Higher weight infant seats and ERF

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
Just wondering if I'm the only weirdo who's wondering this:

With the coming of these new higher weight infant seats (like the Key Fit) that kids might be in until after 1 year and, of course, over 20lbs...has anyone come across parents not wanting to buy an expensive convertible and wanting to go from infant carrier to ff-only seat? Thus eliminating the ERF we're all working so hard to have everyone do.
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I think, unfortunately, that too many people are going infant to FFing only anyway. I hope the wording is changed soon, or at least that the AAP's recommendation is more obvious to the public. I think that the infant seats going to 30 pounds would get people asking, "but why?" and doing some research.

Wendy
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Yeah, I thought that, too... but then yeah, if they are going to go to an FF Combo seat anyway, they might as well get a few extra months in a larger infant seat, right? (I've just seen too many teeny babies plopped into Cosco HBB's as soon as they outgrow the infant seat :( )...it won't be ERF as *we* understand it, but if it keeps kid RF an average age (safely! anyone can cram any big ol toddler into an infant seat...:p) of 12-15 months, that's better than the 8-12 months we are getting now (often with kids too big for the seat, but crammed in there anyway since the doctor says to use it till a year... I've heard THAT few times, too!)

Wendy, I like that thinking... maybe people will get the hint that RF longer than 20 pounds is acceptable if infant seats all go higher... :)

(sorry, just rambling... I'd love to see the stats on real life RF after the bigger infant seats are out a couple years...)
 

thepeach80

Senior Community Member
I know lots of people who try to go straight from a 22# seat to a ffing only seat, at least the 30# seats would give them more time rfing. I did see a couple a few checks ago whose dd couldn't have been much older than Ilana (she was almost 1 then) and they were putting her in a ffing convertible and retiring her Safeseat that she obviously still fit in. I was feeling bad as I don't remember the tech, but I know not all the techs I work w/ are as pushy about erf etc. :( Evan fit in the Safeseat till 24 mos, so he wouldn't have been too bad off if he went ffing then. lol Ilana will fit into the Spring, so 18 mos maybe.
 

CTPDMom

Ambassador - CPS Technician
"I think that the infant seats going to 30 pounds would get people asking, "but why?" and doing some research."

That's a good point, I hadn't thought of it that way. I wish they'd change the wording also. I talked to several moms this week who were making appts to have their convertibles installed. (I think all 3 were Marathons!) And when someone makes that appt I always tell them about the AAPs recommendation AND that it's very possible their ped isn't aware of it, and I offer to give them a copy or e-mail them the link directly to the AAPs site with the info. Wouldn't it be sooooo much better if the AAP pushed this info with the peds and they in turn added it to the info they give parents at babies 6 mo or 9 mo appointments?
 

mimieliza

New member
I have a friend who very much wanted her DS to go straight from a 22 lb. seat to a FF only seat. He was only nine months old when he got too tall for the infant seat. She ended up getting a FPSVD, and kept him FF until one year and 20 lbs.

Sort of good (that he was RFing at least until 12 months) and sort of bad (that she turned him so soon after). If he had had a 30 lb. seat, I would imagine he would still be RFing.
 

jdchic3

New member
I would like to think that people might wonder "but why?" like you guys are saying, but I'm wondering if they're more likely to just think it's for 'fat' babies. Honestly, that's what I thought about RF limits, on any seat infant, or convertible.
 

minismom

Well-known member
I would like to think that people might wonder "but why?" like you guys are saying, but I'm wondering if they're more likely to just think it's for 'fat' babies. Honestly, that's what I thought about RF limits, on any seat infant, or convertible.

I agree. Or they'll just assume it's so that parents have the flexibility of using the carrier. I think most people think of the portability as the main feature of the infant carrier, not the fact that it's RF. But I also agree many parents want to go FF straight from the carrier, whether it goes to 30 or 22lbs...
 

thepeach80

Senior Community Member
I would like to think that people might wonder "but why?" like you guys are saying, but I'm wondering if they're more likely to just think it's for 'fat' babies. Honestly, that's what I thought about RF limits, on any seat infant, or convertible.

That's what I thought the 35# limit on my convertible seat was for. Sad huh? AJ was almost 25# at 1, so chubby, but I thought that limit was for really fat babies so they could stay rfing till 1. I've come a long way!
 

PixieEMT

New member
Just a thought and a thought only:

Maybe b/c the CS manufactures realize too many parents keep using the infant seat with kids that are 20lbs +. Just for added safety they bumped it up. They don't want a lawsuit?

