Question what is your forward facing minimum?

[Phineasmama]

My minimum where I feel *okay* with them FFing is 3 years old. Not that I feel great about it or want to FF them.

If my child outgrew all available RFing seats around age 2 I would consider importing a seat, if they were almost 3 I would just FF them.

 

[Phineasmama]

I was hoping for 4, but DD3 has an insane torso (and weighs 34lbs) and has pretty much outgrown everything. She's got about 1.5" until the top of the shell on her radian. We're hoping to get a Foonf asap and then I'd be happy to make it to 3.

And you have to let me play with it The Foonf I mean

 

[lanwenyi]

Complicated

2.5 (or older) and outgrown all US seats by height and/or weight
3 and 30lbs very occasional use in other people's cars or traveling
3.5 and 30lbs occasional use in our own cars OR outgrown current seat (won't buy a new one to keep rfing at this age)
4 and 30lbs - Full-time use in our own cars if child desires it

My 4.5 yo is currently RFing at her own request.

However, for the next few wks she's going to be in a hbb b/c her arm is broken and it hurts her too much to put it through the belts on her Radian.

 

[VoodooChile]

3.5 or 4 in my vehicle, 2.5-3 in others', depending on the seats. This is by 2012 standards, of course!
If my ds makes it to 4 rf, I'll give him a choice but I can't imagine him choosing rf. I'm so jealous of everyone with kids who love rf!

 

[carseatcoach]

I don't have or regularly transport young children, but I'd have to go with "varies by situation"; however, I can say that circumstances would have to be extraordinary for me to FF a child who was 2 or under, or buy a new RFing seat for a child who was 3.5 or older.

 

[StillThankful]

My kids have short torsos; therefore, they'll never really outgrow their seats by height for rfing.

So my determining factors to FF are age and weight mostly--usually 4 and 40.

DD2 is about to outgrow all her 35# rfing seats (EFTA 50 and TFP)--she has 1# left. However, I still have a MR 65 and RNXTSL she can rf in though.

Update--Just sold my RNXTSL today, so she DD2 can still rf in the EFTA 65 and MR65.

At 5y6m, DD1 technically could still be rfing in the RNXTSL but she begged me to turn her as she approached 4, which I did (@ 3y11m).

 

[momtotwogirls]

On occasion? 2.5. Full time? as close at 4 as I can get.

 

[Ninetales]

My daughter is heavy and tall, so for us it will be based on when the seats we have are outgrown. If circumstances change and I can find a way to afford a 45 limit seat I would do that, otherwise I hope she makes it to 2.5.

 

[Carrie_R]

For occasional/urgent (not emergency, but quick and important) use I'd be ok at 2.5 or so. Situationally, if there's transport in an occasional vehicle where RF is a hassle, I'd say at least 3. In my vehicle? To 4 without question, unless all legal options are outgrown -- at which point I'd consider FF if there's a reason (ie it's a hassle, kiddo is requesting it, etc.) I prefer to go to as close to 6 as possible, though.

 

[monica-m]

DS is only 2 and is only close to outgrowing the CCO RFing so it's hard to say. In a perfect world I would say until our seats are outgrown (Como, Radian, eventually a Foonf) but situations do not always allow for this. My plan is to give him a choice when he's 4. I am trying to become more okay with DS FFing before my goal in case it becomes necessary. I'm not going to pretend that I live in a perfect world.

 

[lpperry]

When Oliver was born, I planned to RF until 3. He turns 3 in April, and there is no way I am ff him. My new minimum is 4.

I have daycare kids who are up to 3 1/2 and I rearface all of them.

I am glad to see this thread because I am having trouble deciding what to do in September. We need 3 across in my husbands car so that two times a week he can take and pickup Oliver and Claudia to preschool and Madeline to school. Madeline will be 8, Oliver will be 3 1/2 in October, and Claudia will be 2 in October.

I think we can manage to find 2 rf seats and a booster that will fit, but Madeline won't be able to buckle on her own, which bothers my husband. If I ff Oliver, Madeline can buckle herself. DH thinks that at 3 1/2, it is ok for Oliver to ff, but I am not so sure. He is not close to outgrowing anything by height or weight.

I am thinking about my husbands wishes which would be to ff him in just his car. The part-time ff bothers me though. If I don't think it is safe enough for full-time, then I don't think he should ride even one trip ff. What does everyone think about this?

