DS turned 2 in December and is still RFing. He's under 30lbs but I've been thinking about switching him around because it's getting increasingly difficult to bend him enough to get in the seat.
If your toddler is forward-facing, when did you make the decision?
I only as those who have already made the switch because as we know with parenting, the best laid plans 
I'd always thought I'd leave him RFing until he hit the limit (40lbs) but it's getting so hard to get him in there now.
59 votes
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I switched at 30 months, because he outgrew the rearfacing limits of the seat (Britax Boulevard).
I was also looking for another car seat and decided to go with a harness to booster (Britax Frontier) and I really liked the belt install option (when you can't use LATCH any longer) so I went with that and moved my son forward facing in the boulevard.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I haven't yet....I keep putting it off! Maybe at 30lbs? 
pomegranate / 3383 posts
We had every intention of RF until 2+ years but we ended up switching at around 20-21 months. It was getting really difficult to get him in the seat, and considering we endure ~5-6 months of winter weather here, it was easier to switch him. On top of that, he was getting increasingly whiny in the car while RF and his shoes were destroying our seats!
coconut / 8279 posts
@autumnlove: that's what I'm thinking! he's 27.5 these days, I think I'd feel better if he was a little bigger?
@Sammyfab: my car is destroyed from this winter! trying to wrestle DS in the cold, standing on snow and ice, taking his coat off and putting back on. SO DONE with winter (though there's a blizzard coming Tuesday night!)
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
@rachiecakes: Our LOs weigh the same...doesn't it feel like 50lbs?
coconut / 8279 posts
@autumnlove: my favorite is the new go-stiff-as-a-board-and-straight-as-an-arrow routine, I have to bend him backwards and push under his knees to get him in the car. fun times!
pear / 1614 posts
We waited till right at 2 yrs - and by that time it was SO HARD to squeeze him in RF, especially with winter gear on!
@rachiecakes: @autumnlove: HA HA my DS is 27 mos and weighs 37 lbs! I can't even imagine lifting a tiny little 27 pounder 
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
I haven't yet... she's 25 months and around 25 LBS. I'm thinking I'll wait 'till she hits the 30LB mark...
squash / 13208 posts
I wasn't sure when I was going to switch DS but when my 2nd was born I had my DH move DS's car seat to the other side and install the infant carrier and he moved him FF - he was 2.5 - I was going to switch him back RF but decided to just leave him FF.
DD we switched at 2
cantaloupe / 6687 posts
Mine is 30lbs and we still have her RF. I thought we'd switch at 2 for sure but she is still ok with it so I think I'll keep her RF until she gets to about 40lbs (probably soon bc she's a beast!)
coconut / 8498 posts
We're going to switch right after her 2nd birthday. I'd probably wait a little longer, but she's getting to where she screams and it's a distraction. Plus, we're going on a big road trip then.
honeydew / 7444 posts
LO will be 2 next month and she's still RF. It helps that she insists on climbing into the seat herself. I'm still unsure as to whether we'll switch her on her 2nd birthday.
papaya / 10570 posts
Wow, only one person so far who switched before 18 months! DD is 8 months old and we're considering switching pretty soon. 
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
LO will be 2 at the end of May. My guess is we will switch sometime between 2 and 3 years old. He is a PITA to get in the car seat. I resort to bribery every.single.day.
nectarine / 2504 posts
2 years but it was really more like a month before his second birthday.
coconut / 8475 posts
@Cherrybee: are you open to the idea of staying rf? Say if someone had compelling reasons?
clementine / 896 posts
DS1 was 3 yrs 1 month.
DS2 is 26 months and still rear facing...though lately we've been hitting his head each time we put him in his seat. I'd like to keep him rear facing to at least 3 if possible.
pear / 1699 posts
21 months because we had to install the infant seat for #2 and so we had to move J behind the driver - his seat didn't fit RF there. I always said I'd wait until at least 2 but it is what it is. I didn't want to invest in another seat. I really struggled this winter with getting him up and in RF while being pregnant but I did it. I'm ok with how it turned out now - we did our best.
grapefruit / 4671 posts
@Cherrybee: don't feel bad, I switched DD to FF at 15 months. I know that RF is much safer, but we rarely drive and when we go over a 3 hour ride the kid gets carsick and starts barfing like crazy. FF was a lifesaver for us.
pomelo / 5524 posts
LO is 18 months and we're considering switching him soon. He's getting increasingly difficult trying to put into the car right now RF.
coconut / 8279 posts
@Cherrybee: in the US you are strongly urged to keep them rear-facing until they are at least 2, there are TV commercials, pamphlets handed out at the pediatricians office.
A lot of my friends switched their babies at a year because that was the recommendation just a few years ago.
coconut / 8279 posts
@plantains: I don't even know what we'd do if J got carsick, we don't have laundry!!
pomegranate / 3983 posts
Little Boy is almost 3 and we haven't switched yet. The biggest thing that has helped our struggles is that I let him climb into the car by himself and get situated before I come buckle him in. Not sure if that would work with a bigger car but in our sedan it works.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@rachiecakes: not voting bc c is only 8 months, but I like how you point out about the best laid plans. Right now, I plan to not even consider turning her before two- and may have told Dh that it's the "law" now, so he won't give me grief. She's fairly small so I don't think we will run into height or weight issues, but everything else remains to be seen.
