Question 2.5 year old ff in "secondary" cars?

aept

New member
Darn it. My youngest is 32.0 lbs, undressed. He is getting kinda close to the 35 lb RF limit of our Radian 65 seats that he uses in the Prius and in Grandma's Ford Focus.
(I need to bring a scale downstairs and weigh him in his clothes, boots, etc.)

He rides in our Prius about once a week and in Grandma's car once a week. I don't feel like I can justify buying any new ERF seats. It's hard to turn him, though. He has such a big head (really - he had to have ultrasound and MRI to rule out hydrocephalus, it was that far off the charts.)

He has an RXT in the van which is where he usually rides, and I intend to RF him in that quite a while longer - preferably until he outgrows it by height.

I just worry about turning him, not only for those actual occasions when he would be ff, but that it would make him dislike rf in the van. He is already always trying to climb into his older brothers' booster/car seat and he also already realizes they can see the DVD screen more closely and better than he can through his mirror.

Maybe I'm overly worried? My older two were bigger/taller/heavier and were turned ff around 2, and 2 plus a few months, respectively. (We didn't have the RXT back then.) They didn't have such big heads though! WWYD?

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YinzerMama

New member
I think I'd be inclined to keep him rf in all cars so there is consistancy between cars - less fighting that way. How tall is he? Would a sureride work? They are not too pricey.

eta - your humerus thingie cracks me up. :D
 

HappyHoo

New member
What is the mfr date of your Radian? Is it one covered by the retroactive change to a 40 lb RF limit?

With my DD, she did go FF in the secondary car at 2.5 and I was ok with it (also ended up using the secondary car a lot less the next 5 months until she ended up FF in both cars).

Also, check with clothes on, but my kids would usually gain in spurts and then sit at the same weight for months. So I'd be worried about being a few lbs from the limit, but then get another 4+ months before they gained more weight.
 

jgomez411

New member
I got DD a Pioneer in July at 2.5 for DH's car. She was close to outgrowing her Onside Air RFing and I just hated the seat. She was 25 pounds. I've never had any issues with her going back an forth. She just turned 3 and is still perfectly happy RFing in my car and perfectly happy in her Pioneer in DHs car. My RFing goal was 2 and DH wasn't going to let me buy another RFing seat so I'm fine with that. She will RF in her MR as long as she fits and then I will not worry about it anymore.
 

Keeyamah

Active member
I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but my now 4 yr old had to go FFing at 16 months when he outgrew is Scenera in Daddy's truck. I could not afford another seat and it was mostly used for 5 min drives home from daycare or around town. He outgrew it completely at 2.5 (40lbs and shoulders even with top slots), so quit riding around with Daddy. Once we start booster training in the spring, that may change.
 

creideamh

Well-known member
I would and did. DD is RF in my car and my mom's car and FF in the family backup car (my brother's when he's here, my dad's when he needs to pick up DD and can't use his convertible ;) ) and for travel. She's never seemed to notice going back and forth.
 

thekatie

New member
J2 went forward facing for the first time actually on his second birthday. We were driving to Disney with a full car and with everyone in the Journey he and an adult had to sit in the third row. I tried his Coccoro first and it didn't fit rear, and I doubt the Radian would have even if I had remembered the AA. So not only did he go forward right at 2, it was for a 13 hour highway ride. I was a nervous wreck the whole time. He is still rear facing in my car, will be to the extent of the seats on hand (and at 34" & 25lb at almost 3 years old, I'm honestly expecting his RadianRXT - our highest limit seat - to expire before he outgrows it), but rides forward in most other cars. It's 50/50 if he rides rear or forward in DH's car. He's out of my car maybe twice a month. It still makes me uneasy at times.

ETA : and he never minds going back to rear facing after being forward. Every time he gets in the car he tries to sit in J1's booster, but he doesn't mind sitting in his seat. But he's very, very rarely been a carseat "fighter" in general.
 

aept

New member
Sorry, not multi-quoting as I'm on the app...

I measured him today and he was 34.4 lbs with clothes, coat (it's fairly thin and ok for car seat), boots, and after breakfast ;)
At the Dr office (took 5 year old there today) he was just a hair under 35lbs fully winter-car-ride-dressed on their scale. (The nurse couldn't quite understand why I wanted to weigh him with boots on.)

