Can we talk extended rear facing? We have the chico next fit (love it). Anyway I found the RF weight limits but not height. The RF weight limit is 40 pounds which is about 5 typically with my kids. Remind me of the height restrictions for rear facing please? Also is there an age where it is equally as safe to turn him FF? Of course we will wait until at least 2, but when to turn him after that?
Right now at 15 months he is 39 inches and 21 pounds.
Can we talk extended rear facing? We have the chico next fit (love it). Anyway I found the RF weight limits but not height. The RF weight limit is 40 pounds which is about 5 typically with my kids. Remind me of the height restrictions for rear facing please? Also is there an age where it is equally as safe to turn him FF? Of course we will wait until at least 2, but when to turn him after that?
Right now at 15 months he is 39 inches and 21 pounds.
It's tough to say based on height alone. There needs to be an inch between the kids head to top of car seat. My kids are all torso so hit that before 39in.
Post by Kcthepouchh8r on Jul 23, 2015 9:54:44 GMT -5
Err are you sure you didn't mean 29 not 39in? My kiddo is underweight 1st percentile and at that height weighed substantially more than that. That would be like feeding tube thin if not a typo. If 29in he most likely has a ways to go regardless of how long torsoed he is.
Post by penguingrrl on Jul 23, 2015 9:58:44 GMT -5
I believe the standing height limit for a nextfit RF is 50" but I doubt a kid would hit 50" and still be under 40 lbs. They also say 1" of shell above the head, but that's also unlikely to be an issue before 40 lbs.
As far as when FF becomes equally safe, there are a lot of thoughts. In theory everyone would be safest riding around RF, but that's clearly not happening. There is never a time when FF is as safe or safer than RF. But by around 4 the skeleton has begun its ossification process and can better withstand the forces of a crash in a FF seat than before ossification.
My personal goal with Drew is to keep him RF until he's ready for a belt positioning booster, as is the only option in Sweden (they don't have FF harnessed seats, they RF to between 4 and 6 and when the kid outgrows their RF seat they move to a booster), but Drew's height may have other plans as radians follow a 1.5" rule and he currently has 3" of shell above his head. I'm hoping from this point on he sprouts legs and his torso/bum to head growth slows significantly.
My reason is that I don't love the physics of a FF harness. They rigidly restrict the torso while allowing the head and neck to take the forces of a crash. Race car drivers need a hans device to restrict that movement because it has killed drivers. That said, my understanding is that FF harnessed seats do have design features to mitigate that risk, so if Drew outgrows his RF radian before booster age and maturity we will absolutely use a FF harness. Since he's in a radian I won't consider buying a different seat to RF longer, which some carseat techs will do for a kid who outgrows a convertible before 4.
Err are you sure you didn't mean 29 not 39in? My kiddo is underweight 1st percentile and at that height weighed substantially more than that. That would be like feeding tube thin if not a typo. If 29in he most likely has a ways to go regardless of how long torsoed he is.
It should say 34 sorry. He is 20% for weight at 97% for height. This is the first time he made the weight chart so a massive jump there.
Err are you sure you didn't mean 29 not 39in? My kiddo is underweight 1st percentile and at that height weighed substantially more than that. That would be like feeding tube thin if not a typo. If 29in he most likely has a ways to go regardless of how long torsoed he is.
It should say 34 sorry. He is 20% for weight at 97% for height. This is the first time he made the weight chart so a massive jump there.
Ah, that makes sense. Sounds like how my son is. Dd runs tiny too but is only like 70% percentile for height. We were able to keep her rf significantly longer than ds. We made it past two with ds but not too far past because of height.
Yea, my goal has always been 3 and the older 2 have made it. DD2 was over 75th% for height & weight - sometimes closer to 95th & was in a next fit RF until 3.
I think 2 is the new minimum and the official line from car seat people will be until they outgrow the seat RF?
Yea, my goal has always been 3 and the older 2 have made it. DD2 was over 75th% for height & weight - sometimes closer to 95th & was in a next fit RF until 3.
I think 2 is the new minimum and the official line from car seat people will be until they outgrow the seat RF?
Yes. Official CPST recommendation, which comes from both the AAP and the NHTSA, is to keep them RF to a minimum of two and not to turn until they have hit the height or weight limits on their convertible carseat.
Yea, my goal has always been 3 and the older 2 have made it. DD2 was over 75th% for height & weight - sometimes closer to 95th & was in a next fit RF until 3.
I think 2 is the new minimum and the official line from car seat people will be until they outgrow the seat RF?