Believe it (or not) some parents think just b/c it's an infant seat they can jam any baby upto 1 year in the carriers! They don't take into consideration clothing, shoes, wet diaper etc.:doh:

Sara
 

Wineaux

New member
As a country, we are getting taller and heavier. Much of the heavier is just proportional to height, but of course we also have a huge problem with obesity. My personal feelings are that a lot of the extra weight being added to seats is to accomodate larger kids (not necessarily fat kids), and not to encourage ERF. I can tell you my DS outgrew his infant seat by height LONG before he ever would have by weight. By weight, he'd still be safely in his infant seats for quite a bit longer, and that's an "old style" 22# seat. If we want our kiddo's RF longer in infant seats we should be asking for longer seats to accomodate taller kids, rather than just higher weight limits.
 

minismom

Well-known member
As a country, we are getting taller and heavier. Much of the heavier is just proportional to height, but of course we also have a huge problem with obesity. My personal feelings are that a lot of the extra weight being added to seats is to accomodate larger kids (not necessarily fat kids), and not to encourage ERF. I can tell you my DS outgrew his infant seat by height LONG before he ever would have by weight. By weight, he'd still be safely in his infant seats for quite a bit longer, and that's an "old style" 22# seat. If we want our kiddo's RF longer in infant seats we should be asking for longer seats to accomodate taller kids, rather than just higher weight limits.

It's very interesting, that when they came up with the SS1 they increased the weigh and heigh limit. it goes to 32". But now Chicco has the Keyfit30, and Peg perego has a new seat that goes to 30lbs too, but they haven't increased the heght limit on those. Weird huh? IMO the Chicco and PP seat are useless and I wouldn;t pay more for them or wanna carry the extra weigh of the carrier. Unless I knew from birth that I had a short fat child...
 

medcitymama

New member
Another comment on perceptions of infant seats....a friend of mine found out that our DS (14 mo) was still in the SS1 and said she couldn't have kept her baby in a carrier that long because it's so heavy to lug around....she didn't seem to understand that I DON'T lug him around....the seat stays in the car all the time. The heaviness factor seemed reason enough for her to move her 9 mo old into a forward facing convertible....I don't understand at all. Plus, apparently her ped said the 'vibrations' to her sons legs when rearfacing and touching the seat was dangerous....that it was safer for him to FF!!! I mentioned all I've been learning on this site and from the tech that checked our seat...and I got a response along the lines of, well in parenting people do things differently and the kids turn out alright. :(
 

minismom

Well-known member
and I got a response along the lines of, well in parenting people do things differently and the kids turn out alright. :(

OUCH! I find that if after I share the info the person dismisses it like that then I have to just move on. It's out of your hands and it's their kid. :( I would try and find out the name of this doctor and send him some info, specially the AAP recommendation. I wouldn't want him telling this to other parents who are no so fortunate to have you as a friend giving them good advice!
 

Momof4Girls

New member
My oldest dd rode in a snugride for a couple months, and then in a RA. She would not have outgrown the snugride by weight until 22mos? She was 18lbs at 18mos.

My dds 2 and 3 were only ever in convertibles (dd2 in a WZ, dd3 in the RA, then, in a BLVD), and dd4 is in a Maxi-Cosi Priori right now.

My oldest is tall and skinny. My second only weighs, at most, 2lbs less than her 22mos-older than her sister, but is 6 or so inches shorter.

DD3, however, has growth issues, some form of disorder, possibly dwarfism. Just for grins, the last time we were in BRU, I pulled a SS1 off the shelf to see how she fit in it, and she fit GREAT. She had, probably, close to a year (given how slowly she grows) in it. Just for grins, I pulled a regular 22-lb SR as well, and she *still* fits in it! She's only 20-21lbs, and she's short enough that she still has about 1.5" or more above her head in it.

Oh, did I mention that she's 22mos?

Raechel
 

Splash

New member
I think many kids will RF longer in 30 pound infant seats than if they had 22 pound seats, because a LOT of kids go straight to FF. Or they go to a RF convertible, and turn exactly at 12 months. If the kid can still fit the infant seat at 12 months, why go buy a convertible or FF seat? I know Charlie fit the SS1 until about 16 months, and he's HUGE.

If Graco had made the SS2 go to fifty pounds, it would have been the perfect system for most parents. RF past the minimum, harness past the minimum, then booster. Not confusing in the least, and all very easy to use and install.
 

Wineaux

New member
I think many kids will RF longer in 30 pound infant seats than if they had 22 pound seats, because a LOT of kids go straight to FF.

If the durned seats were longer, then I would agree with you wholeheartedly. What worries me, is that parents who only read the outside of the box, and not the instructions, will see that higher weight limit and keep their kids in an infant seat that they have outgrown by height. Remember, measuring height outgrowth in an infant seat is a real PITA, and tends to confuse a LOT of people. I mean, how many people have a t-square hanging around just to measure the top of their kid's head in a car seat... ;)

PS... WOW! I just had a eureka moment! If there is a mechanical engineering/machinist type person on the board, please PM me. :D
 

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