S/O how soon do you switch depending on weight?

Phineasmama

New member
Say you have a kid who is outgrowing their seat by weight, not height.

So if the child is rear facing and the seat goes to 40 lbs, when do you turn them? 39 lbs? Wait till 40 exactly?

What about FFing harnessed seats? If it's 65 lbs do you wait until exactly 65?
 
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Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
Knowing that CRs are designed and engineered with considerable safety margins and considering the fact that there is no such thing as a 40 lb. or 65 lb. dummy, I'm not overly concerned about a couple of lbs either way. I don't weigh my kids every week (or even every month) and I'm not going to worry about the extra weight of winter boots or a huge breakfast. But if they are close to the wt limit and you know it - then it's time to decide what your next move is going to be. I wouldn't purposely leave my kid in a seat if I knew they were over the wt limit but I'm not going to lose sleep worrying about all the kids out there who are a few lbs too heavy for their harnessed seat either.
 

Phineasmama

New member
That's kind of what I always thought, once you know they're close just weigh on a fairly regular basis...but I've seen people say to turn them at 38 lbs or whatever in case they eat a big meal or something.
 

gsdguenter

Well-known member
No way am I measuring my kids in a daily basis or monitoring food intake to switch. Oh, haha, get it : no way. Weigh. Oh Lordy I crack myself up :p
 

thepote

New member
When I notice they within short range of the seat's max that's usually when I start obsessing about another seat... so the deciding factor IME has been how long I can hold out on putting them in a shiny new seat one I've decided and bought it :p
 

Phineasmama

New member
Well I don't mean weigh them every DAY :p I don't want my kids to start getting insecure about themselves or something lol! DD2 has gained 3-4 lbs in the past few months though :eek:
 

katymyers

Active member
My oldest was about 37 lbs completely naked when I switched him forward facing. He got admitted to the hospital right after Christmas for his asthma and that was what he weighed, he was exactly 3.5 years old. I figured with clothes and shoes, not to mention he was sick and hasn't been eating great, he was pretty much 40 lbs and I felt good about him turning at that point.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I've been weighing my daughter a lot lately. Highest she's hit (dressed very lightly in summer clothes) was 39 lbs 3 oz. She's getting close with that CA65 she has as a spare. But I don't weigh her every time she gets in the car even though I know after a meal or heavier clothes she might tip over 40 by a few ounces. When I see that she actually weighs in at or above 40, that seat will turn. But she can be under 38 one day and over 39 the next and she's not 3 yet so I'm not turning her spare seat yet unless I really have to.

Well, sometimes it's installed ff for convenience reasons because she rarely uses it and I'm the only one who can drive that car with the CA installed rf. But until she weighs 40 she won't ride that way unless it's an emergency and we don't have time (or I'm not available) to turn it.
 

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