Would you be ok turning a 3.5yo FF?

finn

New member
My dd is 3.5 & desperate to be ff, I have turned her ff occasionally (when she has had to eat in the car as she is prone to choking :().

My goal has always been to rf to 4, ds made it to 3y9m before he outgrew all of his seats, dd still has tonnes of room in all of her seats despite being tall. I feel like she can rf still so she should be but it's a bit of a pain lol
 
ADS

amyd

New member
My 3.5 yo is over 45lbs and has been FFing for almost a year, so my answer is yes.
 

thtr4me

New member
Yes I would be. Both my boys turned at 3yo. I had wanted to go longer for them, but with DS1, circumstance beyond my control forced the seat to be turned, and for DS2, growth beyond the limits of the seat were the cause.

DS1 made it to the beginning of 2nd grade harnessed (we switched to booster to facilitate easier drop off at school, and because he was showing readiness). DS2 will be harnessed for a few more years, at the least.
 

finn

New member
Cool thanks, I feel bad because she still fits rf in all of the seats we have (even the Britax). I will still keep her harnessed, ds went into a booster at 5 & did really well, I can't see her being ready and reliable in a booster anytime soon lol
 

aeormsby

New member
Yes I would be. In my mind 4 is ideal, 3 is my minimum. We only had the older MA's with the 33lb RF limit, both my kids were close to that just after they turned 3.
 

bnsnyde

New member
I turned my 3.5 YO at 3. He hit the Radian weight limit RF.
Even at 2.5 in the Civic he was FF because he didn't fit any seats in there. The Radian bought us time in the main car.
He is almost the same weight/height as the 5 YO!
 
I would turn her, pat yourself on the back and move on. You've made it a full year and a half past many of the recommendations. I bought myself cookies for keeping K RF that long. No joke. Chips Ahoy. Yum.
 

thekatie

New member
I would if my kiddo had a really strong preference. J2 is 3.5 and small (30lb and 36") so he has TONS of room in the Radian and a lot in the Pria too. He doesn't care which way he faces though, so in my car he stays rear facing... but in other cars he goes forward, and I don't worry anymore.
 

finn

New member
I had to go and hunt out my safestop, which I couldn't remember how to use or when & then I couldn't find the manual lol so I had to download that. But the seat is in and it's tight and this happened on the way home (this is possibly the 2nd time this year she has napped lol) so I think it's a winner :) now I get to decide which seats I'm keeping.

She is 33lbs and 40 inches so not heavy but fairly tall.
 
Last edited:

mom2juliarose

New member
My answer is yes, because I turned DS at 3.5. He was 41" tall and 40 pounds and maxed out the RFing weight limits of our seats.
 

gigi

New member
I turned mine this summer at about 38 months because my whole family was just O.V.E.R RFing. She was about 40" and 33 lbs but had a good inch maybe 2" of growing room in her Boulevard.
 

cookie123

New member
She is SO cute! 3.5 is less than I would want but we did turn Matthew then as he was on the cusp of the weight limit. It turned out he could have rear faced quite a bit longer. I remember him seeming so little at the time.
 

finn

New member
She is SO cute! 3.5 is less than I would want but we did turn Matthew then as he was on the cusp of the weight limit. It turned out he could have rear faced quite a bit longer. I remember him seeming so little at the time.

Thank you :)

She loves facing forwards :) she has to rf today in her dads car (his seat belts aren't long enough to use ff on the seat in his car) if she doesn't complain then I might turn her back rf in my car. She is in an original Frontier and it looks so comfy :)
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
I had to go and hunt out my safestop, which I couldn't remember how to use or when & then I couldn't find the manual lol so I had to download that. But the seat is in and it's tight and this happened on the way home (this is possibly the 2nd time this year she has napped lol) so I think it's a winner :) now I get to decide which seats I'm keeping. She is 33lbs and 40 inches so not heavy but fairly tall.

