I'm confused

[shllywlly]

If you keep you child in the RF position until they outgrow the weight/height restrictions, then how do you use it for forward facing. It seems they will outgrow the height before the weight and then it's useless. Don't know about everyone else, but arseats can get expensive. How do you avoid this problem?

 

[joolsplus3]

Just buy a bigger seat. The Marathon or Radian, for example, you can leave your kid rearfacing to a full 33 pounds, and then most kids get at least another 18 months forward facing in it (My dd could have been in it from birth, rearfacing to age 4.5, and then forward facing to age 6 in it).

But yup, if you buy smaller seats, you do just have to buy more of them.

 

[Splash]

Well, if they've outgrown it FF by the time they outgrow it RF (which would happen with my son in a few seats), then you've gotten just as much or MORE use out of it than if you turned it. My son can still RF in some Cosco seats that he is too tall to FF in.
You're using it for the same amount of time either way, so what does it matter if you never use it FF? And yes, they're expensive, but not nearly as expensive as other items for kids (food, clothes toys, etc).

 

[scatterbunny]

Rear-facing, seats are either outgrown by the rear-facing weight limit (30 pounds for Graco and Evenflo, 33 pounds for Fisher Price, Britax and Sunshine Kids, 35 pounds for Cosco, Safety 1st and Eddie Bauer) OR when the child's head is even with the top of the seat shell (head within an inch of the seat shell for the Evenflo Triumph), whichever happens first.

Forward-facing, a seat is outgrown when the tops of the ears go over the top of the seat shell (head over the shell is fine), when the shoulders go over top slots or when the harnessed weight limit is reached (40 pounds for most convertible seats; 55 pounds for the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe, 65 pounds for the Britax Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard and 65 pounds for the Sunshine Kids Radian), whichever happens first.

So as you can see, most seats can be used forward-facing after the rear-facing limits are met.

 

[Alicia-N-2SafeBugs]

I think you're assuming that the height limit is the same for rear-facing as it is for forward-facing. It isn't. My dd has outgrown her Britax Roundabout rear-facing because her head is at the top of the shell. But she has plenty of room to grow forward facing until her ears are at the top of the shell. Does that help?

 

[kelly]

Just echoing that MA's (and similar seats like FPSVD and other 65 lb Britaxes) and Radians are MUCH, much taller in both shell and slot height.

Most any seat will be outgrown by the height limits before the weight limits for "most" kids. Its just the way they are. I guess if a kid is short enough to fit in a seat you want the weight limit to be able to support that.

So, in a 65 lb limit seat, yes, the kid will likely NOT make it to 65. But, neither will a kid make it to 40 in a smaller seat.

Some are notorious for being way, way short. Kids as young as TWO can outgrow a ComfortSport or the harness part of a 3in1.

So, then you are shopping for *another* harnessed seat b/c the child is not mature enough to ride in a cheap booster. So, what are your options then? A MA or a Radian. (Or a combo seat, but they have their pluses and minuses). Lots and lots of people have learned this lesson the hard way, unfortunately.

MA's last until 5-6 years old for most kids, Radians even longer.

Per YEAR that is a great price breakdown vs. getting a year or two (past infant seat age) out of a ComfortSport or 3in1.

5-6 years old DOES get a kid to an age where a high-backed booster is a possibility. Nice boosters can be had for around $40-100.

MA's and Radians also allow for extended rear-facing (hands down The Safest way for a babies and kids to ride) for a much longer time than the shorter 40 lb seats.

 

[Splash]

Here is a thread with pictures of my 19 month old son in most of the common seats on the market. You can see how he fits differently in each. You can also see that, which he is too tall to forward face in the Cosco Scenera or Eddie Bauer 3n1, he is still short and light enough to rear face in them, due to the tall seat back (there are more pictures in the flickr folder linked to in the post)

 

[wendytthomas]

Well, if they've outgrown it FF by the time they outgrow it RF (which would happen with my son in a few seats), then you've gotten just as much or MORE use out of it than if you turned it. My son can still RF in some Cosco seats that he is too tall to FF in.
You're using it for the same amount of time either way, so what does it matter if you never use it FF? And yes, they're expensive, but not nearly as expensive as other items for kids (food, clothes toys, etc).

Not always. Piper is going to be within three months of outgrowing her WZ FFing after I NEED to turn her from RFing (right now she's FFing in both cars because Nathan installed her in my truck, we'll see what happens when I finally get to drive it again).

Wendy

 

[kelly]

My DD has been too heavy to RF in a MA for a long time. She's now 4.5 and has a decent amount of shoulder growing room left in the MA. Her torso hasn't changed much at all in that past 2.5 years. She's stayed taller than average in the growth chart, but its all been leg here lately.

She has however outgrown TWO of her other seats.

The old (pre-Britax) Fisher Price Safe Embrace was outgrown at 3, the Scenera at 3.5. She RF'd in the FP until 2, though she could have stayed RF technically. (I wasn't as educated about RF then.) She got too tall to FF near her third birthday.

The Scenera was just a front-facing stop-gap between 3 and 3.5. I don't know how long she could have RF'd in it... can't recall when she hit 35 lbs. Somewhere between 3 and 3.5.

So, yeah, in a Scenera where you CAN RF for so long b/c of the high weight limit, you might not get much or no FF time out of it. But, I guess that wouldn't bother me.

But, in a ComfortSport, you lose out on RF time and on FF time because its just got such low limits for height in both modes and a low RF weight limit to boot.

Hope that helps!

 

[lynsgirl]

Like the PP, my 5.5 yo was rear-facing (RF) in the MA until 4 yrs 2 mos and is still in the MA FF. He has some torso growth left still, but I'm not sure off the top of my head how much. I don't see him growing out of this very soon, though . He was RF in the Touriva (pre-cursor to the Scenera) until just shy of 4 yrs and then he got too tall, but he just grew out of it FF a few months ago (by weight). The Comfort Sport is a seat he was even with the top slots on when he was less than 3 years old (my friend had this seat and he rode with her a couple of times when we visited them).

Honestly, even if a child did have no time FF in a seat, due to RF for so long, that wouldn't bother me. I'd rather they are able to RF for as long as possible than to worry too much about how long they'll have FF in that same seat. To minimize how many seats you buy, however, you look for the seats that'll RF longer AND FF longer. My longer-torsoed baby moved into the MA (RF of course ) a month ago, just shy of 4mos old. I know that he has more time in this seat than a seat with a shorter shell, since he's got a long torso. That'll come into play when he's FF, too, though, so again, I have a taller seat that also has a higher-weight limit for FF. HTH and it's great to post questions like this, since many of us wouldn't think of it along those lines.

ETA that my dd (now 8) still fit in the MA by height until 7yrs 2 or 3 mos. She was around 45-46 lbs at that time. This would have been just under a year ago (she turned 8 in Oct). I don't know that ds2 (5.5yo) will get to be *that* old, since his growth patterns are different, but still, he definitely has some time left, where he would not, height-wise, in many other seats.

 

[Splash]

Not always. Piper is going to be within three months of outgrowing her WZ FFing after I NEED to turn her from RFing (right now she's FFing in both cars because Nathan installed her in my truck, we'll see what happens when I finally get to drive it again).

Wendy

Yeah, but what I mean is you're not getting LESS use out of the seat because she RF for so long. You're getting less FF use, but not less use in general. The OP sounds like she thinks you get less use in general if you RF for a long time.

If the kid outgrows it FF by 2 but RF by three (which happens), then you've bought an extra year by RF. If the kid outgrows it RF by 2.5 and FF 2 months later, you haven't lost any use of the seat, you just haven't used it FF for as long.