Rear facing whole time in convertible?

Hazelandlucy · Sep 13, 2012

Do most people now buy convertible seats only for rear facing? I have read through quite a bit of posts and notice a lot of kids trying to stay rear facing until they outgrow the seat.... are they outgrowing the seat just in the rear facing position and getting turned around or are they staying rear facing until a booster seat?

joolsplus3 · Sep 13, 2012

I don't really like putting kids in boosters till about age 6, so personally I keep my kids RF to the limit of my seats (in my girls' cases that was 3 or 4) and then turn the seat around. Or buy a 'combo' seat, like the Nautilus or Frontier that forward faces only (that's a good choice if there's another baby down the line who needs the convertible for rearfacing, or if you actually LIKE to buy car seats and just want something new. Otherwise, convertibles forward facing till age 5-6 is a fine choice, and go to a booster at that point. (or rearfacing, if your child is comfy and not exceeding the weight or height limit of the seat and doesn't mind sitting RF

)

Hazelandlucy · Sep 13, 2012

joolsplus3 said:
I don't really like putting kids in boosters till about age 6, so personally I keep my kids RF to the limit of my seats (in my girls' cases that was 3 or 4) and then turn the seat around. Or buy a 'combo' seat, like the Nautilus or Frontier that forward faces only (that's a good choice if there's another baby down the line who needs the convertible for rearfacing, or if you actually LIKE to buy car seats and just want something new. Otherwise, convertibles forward facing till age 5-6 is a fine choice, and go to a booster at that point. (or rearfacing, if your child is comfy and not exceeding the weight or height limit of the seat and doesn't mind sitting

Thanks. I have heard the britax seats have a shorter shell and therefore you can't rear face long term...but wouldn't that also prevent forward facing if the child's head is within an inch? Or is it purely a leg room issue people refer to when outgrowing a rear facing seat assuming the weight limit is not met?

joolsplus3 · Sep 13, 2012

Maplesmom said:
Thanks. I have heard the britax seats have a shorter shell and therefore you can't rear face long term...but wouldn't that also prevent forward facing if the child's head is within an inch? Or is it purely a leg room issue people refer to when outgrowing a rear facing seat assuming the weight limit is not met?

Ah, good question... Well, no, because the 'rules' for fitting in seats rearfacing and forward facing are different. The one inch rule is for rearfacing, to keep the head cradled and protected when the seat dumps down in a crash, while forward facing, you use the seat till the shoulders are at the top slot or the tops of the ears are at the top of the seat shell (that holds the child back in a crash, and prevents whiplash, ie, kids can be way taller FF than RF, like, about 41 inches RF and top listed height for FF is 49 inches). Here's a picture of the same almost-5 yo RF and FF in a Marathon 70... http://carseatblog.com/6527/britax-marathon-70-review-part-ii-with-lots-of-pics/
The legs can be a challenge, I know in my old compact car it was like toddler origami to get my 3 yo RF, but she was fine till 4.5 (and the weight limit, and her head was still more than an inch from the top) in our expansive minivan.

Hazelandlucy · Sep 13, 2012

Ahh, I see, thanks so much! Most of the talk about fitting into the seat seems to be regarding rear facing so I was a little confused about when the seat is completely outgrown! Thanks again

carseatcoach · Sep 13, 2012

Some kids in some seats can make it to a safe booster age/size rearfacing (which IMO/IME is at least age 5) , but it's not really a practical goal for everybody.

Rear facing whole time in convertible?

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