to rf, ff, hbb, nbb, ages, what seats, etc!

So dh and I ended up in an almost hour long conversation last night about carseats and what our future holds -I was really shocked he indulged me for so long We got to talking about ds and rf, ff, boosters, etc. And of course the baby due in May and what we'll use, pass down, etc. He actually brought up the idea of importing a seat to keep ds rf until kindergarten (or age 5) and it really got me thinking. What are the opinions here on how long to rf? I know it's all about parental decisions and what each person is comfortable with, but I am really wondering now what those comforts of other techs and carseat savvy people are! My goal was 4, but if he keeps growing at his current rate we'll be lucky if he makes it to 3.5 in his xtsl. Without going out to measure specifically, it looks like he may have another 1/2in growing room rf I'm not sure I'm comfortable ff before 4 -or am I just being crazy? He is 3yrs 3mo right now and 39 1/4in, 22 1/2 bum to head, 13 1/2in torso. We were really excited about the foonf but from what I'm reading it seems that it could be a waste of $$ for rf -and I'm not sure it will work with his seating position in our Sienna and the dvd player anyway (passenger side captains chair pushed center). We originally planned to re-use his advocate ff once we turned him around, but it seems he will probably have already outgrown that ff too right? We obviously want to keep both kids as safe as possible, while also minimizing the amount of seat buying we do. I told him it's hard to predict what we'll want to use at each stage for each kid -as has already been proven by our first disappointment with the kf travel system we planned to pass down to every baby and ended up despising! If it helps, we have kf22 (although looking into chaperone, prezi, & shuttle35 for baby #2), advocate70, xtsl, & MR65. What to use when, with who, possibilities, new seats we'll need……..oh and just remembered that grandma will be sharing taking ds to preschool & picking up once they move up here next month so we'll need a permanent seat for her car as well!
What are your thoughts on all this? Dh wanted me to ask here

I wouldn't buy a new seat to RF past age 3.

I would buy new seats to keep a child harnessed FF past age 4 if they were very tall and lacked the maturity for a booster.

Stelvis said:

I wouldn't buy a new seat to RF past age 3.

I would buy new seats to keep a child harnessed FF past age 4 if they were very tall and lacked the maturity for a booster.

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That has always been my opinion also. Both of my kids were FF shortly after they turned 3. I was somewhat tempted to buy a new convertible for DD several months later when all the 40lb RF seats started popping up, but by then it just seemed to make more sense to buy something that would keep her harnessed until she was 5-6yo (we got a Frontier). (DS insisted we add a smiley)

Does he really have so little room in a radian with only a 13.5 in torso? My little guy is 3y5m, 40in, 33lb and has a ~16in torso and still has some headspace before he reaches the 1.5 in from top of shell limit.
I will keep him RF until he outgrows the Radians, and then we will go FF (in a Frontier for my vehicle, i don't like the FF SIP videos of the Radian FF) realistically, the only option that would give him significant growth room RF would be a Swedish seat.

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I would probably import a seat to keep my own kid rf till 5 (or longer). Logically I know a 3 year old in a properly used ff seat is safe but emotionally I want the kid safER.

I would not import a seat

I would not buy a new seat to RF a 3yo unless there were special needs or circumstances.

Stelvis said:

I wouldn't buy a new seat to RF past age 3.

I would buy new seats to keep a child harnessed FF past age 4 if they were very tall and lacked the maturity for a booster.

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I was kind of thinking the same thing on only purchasing a new seat to keep harnessed after 4. Dh just got me thinking maybe I should do something different!

aeormsby said:

That has always been my opinion also. Both of my kids were FF shortly after they turned 3. I was somewhat tempted to buy a new convertible for DD several months later when all the 40lb RF seats started popping up, but by then it just seemed to make more sense to buy something that would keep her harnessed until she was 5-6yo (we got a Frontier). (DS insisted we add a smiley)

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Thinking of harnessing until 5-6yo just due to maturity (lack of listening really and falling asleep in the car always. And by the way, I

tiggercat said:

Does he really have so little room in a radian with only a 13.5 in torso? My little guy is 3y5m, 40in, 33lb and has a ~16in torso and still has some headspace before he reaches the 1.5 in from top of shell limit.
I will keep him RF until he outgrows the Radians, and then we will go FF (in a Frontier for my vehicle, i don't like the FF SIP videos of the Radian FF) realistically, the only option that would give him significant growth room RF would be a Swedish seat.

