Spin off: How long will/did you rf?

snowbird25ca · Nov 16, 2012

I'm curious now the average weight or age that most people on this board turn their kids ff'ing. I'm going to make it multiple selections so that people can answer for more than one kid.

eta: I couldn't put all the choices I wanted to in the poll. Feel free to add whatever you want to the thread. If your kid went back and forth between ff'ing and rf'ing as new seats came on the market over the years, feel free to respond multiple times for the kids affected. I'm just curious if in a forum that usually exceeds best practices much more than could be expected, what usually prompts us to turn kids ff'ing.

Nimommyof2 · Nov 16, 2012

Well my first will be nine so wasn't really aware he turned FF about a week before 1yr. My second is still RF at age almost 3.5yrs so aiming to go over 4yrs honestly would like to make booster age. She is 38inches and 30lbs so pretty petite. She has on occasion rode around 6blocks FF

TechnoGranola · Nov 16, 2012

4y8m because she hit the 40# limit on her MyRide. Still had an inch growing room. Would have loved to RF for that inch, then switch directly to booster. I could not install a Radian decently and it was very reclined which DD hated. Angle Adjusters did not exist at that time.

This is why I want a 45# RF seat this time round.

TechnoTeen was at 22# and 18 months maybe? That was the highest weight limit available then. I was lucky she was tiny.

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tiggercat · Nov 16, 2012

All of my kids have been different!

Short story: met limits of the seat(s) available.

Long story:
Greg (2000) was maybe 6m, 22lb and had outgrown everything RF on the market. The century Accel came out with a 30lb limit at some point but he was pretty close to 30 when I heard about it.
Megan (2005) was 2 years, 30lb and had outgrown her Britax RF by weight and there were no seats on the market with higher limits (I tried to find her a known history Cosco with a 35lb limit but she was too tall for it)
Sam (2009) is still RF in both main vehicles at 3 years old and 32lb will have to turn FF in the RXT soon because of height. He started riding FF in a Frontier in his grandparents car about 2 weeks ago.

ETA, I also chose to exceed the numerical height limit on my middle child's seat (32in) because it was ridiculously low. I am not sure if I would make the same choice now, given that there are so many other options!

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snowbird25ca · Nov 16, 2012

My own answers:

Dd: 22lbs and 18 months, hit 32" limit on the Alpha Omega. Went rf'ing again in a Marathon at 2yrs old when ds was a baby. (I chose to exceed the height limit at that time,) turned ff'ing again just before she turned 3 when she was 29lbs. Went rf'ing again for the month before she turned 4yrs old when the True Fit came in to Canada. She hit 35lbs right as she turned 4 and went ff'ing permanently.

Ds: 30 or 32lbs and 40", 3.5 yrs old when he went ff'ing in our main vehicle. He was ff'ing about 3 months prior to that in our secondary vehicle. He was pretty much at 1" of hard shell in our secondary vehicle and I went to 40" despite a numerical 36" height limit in our primary vehicle.

Yes... slap my hand for exceeding the numerical rf'ing height limits. Note that I did this as a parental decision and when I did there was much less choice for seats with higher height limits. When dd was a baby there was pretty much no choice at all and everyone had 32" height limits.

There also wasn't the same rebound standard then that there is now though. I don't know what I would do if I knew then what I know now.

snowbird25ca · Nov 16, 2012

tiggercat said:
Sam (2009) is still RF in both main vehicles at 3 years old and 32lb will have to turn FF in the RXT soon because of height. He started riding FF in a Frontier in his grandparents car about 2 weeks ago.

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Totally OT, but somehow I'm shocked by his age. I still see him as the baby in the infant seat.

BananaBoat · Nov 16, 2012

J is 4 yrs 4 mths & just this month started going FF full time. She is 39# and 41" in an XTSL. She has more room, but she wanted to be FF and it worked better in our car and I'm really fine after 4 going FF. I'm thrilled we made it as long as we did since 2 was my first goal, then 3 and finally 4.

ETA: A will be RF for a long while still. The goal is 4 but who knows what will happen in the coming years, so I reserve the right to up that

kalamos23 · Nov 16, 2012

Dd was turned at a week before she turned 3 when she hit 45 lbs.

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LKuepfer · Nov 16, 2012

My oldest DD who is almost five now I turned at a week before she turned one because I didn't know better. I thought I was doing well to actually wait until a year because I had friends who turned them at 7 months. My second DD is still RF at 21 months and I will keep her RF unfilled she outgrows her seat a My Ride. I hope I can make it to three and maybe longer. She's 24 pounds and is still on the second from bottom harness straps but is almost tall enough for the third. It wasn't until I stumbled across this Site that I learned about extended RF, proper usage etc.

tiggercat · Nov 16, 2012

snowbird25ca said:
Totally OT, but somehow I'm shocked by his age. I still see him as the baby in the infant seat.

I know! They grow so fast.

I can't believe Greg is turning 12 and almost as tall as me...

Edited because initially I thought you were talking about Greg, and Sam definitely isn't 5ft1, lol.

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canadiangie · Nov 16, 2012

Full time ff:

Dd1: 4 years, 35lbs
Dd2: 4 years, 36lbs
Dd3: is 2 right now, and rf.

As recent as August my oldest, who turned 6 in June, and my middle who turned 5 last month, rode rear facing for a long trip. It allowed all three to use the iPad which meant a phenomenally quiet trip for Dh and I.

The baby will rf to age 4. She's 32lbs now and just turned 2. I need a 45lb rf seat, I think, though it's new territory for me to have a 'normal' if not bigger sized baby, so I'm not sure. Put it this way, I won't be buying any seat that rf's to just 40lbs. I think I'm going to hoard my RXT, lol.