I just can't decide--I think that Oliver's safety is more important than the inconvenience of my dh having to buckle Madeline. However, at 3 1/2, maybe I should be ok with ff...

 

[cookie123]

When the seat is outgrown. If they get to 4 and haven't outgrown it, if they don't want to I'd be okay with ff then.

 

[yetanotherjen]

It varies by situation.

I agree. My goal with James was 3 (almost 3 years ago) we had a seat with a 33lb limit and at the time there were no 40lb seats. I wasn't going to purchase another seat for 2lbs.

With Ben my goal was 4 but we made it to just under 3.5 for part time and he will be just over 3.5 when he goes full time. If I had another child to pass a seat down to, I would buy a seat to keep him rear facing until 4, but I don't and I don't like convertibles ffing.

 

[marchofemily]

For me it is age. The more developed the skeletal system the better. We have so many good seats to ERF kids longer in these days so most kids should be able to ERF until 3yrs.

 

[Kobain's Mommy]

For me situational.
We put DS's seat in my dad's truck FFing, but in the 2 months my dad has had that specif truck DS has been in it one time. The truck before I think in 20 months DS rode in it a grand total of 4 times. So he's not in my dad's truck all that often. My dad agreed to let me have a seat for both kids as long as DS was FFing. I'd rather have the seats in there ready to go in an emergency (the one emergency where my dad had to take a kid was I was in the ER with the other not a time or place I really want to be installing a seat).

When DS turns 2 we'll be getting a FR for DH's truck since I'm pushed up all the way. I'm not comfortable being that close to the dash/airbag. We don't take DH's truck all that often since we got the van. Only to haul thing that won't fit in the van.

My van and mom's car. My goal is 3 but we'll see if he outgrows seats by weight. And I can't get DH to justify a Radian for the extra 5lbs. The kids are in my van daily and my mom's car about 3x a week. And who knows if he's still fitting at 3 I may push it to 4. I know my goal was to make it to 2 after I heard about ERFing.

 

[msg221]

I said 3, but I did end up keeping Nour & Zain rear facing until 3 years, 8 months and Ethan to 3.5.

We had Katelyn & Owen this weekend, so I turned the RN back RF for Katelyn and took out the Argos and put the TFP in RF for Owen. I just didn't feel comfortable FF them even though they are already FF in their parents vehicle. I want to keep them RF for a while longer yet.

They are FF in their parents vehicle because K outgrew the MR by height and then they just flipped O FF at the same time, mostly because it was really difficult getting him in their vehicle RF anymore. They have a Tahoe, a 2010 I think, and today I saw their mom trying to get Katelyn in FF and nearly bonking K's head on the door frame between the high base of the MR and the fact that the Tahoe sits up so high. There was very, very little room to maneuver her into the MR without hitting her head. I really think their lives would be easier if they got them some combo seats with a lower profile, like the Argos, but I know they likely won't buy new seats.

As for Chase, he is such a peanut that I could easily see him being able to RF past 4!

 

[cpsaddict]

It kind of depends. When DD was a young baby, she was 50% consistently, so I figured we would get to 2.5-3 easily. Then, she jumped up to the 97% for both height and weight. Now, at 2y11m, she still fits her Britax seats rf by height(yes, even the new gen), but she is 39lbs, so too close for my comfort. By weight, the only seat she fits is the Radian RXT, which I won't buy/use. So, we went to the limits of our seats.

 

[newyorkDOC]

We're in Europe and DD rides in a TWE.
Originally I thought 4 yo. That will be January 2013. DC2 will likely need her seat around September 2013 so I figured I'd just move her to a booster at that point.
However, DH now says he prefers her to also hit 40lbs... She's only 50%ile for weight and barely weighs 30 now. So I guess if she hasn't yet hit 40 by sept 2013, we'll be buying another RF seat.

 

[HaileysMommy]

I had said 4 but I am comfortable with DD FFing now at 3y3m and 31lbs. She may go back RF for the winter but it is already so hot here I decided to flip her due to the extreme heat. She has been parttime FF since about 2.5ish in my moms car and my grandmothers car. If she was a lightweight she would still be fulltime RF. So for me its a combination of age and weight.

 

[lovemybabybug]

I had set the goal of 3 years old, but my kid is so skinny, she will stay RF until she maxes my 40lb Radian, which will not happen anytime soon ( almost 29 months, 24 lbs, 34 inches)