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Click to expand...

I am not completely sure how much growing room he has in the radian, I was just guessing based on looking at him and using my finger to judge...I keep forgetting to take something out to the car to measure properly! I will definitely leave him in it RF until he outgrows it and as for FF will go with a prosport or frontier because I don't like the SIP on the radians period -it's just the only thing he currently fits in RF!

babyherder said:

I would probably import a seat to keep my own kid rf till 5 (or longer). Logically I know a 3 year old in a properly used ff seat is safe but emotionally I want the kid safER.

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We are in the same boat I am trying really hard to let that rational side win though so we don't spend unnecessarily. Of course I have dh offering to cater to my irrational side so it makes it harder

I really appreciate all the input! It is helping to put things into perspective better. Sometimes it's hard to see past our own minds!

babyherder said:

I would probably import a seat to keep my own kid rf till 5 (or longer). Logically I know a 3 year old in a properly used ff seat is safe but emotionally I want the kid safER.

Click to expand...

Yup. Our seat should get us to kindergarten. Then ff harnessed, then a booster. I'm just stuck on what to do for k and 1st grade trips when all the kiddos are using lbb on the highway. I can't drive either, I teach at the same school

We are in the same boat I am trying really hard to let that rational side win though so we don't spend unnecessarily. Of course I have dh offering to cater to my irrational side so it makes it harder

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Well its not entirely irrational. While a carseat to rf longer might not be necessary I wouldn't call it a waste.

Matthew outgrew the Radian rf by weight at 3.5 He could have lasted longer had we had a 40lb seat. I had a hard time with it at first, but then sanity won out and he ff'd. I got used to it. I'd say rf him as long as you can in the Radian, then ff. Matthew is 5 now (Dec) and doesn't do that well in a booster, but we'll try it again later.

I bought a radian to keep my 3 yo rear facing longer but if no seats had been available I would have been ok ff him. I would not import a seat (I can't legally do so in Canada) if I had a 3yo who had outgrown a radian. I would spend the money on a frontier or similar.

(Eta my 4yo still fits the radian by height and is in the 90th% but should have outgrown it by weight around 3.5... He keeps refusing to eat so loses weight. A few of his bigger friends would have outgrown it by 3 give or take.)

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About a year ago, maybe 18mos ago, I had 3 RF kids in my car...dd3, dd4, and ds. This year, I have 1 RF kid, and 4 booster riders (most of the time). DD1 is 10 y/o, and she's riding in a backless Clek Ozzi. DD2 is 8.5 y/o, and she's riding in a backless Britax Monarch (just pulled the back off of it). DD3 is almost 7 (in Feb) and rides full-time in a PWSG now, but with the occasional ride in the RNXTSL RF (she has some SNs, and it helps her rest and even sleep in the car, on her bad days), although she's almost out of it by height (she's only 41.6lbs). DD4 is 5.5 y/o, and her new full-time seat is a HB TB. There was a period of time where DD3 and DD4 were FF (and switched out RF as they had the desire/need in the XTSL). DS is 3y3m and is RF in a BLVD 70.

All of my kids have giant heads (my smallest, percentile, head is like the 87%), and are fairly small-bodied (except dd2 and ds...dd2 is more typical, and ds is just extremely broad)

As far as too old to RF, I don't have a problem with any one of my kids riding RF, if they fit the seat. I think ds will turn FF when it gets hot again, simply b/c the ventilation in our van isn't the best (an inefficient rear AC unit in our Sprinter van), and he is an incredibly hot child in general. He was sweating buckets a lot of the time last year, especially if we were doing a lot of errand-running or something. We are playing that one by ear. He will be almost 4 by the time summer rolls around, so it should be OK.