Is Britax Frontier 85 safe for 2 year old

A

AZsun

Guest
Is the Britax Frontier 85 safe for a 2 1/2 year old who weighs 30lb and is 36inches tall?
 
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glockchick

New member
Not nearly as safe as rear-facing is. ;) Rear-facing is 5 times safer than forward facing for a child that age.

What seat is the child in now? Why are you wanting/needing to get a new one?
 

squishles10

New member
What is your cutoff weight for acceptable? Just curious. I thought higher weight kids were more likely to have trauma because their heads weigh more but their spine is the same level of development. Is that not a factor in the weight you think is okay? Or is it bigger kids don't fit RF as long?
 

Kaitsmom

New member
To me, as long as a kid fits rfig thats what they should be doing but 3 is a minimum. That being said, my daughter was 40lbs before 2 yrs old. Even adults are safer rfing, a 2 yr olds spine hasnt hardened yet and is still at high risk for internal decapitation reguardless of weight.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Bigger kids do not have more-developed spines. Kids should remain rear-facing as long as possible to give their spines time to ossify and protect the delicate spinal cord. A 38# 2yo is as undeveloped as a 22# 2yo and should remain rear-facing as long as possible.

If parents are determined to forward-face knowing that it is significantly less safe, however, a Frontier is a fine choice for a child that size.
 

tiggercat

New member
squishles10 said:
What is your cutoff weight for acceptable? Just curious. I thought higher weight kids were more likely to have trauma because their heads weigh more but their spine is the same level of development. Is that not a factor in the weight you think is okay? Or is it bigger kids don't fit RF as long?

For me it depends on a sense of reasonableness. A 30lb 2 yr old can rearface comfortably in a number of seats, and be safer than if they were FF. So, I'd consider it reasonable to encourage continued RFing (and my own almost 3 year old, 29lb kid is rearfacing). A 43lb 2 yr old would only be able to RF in a radian, and I'd be ok with FFing when needed as it may not be practical to have a radian in every car. They aren't any safer FF than the 30lb kid.
A 2 year old in a frontier is acceptable, but not ideal.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
The reason a 30 # 2.5 year old should be rear-facing is because the child can be. NHTSA recommends keeping children rear-facing through age three (that is, up to the 4th birthday), unless the child gets too big for the rear-facing limits of his or her car seat before then. A 30 lb child will fit in almost any rear-facing convertible on the US (or Canadian) market today.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
rearfacing is ALWAYS safer. Forward facing becomes (trying to word this right) closer to being AS safe as the following things happen.

1. the child gets older and thereby, the head to body proportion changes
2. the child becomes too tall (according to the manual for the seat) for their current convertible carseat AND it is not possible (whether due to budget or vehicle compatibility or child size) to get a larger one to keep the child rearfacing
3. the child outgrows the current convertible carseat by weight (and getting a larger weight-capacity convertible carseat to keep child rearfacing is also not an option)

a 2.5yr old 30lb child most likely fits in 99% of the rearfacing convertibles on the market.

And with the money you would spend on a frontier, I'd rather see that spent on a high limit convertible.
 

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