Question Forward Facing at 20 months ok?

Unregistered · Jun 5, 2008

Hi everyone!

My daughter is 20 months old, weighs approximatly 27 pounds and I am unsure of her height right now but she has always been around the 85th percentile. I live in south Florida and it is starting to get hot hot hot! I have noticed that no matter how much I blast the air in the car (my windows are tinted too) she is soaking wet by the time we get home, even on quick trips to the grocery store. (I drive a 2002 Nissan Altima btw) She was installed RF in a Britax Marathon in the center position with a seat belt installation as they do not allow latch borrowing.

I just moved her forward facing (center position with seat belt installation) so that the air conditioner can cool her off and she is MUCH happier in the car. However, I am dealing with severe mommy guilt as I know that she is safer rear facing...but she is also miserable. Once the weather cools...if she is still under the weight limit I plan to turn her rear facing again.

I was just wondering what you would do in my situation? Should I let her suffer in the heat for a safer ride or keep her forward facing? On long trips we always take my husbands Dodge Ram and she is rear facing in that. I never drive far with her in my car (just errands, play dates etc.) not that it matters as accidents happen anywhere.

Thank you for any advice you can give me!

Kristina

Carefulove · Jun 5, 2008

Personally, I would leave her Rear Facing. Her safety is worth more than a hot short trip!:twocents:

TechnoGranola · Jun 5, 2008

Carefulove said:
Personally, I would leave her Rear Facing. Her safety is worth more than a hot short trip!:twocents:

Isn't overheating a real danger for kids as well though? I thought I've read that kids internal thermostats don't work the same as adults and can experience heatstroke, death at a higher rate than adults.

Not trying to be argumentative, just hoping someone has some info on whether or not overheating has the potential to be very serious. Maybe on short trips it's not a concern? Dripping wet from the heat though would worry me.

Carefulove · Jun 5, 2008

You are correct. But she is talking about blasting the AC, in a 2002 Nissan Altima (which is not a HUGE/LONG car).
I would worry if she had no AC at all.

Stretchy Glue · Jun 5, 2008

One possibility might be to invest in a less fleecey type of cover. Some of the MA covers are so fluffy and warm that they are not really appropriate for summer. Also, what about a water bottle for car rides?

TechnoGranola · Jun 5, 2008

I wonder if her DD would get better air flow if she was outboard rather than centre? Right now, her seat would be blocking the air coming through the vents in between the seats and she is further away from the vents on the outer sides of the seats. Perhaps if she was outboard, she'd get the air from the centre and outer vent on one side, surrounding her?

Stretchy Glue · Jun 5, 2008

technogranola said:
I wonder if her DD would get better air flow if she was outboard rather than centre? Right now, her seat would be blocking the air coming through the vents in between the seats and she is further away from the vents on the outer sides of the seats. Perhaps if she was outboard, she'd get the air from the centre and outer vent on one side, surrounding her?

Good point!

lilysmomma · Jun 5, 2008

technogranola said:
I wonder if her DD would get better air flow if she was outboard rather than centre? Right now, her seat would be blocking the air coming through the vents in between the seats and she is further away from the vents on the outer sides of the seats. Perhaps if she was outboard, she'd get the air from the centre and outer vent on one side, surrounding her?

That is one of the reasons my dd is outboard in my car. I would exhaust all other options such as moving her outboard, giving her a cold water bottle, and possibly trying a cooler cotton cover before I would turn her ff:twocents:

Unregistered1 · Jun 5, 2008

Have you tried aiming the air vents up as far as they go? That sometimes gets the air circulating higher in the car so it doesn't run into barriers like car seats getting into the back seat.

My car does not have air conditioning at all, and although both girls are FF it still gets very hot. We cope by opening the windows and keeping ice water in the car (yay for car seat cup holders!) all the time.

tjham · Jun 5, 2008

If your car seat cover is plush, maybe drape a cotton towel over the back of the seat just enough to hang down so it covers the seat behind her head? Then maybe her head wouldn't sweat so much?

sunnymw · Jun 5, 2008

Right there with ya... we live in south GA, it's been over 100 heat index the past few days. And oh, we have NO a/c in our car

I have DS1 rearfacing behind the drivers' side, and DS2's seat (still in utero) in the center, and obviously it wouldn't matter about the a/c blowing

and I will be in the back passenger side, since that window is broken and does NOT roll down (ick, I'm gonna be so hot this summer...).

Last year we took cool-packs on longer rides, water bottles, and wet towels. DS1 got heat rash a lot so we didn't drive a lot, but I'd wet a washrag before we left and when it would get hot I'd hang it out the window a sec and let the wind cool it, lol.

(we are totally using our stimulus check to fix our A/C this year!!!)

Good luck!!

abacus2 · Jun 5, 2008

technogranola said:
I wonder if her DD would get better air flow if she was outboard rather than centre? Right now, her seat would be blocking the air coming through the vents in between the seats and she is further away from the vents on the outer sides of the seats. Perhaps if she was outboard, she'd get the air from the centre and outer vent on one side, surrounding her?

This is what I was thinking as well.

BW1426 · Jun 5, 2008

I vote for trying her RF outboard before doing the switch to FF.

Mommy2Marcus · Jun 5, 2008

My DS is also 20 months & RF in a Marathon passenger side outboard. He is SO hot natured that it really didn't help even when we turned him FF at 13 months. It was still HOT end of October where I was. He still sweat alot! SO he is now RF outboard & that seems to help. I always just make sure he has something really good & cold to dink with LOTS of ice in it. I also make sure that the air vents are pointed all the way up on the passenger side. Thats seems to give him some air flow! Good Luck!

I would deffianatly try other options before FF her just yet!

Unregistered · Jun 5, 2008

Thank you so much for all of your replies.

I have not tried her on one of the outboard seats...for some reason I always had a fear of that being unsafe if in a side impact crash. (However, we do plan on having another so I am going to have to deal with that one at some point!) If anyone knows, is their a huge difference in the safety of outboard vs center position?

I never had this problem when she was an infant and in her graco car seat. I think that the fabric on my Marathon makes the difference (the fabric is a light beige but it is microfiber (i think) it's the flowered Hawaiian looking one ) and kind of sticks to her a little) . My mother also has a Marathon (although a different pattern RF center position) and she has also told me that Sarah's hair is soaked in sweat by the time she gets home from the grocery store. I just feel so bad for her...she looks miserable! She has always run hot...she always needs to sleep in short sleeves or she is burning up.

I ALWAYS give her a sippy cup of water in the car...but like most one year olds..as soon as she thinks she's done it is thrown somewhere in the car!

I am going to take your suggestions and try to aim the vents up and see if that helps and maybe lay a hand towel under her head. If that doesn't work I will try the outboard. Which side is considered safer for outboard if you know? Or does it matter?

Thank you again for all of your help!!

Stretchy Glue · Jun 6, 2008

RF in the center is th e ultimate safe possition, but only if it works. I'd rather see a rf outboard seat than a ff center seat if the child can still ride rf. RF is statistically safer (4 times) than ff, and the difference between center and outboard isn't as significant.

Carefulove · Jun 6, 2008

technogranola said:
I wonder if her DD would get better air flow if she was outboard rather than centre? Right now, her seat would be blocking the air coming through the vents in between the seats and she is further away from the vents on the outer sides of the seats. Perhaps if she was outboard, she'd get the air from the centre and outer vent on one side, surrounding her?

That's a great point. As well as aiming the vents up.

Good luck!

Question Forward Facing at 20 months ok?

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