@Cherrybee: in the US it really is the law for them to stay RF until one (right, US bees?). And it is much safer. Most of the seats are convertible so they can be rear or forward facing, even after you move on from the infant bucket seat.
pomelo / 5093 posts
Around 18 months we switched from an infant bucket seat, and we just installed the new one front facing.
coconut / 8279 posts
@Foodnerd81: I told DH it was the law, too! haha
I keep saying that I'm going to do it soon, but won't commit. I wonder if like other things, breastfeeding, starting solids, etc., it will just become clear to me when I should do it.
bananas / 9118 posts
We switched at 22 months and 28 pounds. I was around 6 months pregnant and just could not lift him in safely anymore. I had to move something big in my car one day, so I made the switch then and got the fire department to double check the install.
We would have had to switch at 25 months for the same reason as @Mrsjets: since installing the infant seat and a rear facing convertible would not fit behind my husband while driving. Keeping the driver comfortable to me meant a better chance of keeping the entire family safer than riding with a rf'ing toddler and an uncomfortable driver.
pomegranate / 3858 posts
We're planning on rear-facing as long as possible — as long as she still meets the seat requirements for rear-facing — hopefully to 4, if we can.
It's actually not a weight or height issue (other than following the car seat requirements) — it's a spine ossification issue. Kids spines are still ossifying till around age 4 and rear-facing protects them more until their spine is finished developing.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I think the focus should be less on age and more on weight and height.
In the US, is this a state law?
pomegranate / 3791 posts
@Cherrybee: I know you're in the UK, but in the US it's illegal to turn them around before age 1. Doctors actually recommend waiting until at least age 2, because before then their neck bones/muscle are not finished forming, and it can cause serious damage if they're in a crash and their head is jolted forward.
kiwi / 543 posts
I was just going to ask when the recommendation changed ... when I had my first two, it was the norm to have them FF at 1 year and 20 lbs or something tiny like that.
My 3rd baby turned at 18 months because we couldn't properly install his new seat rear facing (his old seat expired) - I thought it better to have a properly installed seat FF than an improperly installed seat RF.
Does anyone know (or have a link for) the Canadian recommendations/rules for car seats? I'm wondering if anything else has changed since I last looked ...
pomegranate / 3383 posts
@plantains: Ugh! Car vomit is the worst!!!! We dealt with this when my LO was RF and we were driving up a windy mountain road. Cleaning the carseat and the car was so disgusting and it smelled for a good few weeks.
@rachiecakes: I'm so done with winter too!!! My son still kicks the back of the passenger seat while FF but at least there aren't little perforations where dirt gets stuck and is impossible to clean.
papaya / 10570 posts
@wonderstruck: @Foodnerd81: @rachiecakes: @CupQuakeWalk: 9 months is the norm here!!! It's actually really hard to get an ERF car seat here - a few specialist, independent retailers sell them and they're really, really pricey. Mainstream retailers sell Group 0 (birth - 9 months) and Group 0+ (birth to 12-15 months) but because DD is so tall, she is now far too big for her Group 0+.
pomegranate / 3858 posts
@Ginger333: I found some info on Transport Canada's site:
General Info:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safedrivers-childsafety-car-index-873.htm
Rear-facing Info:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safedrivers-childsafety-car-time-stage1-1084.htm
"When should you move your child from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing seat?
Don’t hurry. Keep your child in the rear-facing seat until he or she grows out of it. Your child seat user guide will tell you the maximum weight and height of a child for that seat. If your child grows out of the rear-facing seat, there may be another model that will still fit your child. Some rear-facing car seats are made for children up to 20 kg (45 lbs)!
It is okay if your child’s legs touch the back of your vehicle seat, as long as your child is still below the manufacturer’s weight and height limits.
Even if your child weighs 10 kg (22 lbs), is able to walk on his or her own and your provincial/territorial law says you can use a forward-facing seat, the rear-facing position is still safer. As long as your child is still below the weight and height limits of your current child seat, you should use that seat for as long as possible."
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@Cherrybee: Have you looked at Britax website, for the UK seats? I had one while I lived abroad, from Sweden, and it was designed to be extended rear facing up to 25 kg.
coconut / 8475 posts
@Cherrybee: but I have many paranoia-tactic, fear-provoking youtube videos!
eta: not to make light of ERF (because I am a big supporter), just poking fun at unsolicited parenting advice and those videos that are super cheesy sometimes.
persimmon / 1096 posts
@looch: I agree.
I know the recommendation, and I understand why it's better and important - but I switched DS to FF the day he turned 1. He's 26 lbs and 31 inches. I switched for many reasons - we drive a huge honking SUV, he has one of the highest-rated carseats available, and he is a much happier camper on car rides now. That's just what worked for us, definitely not saying it's best or right for everyone!
papaya / 10570 posts
@looch: Yeah, they're £375 - three times the price of a good forward facing one - which is a real problem because DH doesn't believe in ERF (he says it's scaremongering, I spend too much time talking to crazy Americans and it's because your cars aren't as safe as ours. Sigh.). I'm going to have to find some credible research - that meets all his criteria with regards to sources and peer review and all that crap - if I want to justify that kind of expenditure to him.
@CupQuakeWalk: Can I just believe you? I don't need anything else to keep me awake at night!!
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