Communicating with a rear facing kid

megan.amarice

New member
Somebody mentioned on a thread a few weeks ago and it got me wondering: how do you all communicate with your rear facers?

Ginny turned 3 in July. She is extremely soft spoken and I always struggle to hear what she has to say. This frustrates her to no end, as she has lots to say and and is easily frustrated when I don't understand her. I've been trying to get her to speak up for months, with no luck. When I don't understand what she's saying, she throws tantrums. For someone who has such a quiet voice, my girl sure can scream! And it's hard for her to settle down afterwards.

She has about an inch of growing room left in her MyRide and about 2 inches left in the Aquos. She's had no torso growth in the last 9 months or so (and no other growth since May) so I'm expecting a big growth spurt at some point in the not too distant future here anyway. I'm considering turning her around within the next few months, even if she still fits, just because I am so tired of the tantrums over being misunderstood.

Am I missing something here? I know a lot of you put your littles in the back row of much larger vehicles. So how do you hear what they need, what they're interested in, or what they have to say?
 
ADS

Little Ps Mama

New member
My four year old rides RF in the third row f our sienna. I have no problem hearing him and he's not a loud kid.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

Shaunam

New member
I have trouble hearing my 7 year old boostered kid! :p I roll up the windows, turn off the radio, tell him to speak up and if I still can't hear him, he knows he just has to wait until we get out of the car to tell me. :shrug-shoulders:
 

babyherder

Well-known member
I'm mostly relieved to have a few minutes when no one is talking to me! :eek: I try to turn on music so the kids focus on that.
 

jacqui276

New member
I don't find RFing vs FFing makes a huge difference for being able to understand a quiet kid over road noise. I am constantly asking DD to repeat herself when I'm driving since she is also quiet (she is boostered). My niece is also very very soft spoken and doesn't speak very clearly and I can't understand her in the car for the life of me regardless of which way I have her facing (she is 5 but fits in my seats RFing so I often have her in both positions).

I have a hearing loss in my left ear and tinnitus, making it all the harder to hear with the background noise of the road. I do much better when I can see someone talking to be able to understand them, which I can't do with a RFing or FFing kid.

I also often put music on and DD just listens to it rather than chatting the entire car trip. She is learning to speak up if it's important though.
 

geekKT

New member
I've had mine in both the 2nd and 3rd row rear facing, and he can be hard to understand in either place, though slightly worse in the back row. Lately he does this fun thing where he screams "Mom... Mom... Mom, MOM, MOM, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOOOOMMMMMYYYYYY!" and then as soon as I respond and ask what's up, he will whisper whatever he was going to say to me, or whatever he saw out the window, etc. :rolleyes:

He's a bit younger than yours so to some extent I just acknowledge him blindly with "oh really?" or "wow" or whatever I can think of, or I'll change the subject on him. He hasn't quite figured out I have no clue what he's talking about. When that fails, he's slowly starting to get used to hearing "I'm driving, I cant hand you this/get you that/see/hear and I'll do it when we stop," and accepting it.
 

teekadog

Active member
I find out of the variables of voice volume, road noise, a/c or heaters running, row placement, and rfing or ffing, rfing or ffing is the least to affect my ability to hear my kids. My loud kids can be heard over any obstacle. My quiet kid (why did I get only one of those?!?) is hard to hear no matter what- and that includes when she was rfing and now ffing.
 

megan.amarice

New member
Thanks for the responses. I wouldn't so much mind being unable to hear her if it didn't invoke a tantrum. She's in quite a tantrumy phase right now. :roll eyes: I had her forward facing in our around-town vehicle a few weeks ago when I was babysitting a friend's 13-month-old (can't fit a rear facing seat behind the driver's seat) and it was soooo much better. I could hear her better and better understand what she was talking about because I could see what she was seeing.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
maybe mount (so it won't be a projectile) baby monitor to the headrest of the vehicle seat in front of her... and put the other end in a front cupholder... with the volume up high enough you can then hear her?
 

lovemybabybug

New member
I've had mine in both the 2nd and 3rd row rear facing, and he can be hard to understand in either place, though slightly worse in the back row. Lately he does this fun thing where he screams "Mom... Mom... Mom, MOM, MOM, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOOOOMMMMMYYYYYY!" and then as soon as I respond and ask what's up, he will whisper whatever he was going to say to me, or whatever he saw out the window, etc. :rolleyes:

He's a bit younger than yours so to some extent I just acknowledge him blindly with "oh really?" or "wow" or whatever I can think of, or I'll change the subject on him. He hasn't quite figured out I have no clue what he's talking about. When that fails, he's slowly starting to get used to hearing "I'm driving, I cant hand you this/get you that/see/hear and I'll do it when we stop," and accepting it.

Yup same here with "yeah?" Or "oh really" or "awesome". I also like to give her small book in the car. It keeps her talking to herself.
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,655
Messages
2,196,895
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top