Question rfing during rear impact crash?

rachel · Sep 8, 2009

So my dh doesn't want to spend the $250.00 it could cost to put ds in a rfing seat just for 7 more pounds. (the $250.00 being for either a True Air or a Radian XT) So I showed him the My Ride 65 which is only $150.00. I also told him I'd feel TERRIBLE if we "happened" to get in a wreck and our 3yo was injured more severely than if he had been rfing.

Then my hubbie said that rear impacts are quite common here in S. CA and specifically in our area (freeways) and asked, "what if you moved him to rfing again and then got rear ended very badly?" I guess he's right about not being able to predict the future and all.

We've had some recent (last few years) rear ending crashes here involving large vehicles (usually trucks) rear ending smaller ones. In those cases I'm not sure rfing vs ffing would make much difference anyways.

Anyone have some thoughts/data on this subject?

My hubby's opinion is simply: Our job as parents is to protect them and then not worry. In his opinion my ds is protected adequately and much better than we were as children in cars. Maybe I worry too much?

LISmama810 · Sep 8, 2009

First, every rear-end crash has a frontal crash as well. What if you're the person doing the rear-ending, you know?

Second, rear crashes tend to be less severe than frontal/side impacts. More often than not, they're bumps in slow/stop-and-go traffic. It's the t-boning at intersections that has me more worried. (Incidentally, rear-facing protect more than forward-facing in side-impact crashes, which tend to be the deadliest.)

Your husband is right that a child in a forward-facing car seat is safer than in nothing at all. But a kid in a rear-facing car seat is safer than the forward-facing seat.

Your son is 3, so it's not an unreasonable age to be forward-facing. If he were 1 or 2 I'd strongly encourage you to rear-face. At 3 it's more of a judgement call, though ANY person is safer rear-facing, regardless of age.

For what it's worth, I'm in Southern California, too, and see our traffic situation as even more reason to keep kids rear-facing.

CTPDMom · Sep 8, 2009

What kind of seat was your older child in before the GN? Do you still have that seat? If you do, and if you can afford one seat, I'd get one new seat but for your OLDER child with a 40lbs rf limit, and then when he hits that or outgrows by height put him back in the GN and pass the 40lb rf seat to the younger child. That is, if you feel that strongly about turning him back rear-facing.

Personally, at almost 4 I think he's fine ff'ing.

wendytthomas · Sep 8, 2009

Statistically SERIOUS rear crashes account for 4% of all crashes. That's not to say that any rear collision, just the serious ones. So carseats are a statistics game. You try to protect the most you can. Not all crashes are survivable. 96% of serious collisions will come from the side or front. So in those cases rear facing would be safest. If you could predict when you're going to be in a serious rear collision, then yes, you should forward face. But you can't, and it's far less likely than anything else anyway.

Wendy

bp2002 · Sep 8, 2009

I would agree that at over 3.5, and properly restrained in the nauti, your son is pretty safe.

How much room/weight does your daughter have in the ss1 or the seat your son used before the nauti? Could she use one of those until your son outgrows a 40lb rf seat? then pass it along, so you get more use out of it?

As far as price, Id watch for one of the coupons at babies r us.. ( their 20% off for giving them an used item goes til the 20th, and safety first is a included brand.. )

However, I think you are ok with your son properly in the nauti, but if you want a 40lb RF seat, might as well take advantage of babiesrus's event.

ketchupqueen · Sep 8, 2009

I buy rear-facing seats that can be rear-facing tethered in part because I have been in 2 serious rear-impact crashes.

rachel · Sep 8, 2009

I was in a minor crash in November and though the kids were not in the seats the manufacturers of both seats recommended replacing a seat involved in ANY crash so the insurance covered it and we replaced both seats (baby's with another graco safe-seat, replaced son's evenflo triumph with a nautilus). So no we got rid of the old seats.

I'm not sure that the my ride will rear tether (I doubt it). I think the AC does and I know the Radian does. Any one know if the MR tethers when rfing?

Thank you all for such good explanations. I will try (once more) to share this info with my hubby. If we got 20% off of the AC it would be about $200.00. The my ride would be about $130 at 20% off I think.

ketchupqueen · Sep 8, 2009

Neither the MyRide nor the Complete Air can tether rear-facing. Britax and Sunshine Kids are the only brands that allow it.

rachel · Sep 8, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
Neither the MyRide nor the Complete Air can tether rear-facing. Britax and Sunshine Kids are the only brands that allow it.

Well hmmm... we are getting a radian for his sister (pink) but she's still got some room to grow in her infant seat still. I've tried to order an extra seat cover (more boyish) so ds can use her seat until she grows out of her infant seat or he outgrows the rfing by weight in the seat (whichever happens first).

I thought of just using the pink cover to make myself a pattern and just make the extra cover for ds. I don't think it would affect the seat but I think it's generally not recommended to use anything but a seat cover made for the seat by the manufacturer.

ketchupqueen · Sep 8, 2009

You should absolutely not use a homemade cover, or any cover not supplied by the manufacturer. That's one of the cardinal no-nos.