Crap! I don't think the safestop is on my ffing radian. I guess I should go find it!

I think 3.5 is fine. My dd would fit in 2 of our seats rearfacing still but over the summer we've had a lot of other kids in the car and the other 3 and 4 year olds are ffing, so if they weren't in the car, she was begging to use the ffing seats. And the kids I take to preschool are all about the same size, so having 3 ffing seats they can all use has been fantastic. 8 was trying to get to 4, but I think it ended up being 3 years 7ish months.
 

YinzerMama

New member
I am in the same boat. My kid just turned 3 1/2 and is only 32-33 pounds and has always been happy as a clam rf in his nextfit and my comeback to "why don't you turn him?" has always been "he's safer this way and he doesn't mind so why do you?"

I don't know why but he just started minding about a week ago.

He made it longer than any of my other kids - they turned at 14m, 2 1/2 and 2 1/2 - but one of the 2 1/2yo actually was about at the limits of the seat (35 pound classic MA) so I didn't feel bad turning her and her twin (couldn't turn one and not the other). This last kid is tiny and I really hadn't planned to turn him till 4 and I really didn't think he'd ever complain. I hoped maybe if I turned him ff his legs would dangle and he wouldn't be as comfy and he'd WANT to flip back to rf but nope. He's tasted the fruit and he's not having it. There is this joke in Pittsburgh about THE TUNNEL MONSTER (traffic mysteriously slows down for no reason as people enter any of our tunnels) and I was coming through a tunnel yesterday and suddenly thought what if I get rear-ended and slammed into the car in front of me and he breaks his neck??? I never had that worry with the other kids. I am torn between doing the "I'm the parent thing" vs. thinking 3 1/2 was a pretty good run - and also knowing if he keeps growing the way he has been he will probably be almost 6 before he hits 40 lbs anyway so even if we DID make it to 4 it wouldn't be the limits of the seat. (He seems to be taking after my smaller twin and she didn't hit 40 till the end of K)

My oldest was in a booster at his age, is the really crazy part. My kids have gotten progressively smaller as car seats have gotten progressively larger lol. My oldest was too big for the cute little old Roundabout by 3 1/2 so was in a booster in my husband's car and a marathon in mine. And he was too big for the marathon not too long after that! Crazy.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
l wouldn't have a problem with it as a general rule, but I do have a thought if you are the person I'm thinking about who's daughter has serious food/eating issues.

Some conditions that cause eating difficulty (some types of Mito for example) also affect skeletal development. Not being able to eat properly and being in chronic pain can also slow growth in and of itself. If she does happen to have growth issues, continuing to rf might be better from a safety standpoint.

Now, taking my tech hat off, if I had a 3.5yo child who was in constant pain and I could make her a little less miserable by ffing, I would totally do it.
 

finn

New member
l wouldn't have a problem with it as a general rule, but I do have a thought if you are the person I'm thinking about who's daughter has serious food/eating issues. Some conditions that cause eating difficulty (some types of Mito for example) also affect skeletal development. Not being able to eat properly and being in chronic pain can also slow growth in and of itself. If she does happen to have growth issues, continuing to rf might be better from a safety standpoint. Now, taking my tech hat off, if I had a 3.5yo child who was in constant pain and I could make her a little less miserable by ffing, I would totally do it.

Yip that's me/her (I think? Lol)

she has gastric oesophageal reflux disease which I now think of as a chronic pain disease as it affects everyday of her life and mine.

She also has iron deficient anaemia which we are currently treating and her paed has her on a whole lot of supplements as the ppi's she is on inhibit the absorption of calcium and all the good things (which does make me worry a little about bone development).

Despite all of this she is trooper :) who is in the 90th% for her height (that jump happened when we took her off gluten) :)

She loves facing forward and gets all excited about getting in the car :) I love it as she can no longer kick her brother in the head!!
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,656
Messages
2,196,896
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top