Just curious, what was your reasoning for switching your LO to forward facing, and how old were they?
We switched LO1 around 22 months because she was miserable in the car, not the best excuse but it's all good...she was happy and that made us happy and less distracted while driving. LO2 is 23 months and is still RF, she hasn't complained so we will just keep her that way for a while, I think.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Same reason - around 21 months he would tantrum and was so difficult to get into the car RF.
DS2 is 14m and seems happy to RF so I'll keep him there until age 2 or longer.
pomelo / 5573 posts
We haven't switched him yet but will in the near future (he'll be about 25 months), because I'm due in a month and I have long legs, so we have to move the current seat to be behind the driver to make room for the infant seat, and forward face it so I can put the driver's seat back far enough to fit my legs under the steering column.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
He exceeded the weight limit for rear facing. He hit 40lbs at around 3.5. He never complained in the car rear facing. He didn't know there were other options.
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
He was starting to get cranky in the car and we were about to go on a 10 hour trip. We turned him at 22 months before the drive and he was happy the whole time. We just kept it that way.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
20 months because I was pregnant and it was hard to lift her in our high vehicle
pomelo / 5524 posts
Just after LO1 turned 2, we switched him because it was increasingly difficult for me to get him in the car. He was far happier FF. At that time, those were the guidelines, so we wanted to be sure to follow them as well (LO1 is almost 3.5 now). I don't know if we'll keep LO2 RF until 3. We'll see how making it to 2 goes.
pomegranate / 3858 posts
We're planning on waiting till LO2 (due in May) outgrows the infant bucket seat and needs the convertible. Then LO1 (should be 4ish by then) will get a combination seat.
grapefruit / 4545 posts
We turned K around 23 mos...she was not happy in the car and her legs were getting quite long and bent. She loves it now...
nectarine / 2951 posts
We turned LO around in my car right at 24 months. In my DH's car, he is still rear facing only because we haven't brought the seat to be inspected yet.
pineapple / 12793 posts
We are waiting until DD3 needs a convertible and then we'll get a five point harness FF for DD1. She turned three last month and hasn't complained so I'm happy keeping her RF for as long as we can.
nectarine / 2031 posts
He is still RF at 2.5 in our car. But in grandma's car he is FF because it was such a pain to get him in and out. He was turned maybe just over 2 then.
pomegranate / 3845 posts
We flipped after 2, mostly because I am driving a coupe and RF in a coupe sucks.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
DS actually hated being FF! It was weird/funny. We initially turned him around at 2, but he wasn't having it. He finally accepted being FF at 2.5.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
@erinbaderin: oh man, I just realized that's what we would have to do when we have #2. There's no way DH can fit up front with any seat RF behind him!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
We switched at almost 2.5 when baby 2 was born (literally Dh moved the seat when he brought her to come visit us at the hospital). Same as a few others, we had to move her seat to behind the driver and Dh needs to put his seat further back than RF allowed. I will keep baby 2 RF as long as she tolerates it since we won't have to move her for another baby.
Fwiw I don't think moving it because your kid is screaming the whole time you are driving is a bad reason. A distracted driver seems a lot more dangerous than FF at 22 months. But I don't really get when people say it's easier FF. I don't find it any easier getting her in the seat and she seems to have a harder time climbing in herself.
olive / 59 posts
In my husband's car we switched the car seat around when LO was about 17 months (earlier than I wanted) but we were taking a 15+ hr car ride and it was easier to tend to him and keep his interested while FF. Husband kept the seat that way once we got back - he's not in that car very often (2 daycare pick ups a week). So that wasn't a fight I was willing to take 
In my car, we just switched him at 23 months. It was starting to get tough to get him in and out of the car and I had the car seat out in order to clean. So when I re-installed the seat, I just went ahead and flipped it around.
As an aside: I just want to say I love this group - most car seat discussions on other groups would have long since turned nasty!
kiwi / 661 posts
We switched my son shortly after 2.5 years b/c we can only rearface one seat in our car and we are prepping for number two.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
DD is 26 months and still RF, but I kind of want to turn her because she throws HUGE tantrums if I don't sit in the back with her. She just hates not being able to see me (we're in a horrible mommy-preference phase anyway and this seems to be part of it). Usually, DH can drive but I hate sitting in the back, and when DH isn't there and I need to drive, it's awful. I don't know if it's something we can wait out or not...DH wants to keep her RF because it's safer, but he's not the one stuck in back all the time.
pomelo / 5791 posts
A little over 2 years. I was pregnant and could barely lift him into the seat.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
At 28 months or so, because we were going on a long car trip and she was getting miserable in the car. Also because of space- DH couldn't comfortably drive our car with a RF car seat behind him.
nectarine / 2797 posts
We just turned LO at 3.8. She's getting close to the height limit and we won't be able to keep her RF once LO2 arrives in 2 months, and we were moving carseats anyway so took the opportunity to switch her.
persimmon / 1436 posts
We switched DD1 at 19 months because she screamed the entire time we were driving, no matter how long the trip was (grocery store or another state--no difference). She is so much more comfortable being FF and able to see us.
I hope to RF DD2 for at least two years.
apricot / 451 posts
31 months old. I am pregnant and that is around when it started getting difficult to lift her in and out of her carseat. We also wanted to get it done before winter hit, so we wouldn't have to do an outdoor install in the snow. Finally, we figured that the change was inevitable, because her seat would not fit rear facing behind the drivers seat in either of our cars (DH and I are both tall), so the baby's seat has to go behind the passenger seat in order to rear face. It's the only spot in the car that we can fit a RF car seat.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@PurplePeony: do you have a mirror for her? When C was RF we had a mirror on the head rest so I could see her in the rear view mirror (which I know car seat safety experts don't recommend). An added bonus was she could look in it and see me when I was driving. Maybe that would help if you don't want to turn yet? Though she would probably only see the driver so that wouldn't help much with your Dh driving.
pomelo / 5573 posts
@PurplePeony: Oh wow, do you think turning forward facing will help this? Because I always have to sit in the back seat with my son and when I'm driving, we spend the whole trip with him going "I want mommy sit backseat hold my hand!" while I try to explain to him that I can't do that and drive the car....
pomegranate / 3779 posts
Around 26 months in my car and 24-ish in DH's car. We had a new baby, a new car and she was about a pound away from the RF latch limit, so since we were going to have to change around all the installations anyway, we decided to turn her.
eggplant / 11408 posts
We've switched back and forth a few times...DD is 22 months now. We've mostly had her FF during really long trips, so we could entertain her from the front seat (dog was in the back). We've also had her FF while in other cars (family) that were too small to accommodate RF in her seat easily/quickly.
At homw, I'm more insistant that she's RF, especially in the winter. But mostlh, we haven't switched yet because we don't have a good reason to. If we did, I'd consider it. Until then, we are good where we are.
(We also just got a new seat to put her up higher. Hoping she will like this!)
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