Turning a petite child FF

A

annie

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #1

I know the recommendation is to leave kids RF until they outgrow their seats. My daughter will turn 4 this summer. She weighs 28lbs and is about the height of your average 2 year old. My Boulevard is expiring soon & I am having a new baby so I am trying to make a plan for the coming years. I had planned to move her up into a Britax Frontier next summer (when the new baby switches from infant seat to convertible) but looking at a growth chart, it looks like she may not hit 45 lbs until she is 7 or 8 years old! haha. Hopefully she will outgrow the seat by height by then, but does anyone have kids in this situation? Should I just be planning to keep her RF for a really long time? Come October I will have 3 kids RF...

Thanks for any advice!

 

A

AZmamaof2

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #2

I'm in a similar position.

My DD is 36.5" and 29# and 12" seated shoulder. She RF in a Blvd 65, which expires when she turns four next February. I'm expecting a third child in under four months. I feel I should keep her RFing until four, since she will easily fit until then, but it will be more challenging to buckle and unbuckle her in the middle position with a third seat in the row. Mainly I'm trying to decide if I will buy her a new seat when the Blvd expires or use the pioneer I already have.

Are you going to do three across for your little ones? What's the other seat you are using?

 

A

annie

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #3

I don't have the three across issue because I drive a Sienna. I find it actually very difficult with car seats but it gets the job done. When the new baby comes, I will have a newborn, 2 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old. So I am either going to make sure the 4 year old is in a seat that my 6 year old can buckle & unbuckle and give him that job, or I am going to take out one of the side seats (so I can climb in better) and do 3 across in the back. If I do that I will most of the time buckle kids through the trunk. It looks ridiculous but seems to be the easiest way to get to all those kids RF in the back of a minivan.

My other seat right now is a Radian 65. My oldest is in a HBB and we have a few of those so I have some fitting options.

 

Baylor

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #4

Does she have any developmental issues? if not, I would get the Frontier and ff her now.
The minimum harness weight for a fr90 is 25lbs. And as long as she is growing normally even if she is smaller her bones are still maturing as she ages.

Almost 4 is awesome for Rearfacing. Just because a child is smaller does not mean they should be stuck rfing until they are 7 unless there is an underlying issue.

 

Lemonade

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #5

I would get a Frontier and FF her. The Frontier last 9 years so you can always pass it down later. 2 in the back row, 2 in the middle.

 

krasota

Well-known member

• May 22, 2014

• #6

My firstborn didn't outgrow his seat (RF) until a few months after his fourth birthday. I let him choose whether to RF or FF when he turned four and frequently flipped the seat for the next few months. As a parent, I'm comfortable with including a child with typical growth/development in the conversation after that point.

My daughter isn't even 20lbs yet, so of course she's still RF at 2y2m. She was three months early, though, and has a history of osteopenia, so I will probably ask for a bone age scan before I turn her FF. If the results are typical for her age, I'll give her a choice when she turns four, unless I still need her seat RF in the middle for a three-across. If her bone age is younger than her actual age, she'll stay RF until we're more confident that her c-spine is where it should be.

 

jgomez411

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #7

My DD was the same size as yours and shortly after 3, she started asking to ride forward so I turned her. My goal was 3 though so I was fine with that.

 

A

annie

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #8

Oh that is great news. I wasn't expecting that. Yes she is healthy/developmentally normal, just at the very bottom of the growth charts. That saves me the cost of a convertible car seat this year! My 6 year old was harnessed in the Frontier until a few months ago so I have it ready to go.

 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

• May 22, 2014

• #9

I have had this similar situation three times now. All three of my kids are petite, although my two older kids are long-torsoed and did eventually outgrow seats by height. My youngest will be five in July and is 30 pounds and 36", so he could obviously RF for many more years. However, he has been FF for awhile now.

 

A

akl597

New member

• May 22, 2014

• #10

I had the same issue last year. My daughter is 4 1/2 now and almost 28 pounds. We made it to 4 years old and then I turned her FFing. She still isn't at the 30 pound recommendation, but I felt good about making it that long.

 

A

AZmamaof2

New member

• May 23, 2014

• #11

annie said:

I don't have the three across issue because I drive a Sienna. I find it actually very difficult with car seats but it gets the job done. When the new baby comes, I will have a newborn, 2 year old, 4 year old and 6 year old. So I am either going to make sure the 4 year old is in a seat that my 6 year old can buckle & unbuckle and give him that job, or I am going to take out one of the side seats (so I can climb in better) and do 3 across in the back. If I do that I will most of the time buckle kids through the trunk. It looks ridiculous but seems to be the easiest way to get to all those kids RF in the back of a minivan.

My other seat right now is a Radian 65. My oldest is in a HBB and we have a few of those so I have some fitting options.

Click to expand...

I drive a sienna, too. It's an 8 passenger though. I think giving your 6 yr old that job is a good idea.

 

A

AZmamaof2

New member

• May 23, 2014

• #12

Does she meet the required shoulder height for the frontier? (Since you mentioned she's the size of a 2 yo.)