last two pounds could take a while. I realize I'm in the minority here. I would move seats so the child would be RFing in the primary vehicle.

:yeahthatlove:

Now if you WANT to buy a new seat, have the finances to do so, no one here is gonna talk you out of that either!

Piglet · Apr 11, 2012

I personally would buy a new seat. Option 2 would be next best

suzling · Apr 11, 2012

Is the new Peg convertible an option for you? I'm not sure how it compares heightwise to the RN or the CA, but it fits nicely in my hubby's Cobalt, and rear faces to 45lbs.

gigi · Apr 11, 2012

suzling said:
Is the new Peg convertible an option for you? I'm not sure how it compares heightwise to the RN or the CA, but it fits nicely in my hubby's Cobalt, and rear faces to 45lbs.

It is very slightly taller than an EFT65 in the highest RF setting and a little shorter than the radian.

NatesMamma · Apr 11, 2012

Brianna said:
Here are my pictures of the nearly outgrown MR and Triumph http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=2224915&postcount=21 There at least another half inch in the Triumph, possibly an inch- even though I got the same internal shell height for both seats.

Darn. I don't know if I can justify another carseat purchase just to keep him RF for another half inch or so. His head hits at almost exactly the same spot on the MR as in the picture.

suzling said:
Is the new Peg convertible an option for you? I'm not sure how it compares heightwise to the RN or the CA, but it fits nicely in my hubby's Cobalt, and rear faces to 45lbs.

It's a nice seat, but at that price point, I'm pretty sure DH would not OK buying it to keep DS RF. DH is awesome about carseat safety, but he also knows that FF is not a bad option at this point. Actually, we met DH for lunch today, and I mentioned that DS is close to maxing out the MR. DH immediately suggested moving the RN to my car to keep him RF there. So that's awesome of him to suggest that, but at the same time, it tells me he wants to stick with the seats we already have. (Not that I can fault him for that at all!)

Huh. It looks like my best options, all things considered, would be to go with either another RN or a CA if I decide to buy a new seat. I have at least $50 in Amazon gift cards from the past couple holidays, so it's not *too* hard to justify the purchase of a new, reasonably priced seat if I can put $50 of someone else's money toward it.

Anyone care to convince me that Diono and Dorel don't suck as badly as I think they do? I just don't fully trust either company, given their crappy track records for customer service and dragging their feet on recall/safety issues. :thumbsdown:

WWYD (Re: 3 y.o. approaching RF limits)

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