The cover can be decorated with patches or embroidery, but you cannot make your own.

Extra covers are available, you can also post on Swap as many of us have extra covers already and someone might be able/willing to give one up more cheaply.

lpperry · Sep 8, 2009

My husband says things like that too. He doesn't want our son rearfacing after a year, because "do you want him looking at where he's been rather than where we are going?" That is not a reason!!

He also always says that we are going to keep our child too safe and he'll end up a orphan if we get into a terrible car crash, because we will be dead, but our son will be protected. That really bothers me because 1) I would rather my child be alive without me, 2) adults are probably more likely to survive a crash than a young child who is not adequately protected, 3) I know that a ff car seat is "legal" for a child over a year old, but I don't think it is the "safest" and I don't understand why my husband chooses not to do what is safest for our child.

My husband is not going to get a choice in the matter. He wants our son to use expired seats and wants him to ff in my stepdaughter's ff only seat when he gets to be a year old (all so we don't have to buy new seats). Obviously, this is not going to happen and my husband is either going to have no children in his car or he is going to have to let me get a seat for his car (the Scenera is not that expensive and would work for a long time since we have tiny children).

I think that your husbands reasoning is not that great. However, your child is 3 1/2, so it is getting to the point where he would be protected in a ff seat.

ketchupqueen · Sep 8, 2009

I totally missed that he was 3 1/2. If you don't have the budget, at 3 1/2 and 30+ lbs., forward facing is not the FIRST choice, but it is A viable option, assuming you have tether anchors of course. Yes, rear-facing is safer, but I'd rather see him be in a forward-facing seat safely used than a lot of the things I see, and if it's too much of a strain to buy another seat to rear-face him... Well, sometimes you have to do what is best for the whole family, not just what you want to do to make a child safEST. Heck, there are seats my 5 year old would still fit rear-facing in. I don't have the extra money to spend to buy them, so she's not (she wishes she was!) So, you know, sometimes you do the best you can, and that's all you can do. You can rear-face him in the Radian as long as the baby doesn't need it (I would totally put a 3 year old boy in a pink seat, I bet he wouldn't even object

) and maybe he'll make it to almost 4. At 4 most people agree that the benefit to rear-facing is much slighter, and would be perfectly okay with forward-facing.

It's a very different situation with a 3 or 4 year old vs. a 1 year old or even a 2 year old.

rachel · Sep 8, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
You should absolutely not use a homemade cover, or any cover not supplied by the manufacturer. That's one of the cardinal no-nos. The cover can be decorated with patches or embroidery, but you cannot make your own.

Extra covers are available, you can also post on Swap as many of us have extra covers already and someone might be able/willing to give one up more cheaply.

I figured. I called Sunshine Kids and they do not have any covers for sale for the XT. I cannot post in the trade forums (not even an ISO) because I'm a newer member. I did a search for an existing thread with the Radian XT (cover) and only Radian 65 and 80's came up. I'll search some more online for one.

rachel · Sep 8, 2009

Well I talked to dh again and he agreed to go ahead and just let him ride in the pink seat until baby outgrows hers or he reaches the weight limit on the Radian! So we'll just get hers. If more boyish covers become available then we'll order one but so far they aren't and I haven't found anyone who has them.

ketchupqueen · Sep 8, 2009

Yay! And good job to your husband for letting him ride in a pink seat.

mommy2jasmine · Sep 9, 2009

I don't think anyone posted this, but it's worth checking out. They were rear ended at approximately 65 mph with a toddler RF and no injuries. She wasn't 3 1/2, but it does show that no matter which way you're hit, and how hard, RF is pretty much the way to go, IMO.

http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html

rachel · Sep 9, 2009

mommy2jasmine said:
I don't think anyone posted this, but it's worth checking out. They were rear ended at approximately 65 mph with a toddler RF and no injuries. She wasn't 3 1/2, but it does show that no matter which way you're hit, and how hard, RF is pretty much the way to go, IMO.

http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html

Wow! Thank you! I will show this to my husband! Today I made a mental note that Arielle's (rfing) infant seat does not tether. Ds's ffing seat does top tether. I wonder if it's still "safeEST" to leave her in that seat and put him rfing in the Radian or if I should go ahead and move her into her new seat and leave him in his ff one.

ketchupqueen · Sep 9, 2009

What kind of infant seat? If it's a brand that allows the handle to be up in the car, doing so may provide some rebound control. We know that the Graco engineers stated that they preferred to transport their own children with the handle up, after seeing crash tests.

rachel · Sep 9, 2009

Showed it to my hubby and he jokingly said it didn't count since nobody was hurt so I found this:

http://www.car-accidents.com/2007-auto-crash-story/1-15-07-rear-ended-2.html

rachel · Sep 9, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
What kind of infant seat? If it's a brand that allows the handle to be up in the car, doing so may provide some rebound control. We know that the Graco engineers stated that they preferred to transport their own children with the handle up, after seeing crash tests.

It's a Graco Safe-seat

Question rfing during rear impact crash?

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