Swedish vs. US Height/Weight Limits

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician

• Sep 6, 2009

• #1

This has likely been discussed before, but I don't remember.

My understanding is that in Sweden, they rear-face kids until 4, then turn them forward-facing.

Do they rear-face until 4 because 4 is the "practical threshold," or is 4 when the seats tend to be outgrown by height? (I can't imagine most Swedish 4-year-olds weigh 55 lbs.)

Is it possible to rear-face even longer in those seats, and people just don't? Or are the seats just really outgrown around 4?

(Or maybe they rear-face even longer, and I just have 4 stuck in my head for some reason?)

My reason for asking is: We lament that 55-lb RF seats aren't available here, but if we have a 40- or 45-lb Radian with a tall shell (or Complete Air, etc.), won't that keep a kid rear-facing as long as most Swedish seats? Is the 55-lb limit really that realistic, or is it like the Frontier with an 80-lb weight limit that almost no kid will reach?

I just woke up so I apologize if my questions don't make any sense.

 

cowgirlsmommy

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #2

Swedish seats don't have the 1 inch rule to start off with.

 

O

outnumberedby6

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #3

i want to say that i think 4 is the bare minimum for rfing over there. when reading about the multi-tech for instance it says it will keep most kiddos rfing til at least age 5. however that seat is said to have one of the tallest shells and it grows with the child. i dont know the shell height but it is interesting that while they say it will rf most kids til age 5 the rfing weight limit is also the limit on ff for the britax two way. now i know that in sweden that these are dedicated rfing seats i just thought like u said, its interesting that it will hold 55 lbs rfing or u can turn it ff but it still only holds to 55lbs. except the multitech is ff only to 40 lbs but can be used as a booster til 55lbs.

did that make sense. i have only consumed 1 cup of coffee.
i have looked at the manual before but its been awhile, i cant remember the seat shell height on the multi-tech versus the two way. and yea u are right its been discussed. ive read it. many times lol. cant remember still.

 

W

Wineaux

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #4

And they RF to age 4-5, so it really may be a height issue. Remember, as a population the Swede's are a lot taller than we are on average.

 

InternationalMama

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #5

I know the reason they don't have any seats with HWH limits FF as high as ours in Sweden is because according to their data and views children are just as safe in a booster by the time they outgrow the RF seats as they would be in an FF harnessed seat. (The Two-Way Elite is only the only one that even goes to 55 lbs FF.)

I do think the 55 lbs limit probably far exceeds the weight at which kids stop using the seats. If he followed his current growth curves for height and weight my son will outgrow the most popular Swedish seat by height at just about the time he reaches 35 lbs. But some of the seats like the Multi-Tech do have much higher shells. According to Adventure Dad this seat isn't that popular in Sweden though.

 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants

• Sep 6, 2009

• #6

Most US convertibles RF to 35# and most US kids are turned way before that. I don't know why, practically, it would be different in Sweden. I wouldn't be surprised if some parents there flipped "early" for convenience just like parents do here.

 

W

Wineaux

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #7

chickabiddy said:

Most US convertibles RF to 35# and most US kids are turned way before that. I don't know why, practically, it would be different in Sweden. I wouldn't be surprised if some parents there flipped "early" for convenience just like parents do here.

Click to expand...

Well, the Swede's do actually take safety a whole lot more seriously than we do. They don't, as a rule, subscribe to the idiocy that is the current "personal freedom" argument here in the States. It's also a law to keep them RF as long as they do, if I remember correctly, and Swedish traffic laws are pretty damned harsh as a whole.

 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants

• Sep 6, 2009

• #8

I know that they do take safety more seriously, but I stlll wouldn't be surprised if some parents chose to turn before the child reached the max of the seat -- not 1y/20#, but maybe 4y/45# (even though the seat could go to 6y/55#).

 

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Wineaux

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #9

If their car seat laws are anything like their drunk driving laws, then it's no wonder that very few people violate them.

 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants

• Sep 6, 2009

• #10

But does the law actually require RFing to the max of the seat? (I really don't know -- I'm asking, not arguing.)

 

D

DahliaRW

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #11

There really isn't a minimum for ffing in Sweden. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=78038

 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador

• Sep 6, 2009

• #12

I seem to recall AdventureDad saying that extended RF wasn't a law but rather just what people do.

 

InternationalMama

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #13

Wineaux said:

It's also a law to keep them RF as long as they do, if I remember correctly, and Swedish traffic laws are pretty damned harsh as a whole.

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Actually, I asked Adventure Dad and he said there is no law to RF in Sweden. You could FF from birth there if you wanted to and could find a seat that would allow you to.

Oops, cross-posted with everyone else. LOL.

As far as the limits of the seat, I remember even Adventure Dad admitted not RFing his son to the limits of the seat.

 

twinsmom

New member

• Sep 6, 2009

• #14

InternationalMama said:

Actually, I asked Adventure Dad and he said there is no law to RF in Sweden. You could FF from birth there if you wanted to and could find a seat that would allow you to.

Oops, cross-posted with everyone else. LOL.

As far as the limits of the seat, I remember even Adventure Dad admitted not RFing his son to the limits of the seat.

Click to expand...

I believe Adventuredad said the carseat laws are very lax, but people in general (there are exeptions of course) don't question RF until around 4 or 5 - it's just something they do. They know it is safer, and they have the seats to accomodate. It seems to be a sort of cultural thing.

As for the weight limit of 55lbs on the MultiTech, I think it's like a lot of US seats that are outgrown by height first. I am positive my kids won't get to 55 lbs in their seats, they will outgrow by height first. BUT, they are almost 4.5 years old, and relatively tall for their age, and they do still fit. And the seats are very upright so they take up very little room in my backseat. I haven't tried them in a Radian, but I am pretty sure they would be too tall to RF in that seat, or any other US seat.

 

Jonah Baby

New member

• Sep 8, 2009

• #15

DH has a few friends who lived over in Sweden/parts of Europe.

One of them brought their Swedish Britax seats to the US with him. He has, on several occasions, harassed some authorities about using them in the US. From where he comes from, it is just KNOWN and accepted and practiced that children RF until they are essentially too big. The difference is that over there, they release a lot more data than the US and they test so much more and harsher standards. The tests and standards have also been public so much longer than ours - people pay attention. He said that what the US is like now in regards to child seat safety, Sweden was like 20 years ago.
He is so disgusted at our safety practices and culture regarding child safety that they are planning on moving back to Sweden given the chance.

I told him to leave us their seats.
He HAS offered to get his family in Sweden to buy us seats and bring them over on their next trip. It is tempting, and let me tell ya...if we happen to receive some of these foreign seats for free or cheap, we WILL use them.

(What cop in Western MA would ever even recognize a foreign seat? Especially if it is a Britax, which all look very advanced and unique anyway.)