Thanks this gives me hope I would love to make it past 2.
Post by lattelady5 on Jul 23, 2015 10:57:53 GMT -5
RF is always going to be safER. There's never an equally a safe as FF. Have you read the CSFL RF science junkies blog post? I don't think I can link it atm.
(I'm not double checking this so do that if you're unsure but) before age 2, there is a 0% probability the primary closure of the c3 is complete. By age 2 there's a 50% probability of completion and the secondary at age 3.
After age 2, FF is considered safe, thought ideally a child will ride RF as close to age 4 (or beyond if a caregiver so chooses) and untik a child outgrows their convertibke carseat. Extended rearfacing is anything after age 2.
DD will be 4 in October and flips between RF and FF depending delecting on the vehicle and seat she is in. She thought FF was the coolest thing ever for the first few times she rode that way but now doesn't have a preference. DS screams in one of our seats and she's outgrown that RF so after an hour+ of screaming, I pulled into a gas station, flipped his seat forward, put her in it and put him in her seat RF.
I'm eventually going to need a new seat and I'll likely get a convertible she can RF in but if she asks to FF I'll let her. She's 38" and 26lbs so she will fit in *most* convertibles RF without issue.
The nextfit has a 49" height max with head full contained within the extended headrest. It will last a very long time. The only complaint I've heard is getting the kid in over the deep sides.
Yea, my goal has always been 3 and the older 2 have made it. DD2 was over 75th% for height & weight - sometimes closer to 95th & was in a next fit RF until 3.
I think 2 is the new minimum and the official line from car seat people will be until they outgrow the seat RF?
Thanks this gives me hope I would love to make it past 2.
I think you will - it's a great seat and even w/ her being pretty big she was plenty comfortable. I technically could have kept her RF longer if I had really wanted to.
Yea, my goal has always been 3 and the older 2 have made it. DD2 was over 75th% for height & weight - sometimes closer to 95th & was in a next fit RF until 3.
I think 2 is the new minimum and the official line from car seat people will be until they outgrow the seat RF?
Thanks this gives me hope I would love to make it past 2.
Post by andrewsgal on Jul 23, 2015 11:39:28 GMT -5
Thanks ladies I love our next fit and know I did research when picking it because of our Giants. My goal is at least 3 so this post helps a lot. Now don't shoot me when I forget all of this and ask again in a year.
Post by rosesandpetals on Jul 23, 2015 20:11:14 GMT -5
Wow, he is tall! We have the nextfit, too, I love it.
What is the difference between a ff carseat and a harnessed booster? They look the same, why would you pay for a harnessed booster when you can just ff?
Wow, he is tall! We have the nextfit, too, I love it.
What is the difference between a ff carseat and a harnessed booster? They look the same, why would you pay for a harnessed booster when you can just ff?
That's not snarky, I'm really asking.
In our case, because we passed the convertible down to one of the younger siblings and it didn't make sense to buy a third convertible when we could buy him a harness-to-booster FF seat. I'm not a tech, but don't some kids also outgrow the shell of the convertible, even FF, before they're ready for a high back booster?
Wow, he is tall! We have the nextfit, too, I love it.
What is the difference between a ff carseat and a harnessed booster? They look the same, why would you pay for a harnessed booster when you can just ff?
That's not snarky, I'm really asking.
Using a FF convertible carseat and a harnessed booster provides the same safety benefits. There are two main reasons people generally get a harnessed booster:
1) Harnessed boosters usually have taller top harness slots than convertible seats. So if your child has outgrown his or her convertible seat before reaching booster age/maturity it's a great option to bridge that gap. Drew may have that issue as he's a lot "busier" physically than his sisters while being equally large, so he may need something after outgrowing his radian and before I can trust him with a seatbelt (time will tell).
2) There is a younger sibling in need of a convertible seat and you've already turned your older one FF. So you pass the convertible down and buy a slightly less expensive harnessed booster for the older one.
Wow, he is tall! We have the nextfit, too, I love it.
What is the difference between a ff carseat and a harnessed booster? They look the same, why would you pay for a harnessed booster when you can just ff?
That's not snarky, I'm really asking.
In our case, because we passed the convertible down to one of the younger siblings and it didn't make sense to buy a third convertible when we could buy him a harness-to-booster FF seat. I'm not a tech, but don't some kids also outgrow the shell of the convertible, even FF, before they're ready for a high back booster?
Same here. My infant seat expired so we passed DS's britax boulevard down to DD and bought DS a Britax Frontier.
The boulevard expires in January and I'm really uncertain what I'm going to do.