Baylor · Nov 16, 2012

So I did not vote because I am past rfing now.. And when I did there was no til 2 guideline as minimum for ff. When ds2 was born dr told me to rf longer than 1 that 2 was probably better but it was not a rule.. And the kid was just huge. I turned him at 16 months, I think I have to look... But he was 36lbs at that point.

If I had a baby today, It would be til 2 and then I hope beyond but I would definitely not turn til 2. AND I am also aware of Higher rfing weight limits so I would probably skip the bucket and get a Radian.

ntrenary · Nov 16, 2012

My now 16 year old was FFing at 6 mo because he was 20lbs and I thought it was 20lbs OR 1yr.

My 11 & 9 year olds were FFing as soon as they met the minimums of their seats which was 1 year. I didn't know any better. In 2002 there was a mom At the daycare I worked for who kept her son RFing past 1 year and I thought she just didn't know she could turn him. Now I know it was me who was wrong.

My 5 year old was RFing until a few days before his 4th b-day when he outgrew his radian by weight (older 30lb model) and his CA by height.

amyd · Nov 16, 2012

Peter was 3y2m or so and about 35lbs. Not sure on height but he still had room. Three was my goal and he was being a PITB in the car and kicking the baby so I turned him. He couldn't reach the baby FFing. J is 19 months and about 30lbs and still RFing. My goal for him is 4...we'll see how far we get.

Brianna · Nov 16, 2012

J was 2 1/2 when he hit the max height for the MR at which point he went FF with his mom and about 3 days shy of 3 when he hit the max height of the EFTA which is when I finally let him go full time FF with me.

I could have sworn he was going to outgrow his 40 RF seats by weight first because he was 36 pounds at 22 months- he's 38 months now and still 36 pounds.

jacqui276 · Nov 16, 2012

DD, I unfortunately turned at 10 months because she hit the 22lbs limit of her seats.

I'm not sure what all was available back then that went any higher, but I didn't know anything about car seat safety and of course her doctor said that it was ok because of how big she was. She also hit 32" at 1 year so that would have likely ruled out anything that may have had a higher weight limit. I am thankful that I never got in a car accident with her and that she is ok.

DS will RF to the limits of his Radian, which I REALLY hope gets us to at least 2 years, although I highly doubt with his growth pattern that it will get us to 4. If there was a seat in existence that could get him to 4 that was legal to use in Canada, I would RF him to age 4. DD was 40lbs by age 2 and so far DS is bigger than her.. I likely see a Frontier in his future at some point.

agave · Nov 16, 2012

DD1 flipped back and forth a couple of times between 3 and 3yrs 8 months when she flipped permanently. She would still fit in the radian at 4 1/2 but she's pretty attached to her Frontier.

DD2 will probably fit RF forever at the rate she's growing. She has FF ridden once for 1/2 a mile without another car on the road. I hope to keep her RF full time until at least 3 1/2 then RF in main car as long as she wants.

My original plan was to get DD1 a Nautilus at about 2 1/2 and move DD2 into her Alpha Omega, they where both crashed and I had to start over. Got 2 MyRides and decided to RF longer then a year later those where crashed too. Bought a Roundabout 50 and a Frontier then got a steal on an XTSL and re RF. Basically every time someone wasn't paying attention in traffic and hit me I decided to RF longer.

ketchupqueen · Nov 16, 2012

I didn't realize I could do multiple choices until after I voted. D'oh. So I answered for my last kid, who went ff at 4 y 3 m by choice becasue after 4 I'm ok with that, although she was very close to outgrowing her (Swedish) seat. Going forward that will still be my rule with other kids. RF until at least 4, then we'll talk about it. My other kids went back and forth as seats came on the market. With current selection, though, RF to at least 4 is mandatory in our family. For secondary vehicles I'll allow FF after 3 if all seats that can be practically installed RF in that vehicle are outgrown.

carseatcoach · Nov 16, 2012

My daughter was born in 2002 and the recommendations were to rear-face to the limits of the seat. I pretty much did -- I had a 30# RFing seat and RFed to 29ish pounds, which was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.

If I were to have another child, I would buy a seat with a higher limit.

featherhead · Nov 16, 2012

DD1 was turned forward-facing at around 3 1/2. She was in a True Fit. She still had plenty of height left, and several pounds (I think she was under 30 lbs). But it was the middle of winter, and I just find it so much more annoying to buckle them correctly in winter when their legs are so long and they are rear-facing.

DD2 was turned forward-facing at 2 1/2. She was probably around 28-30 lbs. DD3 was born then, and it was also winter. We needed the quickest set-up for buckling kiddos when it was -30. Rear-facing seats (the ones I've tried) don't fit in the 3rd row of our '98 Odyssey, and it would not work having a rear-facing seat in each captains chair. We wouldn't be able to get to the back to buckle DD1.

DD3 has to stay rear-facing at least until DD1 is in a booster, because there are only 2 tether anchors. I will aim for 3-4 years.

Spin off: How long will/did you rf?

When did or will you turn you kid(s) ff'ing?

As soon as they met the ff'ing minimums

before 2yrs old - family reasons, still fit seat

before 2yrs old - outgrew seat by weight

before 2yrs old - outgrew seat by height

2-3yrs old - outgrew seat by height and/or weight

2-3 yrs old - family reasons, still fit seat

3-4 yrs old - outgrew seat by height and/or weight

3-4 yrs old - family reasons, still fit seat

Over 4yrs old - outgrew seat by height and/or weight

Over 4yrs old - family reasons, still fit seat

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