2.5 Years Old - RF or FF?

Blondie87

New member
Now I have been educating myself in carseat safety. I know that rear facing to the limits of the carseat is the safest.

I have 2 foster boys-
15 months- 26 lbs 31 inches
29 months- 29 lbs 35 inches.

I have 3 car seats, 2 Boulevards that RF to 35 lbs, and a GN. I have both boys rear facing in my 3rd row, some of you remember a post I made earlier about it. I would like to put them in the 2nd row, and I can if I have one Boulevard in the middle and one behind the passenger, but it is not the easiest putting a child in the middle because of certain circumstances. I will of course leave the 15 month old RF... but would it be really unsafe for me to put the 29 month old in the GN? I know he is safer RF and he can still RF for alot longer.. but since he is almost 2.5 would he be okay?

I don't want to be selfish in doing what is easier for me if it's not safe for him. I also would love to be able to use the GN since I just bought it. But I
will of course leave him RF if it is needed.

I will also only have him for a couple more weeks then he'll be going to grandmas. He rides FF in a Cosco Scenera w/Grandma.

I would love some advice! :)
 
ADS

NannyMom

Well-known member
I know alot of people on here say once they're 2, it's ok to FF. You made it to 2 years (or 2.5) RF, wonderful! That's much longer than many people. But IMO, if you can RF longer, do it. My DD is 2 years, and I couldn't imagine turing her FF (good thing she's small). Even at 2, the neck is not mature enough to handle the crash forces FF.
 

SPJ&E

New member
At that age, I'd keep him RF as long as I had him. I have a 2-door car and kept my older son rear-facing until he was over 3 yrs. old (he never rode FF at all until then) and his little brother is still RF at 2.5 yrs. old (has never ridden FF and won't until he goes FF full time sometime after he turns 3).

I had to climb around a RF seat w/ tether and into the middle of the backseat to get them in. I still have to climb back there to get Joshua (RF) buckled in, but it's much eaiser now that Pacey is FF (no seat to climb around). We do what we have to in order to keep them as safe as possible.

Now with that being said, I certainly wouldn't think horrible things of you if you do decide to turn him.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
I'd continue to RF him as well. Yes, he's safe FFing, but he's safer RFing. I'd use the Nautilus as a back up seat. Is there a reason why you cannot one RFing behind the driver and another RFing behind the passenger?
 

Blondie87

New member
It works fine when I am driving, but DH is 6'5 and the seat doesn't really fit behind him. I will check it again though. How do I know it's not more upright than 30 degrees?

And wow Sam- that would suck. lol.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
It works fine when I am driving, but DH is 6'5 and the seat doesn't really fit behind him. I will check it again though. How do I know it's not more upright than 30 degrees?

And wow Sam- that would suck. lol.

30 degrees is extremely upright, you'll be able to tell--to have it more upright than 30 degrees would look quite unnatural. Another way to give yourself a little more room while still allowing DH enough room is to just make sure the driver's seat is upright. We see a lot of people come in with their seats overreclined. Not only does it open up more room for a RFing carseat, it also is much safer for you.
 

SPJ&E

New member
LOL, it does suck! What I wouldn't give to have a 4-door car for myself (we usually go in Alisha's car).

Could you climb into the backseat (driver side) to put 1 in the middle seat and go around to the other side to put the other one in?

You can kind of see in my signature, how upright Joshua's seat is. I think it's about 30 (maybe 35) degrees.
 

Blondie87

New member
So I went to fix the seats. I tried to install it as upright as I could. I thought the boulevard had 2 different recline positions? Anyways.. there is 1 problem. I made DH's seat positon a lil more upright. But when the seat moves into DH's position, it moves the carseat maybe an inch. I know that's not okay right? When the seat is in my position the carseat doesn't even touch the seat.

I took a couple pics too see if it was too upright, or if it could be a lil more upright.


IMG_0778.jpg


IMG_0780.jpg
 

SPJ&E

New member
The angle looks great to me. I don't think you can get it much more upright safely, but it's hard to tell by the angle of the pictures.

The front seat shouldn't move the carseat though...that's not okay. Is it possible to make the front seat upright 1 more click (hard to tell, but it looks like it's still pretty reclined) to prevent that 1 inch of movement? It's okay for the carseat to touch the front seat and in some cases it can be braced, but the front seat should never move the carseat out of position at all.
 

Blondie87

New member
That's what I thought. The Boulevard seems to only have 2 positions, upright and reclined. I thought it had 2 recline positions but it doesn't seem to. Does it? So I have it all the way reclined cuz it wouldn't lock in a more upright position without being all the way upright.

ETA- I just realized you were talking about the actual front seat being more upright. I will have DH sit it in and see what we can do.
 

Blondie87

New member
So we went down there and it's pretty much all the way upright. It will go a TINY bit more, but it makes no difference. And he doesn't like it more upright at all anyways cuz his head gets close to the ceiling. Ahhh. Should I just put them RF in the 3rd row again? I hate having one child in the middle and then one outboard...
 

BW1426

Well-known member
That's what I thought. The Boulevard seems to only have 2 positions, upright and reclined. I thought it had 2 recline positions but it doesn't seem to. Does it? So I have it all the way reclined cuz it wouldn't lock in a more upright position without being all the way upright.

ETA- I just realized you were talking about the actual front seat being more upright. I will have DH sit it in and see what we can do.

You cannot adjust the recline of the Boulevard with the recline mechanism. You need to pull the base away from the bite of the seat and press down on the front (where there legs are) and then tighten.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Why don't you want 1 in the center, and 1 outboard? Then you can sit in the car to buckle them if it's raining or snowing :)
 

canadiangie

New member
I agree.

Try scooting the bottom the BV towards the front of the vehicle. You'll see the BV tip more upright almost instantly. Then push down on the BV where baby's feet would be and tighten the LATCH straps. You'll have a 30 degree angle, maybe 35, but it will be very upright.


Here is 30 degrees with a Marathon (same base/shell as BV)

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q285/lazydaisy_2005/IMG_2397.jpg

Another shot

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q285/lazydaisy_2005/IMG_2396.jpg

You can see how upright she is. This is in a car that does NOT allow for Bracing whatsoever so it has to be this upright. It's about the only [larger]convertible seat that will work. You should be fine with your BV in an MDX.
 

Blondie87

New member
K what kind of angle does it look like? Is it too upright? It doesn't look as upright as the MA pics. I tried to get the bottom of the car in it so you could have something parallel to compare it to.. and left them big..

IMG_0784.jpg


IMG_0790.jpg
 

munchkin

Active member
Just jumpin in here because I noticed in your pics. Do you have the BLVD top tether connected? Is it connected to the seat in is on? I thought that was no longer allowed per Britax. Maybe a tech will chime in and let you know for sure.
 

Blondie87

New member
I know it's not allowed. But another tech on cafemom said if she can absolutely not find any spot to tether it, she will tether it to the seat that the carseat is on. So I just did that. I have had a tech in my car that searched for almost 2 hours to try to tether it to something and couldn't.
 

SPJ&E

New member
The angle looks okay to me, but I'm not sure I'd go with the RF tether (I was going to mention that earlier and got side-tracked).

Britax says you cannot RF tether to the seat the carseat is installed on. They used to allow it, but now they do not. The top tether (when RF) is supposed to be at an angle (down and toward the front of the vehicle). I don't know what I'd do in that situation, to be honest...as I am all for RF tethering.

You can't pop the plastic off of a front seat leg (sometimes it'll just pop off and on) or maybe there is a front seatbelt stalk exposed or a solid, immobile bar under the front seat?
 

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