He was 35.5" tall, so a ways to go before 40". His torso was 14" but I didn't get how much he was from bottom to head for his RF seat height. It looks like he has at least a couple of inches of growth before being to tall for a RF radian though.

I can call Diono about my Radian 65's. They are both DOM 3/2008. Actually, the stickers on them say 33lbs but the manuals say 35lbs for the RF limit. Way back when I bought the seats (Aug/Sept 2008??), I called and spoke with Russ who verified they did go to 35. Apparently they were using up the old stickers for a while? I think that was what he said. Those two pounds were critical at the time to keep My oldest RF just a little longer!

I'll try to call now, actually.

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safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Climbing in a booster or seatbelt is just play to a toddler. It's the same as putting on mom's high heels or Dad's tie, they get laughs at their silliness and have fun pretending to be big.
 

aept

New member
Well, this thread is pointless! I'll bring it back up when ds3 gets close to 40 lbs. lol. I just talked with Annisa (sp?) and she said the seats I have are included in the retroactive change to a 40 lb RF limit. Yay!

Thanks to all for your support and thoughts on this, nonetheless!
Special thanks to HappyHoo for bringing up the retroactive RF weight limit change!
 

mrosehughes

New member
DS hit the RFing height limit on his 'secondary' seat (a CA65) at just before 3. Instead of buying another radian (what he had in my car) at that point, I turned him.

It made for a fight every.single.time he got in my car. (I caved in when he was ~3.5 and turned him around in my car as well).

I'd buy another seat.
 

HappyHoo

New member
Special thanks to HappyHoo for bringing up the retroactive RF weight limit change!

You're welcome :) I have one of the Radian65s with the retroactive 40 lb limit which I was grateful to have to get my DS to 3y3m RF instead of just turned 2 in one of our cars (other car had an XTSL with 45 lb limit). So that's why I thought to ask since you don't see too many referring to the Radian 33/35 lb RF limits anymore.
 

mom2ari

New member
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I thought I remembered that the retroactive 40lb change was for seats that were DOM 9/08 or later. I googled it and several sites confirmed. I am not a tech, or affiliated with Sunshine kids/diono in any way, but I would hate for you LO to get hurt because you had the wrong information. I guess I would just double check since you said your seat had a DOM of 3/08. I really hope I am wrong! I just couldn't find anything that said retroactive before 9/08.
 

aept

New member
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I thought I remembered that the retroactive 40lb change was for seats that were DOM 9/08 or later. I googled it and several sites confirmed. I am not a tech, or affiliated with Sunshine kids/diono in any way, but I would hate for you LO to get hurt because you had the wrong information. I guess I would just double check since you said your seat had a DOM of 3/08. I really hope I am wrong! I just couldn't find anything that said retroactive before 9/08.


Hmm, I literally talked to Anissa at Diono Customer Service yesterday about this. I made sure to tell her both my seats were March 2008, and she said "Yes, they can go to 40" at least twice.
Does anyone have any ideas of where/whom else I can ask?

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aept

New member
Ok, I did find this thread and now that I see it, I remember thinking in the past "Darn, my radians aren't included."

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=90203

I guess I will call Anissa back on Monday and quote this information and have her double check? She did answer me pretty quickly, like she didn't actually go and check anything, just sounded like she was answering from memory.

So... either they extended it further back (hopefully!), or she doesn't know what she's talking about. :(

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mom2ari

New member
I hope for your sake they extended it back further! Sorry you are back to square one with your seat!

Could you take his boots off in the car? Those things are typically heavy, it might get you and extra pound or two. We typically take boots off in RFing seats anyway, since everything gets all slushy and dirty with snowy boots. It might at least get you through the winter, which if it were me, would ease my mind at least a little.
 

bnsnyde

New member
My 2.5 YO is too tall to RF except in the Radian, in our van.
But even there...I have to keep checking.

He uses a Prosport in the secondary car.

The Orbit Toddler we have is nice and tall BUT has a 35 lb. RF limit, so that's out.
 

Brianna

New member
J went FF with his mom at 2.5 when he outgrew his MyRide rear facing by height. He happily rode in my car RF several times a week until he was 3 and outgrew his EFTA by height. At 4 he even tried to climb into RF seats in my car for a younger kid.
 

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