Should I switch DS from Frontier to a Marathon or Blvd?

[arivecchi]

DS1 is 32 months old. He is on a Frontier right now. Would you switch him to a RFing seat until he is older?

[arivecchi]

He is 40 inches tall and weighs about 32-33 pounds.

[Aishe]

Are you sure he hasn't outgrown it (RFing) by height?

[o_mom]

Do you already have a MA/BV that is rated to 35 lbs?

If you already have one, you might, but it would only be for 2-3 lbs and you need to watch the weight. If you don't have one and didn't need one for the younger one, I wouldn't buy a MA/BV for that. If I were going to purchase something, I would probably look at one of the 40 lb RF seats to get a decent amount of time for my money, but again, only if you really wanted to.

[arivecchi]

Thanks. I just realized that the Blvd only goes to 35 pounds RFing, so getting another one would be a waste. How do people keep their kids RFing until after 3 as I have seen mentioned here?

[brittone2]

Some kids just don't weigh as much. My DS is 5.5 and weighs a little over 40 lbs (haven't weighed him for a while but he was 40-41 lbs at his 5 yo well check). My DD is 2.75 yo and weighs 28-29 lbs I think.

[KrisM]

Or, they grow weird :). My 5 year old is about 41lbs now, but hit 33 lbs shortly after age 2! I had to turn him at 27 months.

I thought for sure DD would rear face forever as she was only 17.5 lbs at age 1. But, then she gained 12 pounds in a year and was 29 lbs at 2 (who does that??). She turned at 31lbs and 28 months because she and DS1 were poking each other in the face and it was just safer for their eyes for her to be FFing.

DS2 is only 13 months and 22lbs. I'm hoping I get closer to 3 with him, but who knows.

[arivecchi]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. DS is tall and super skinny, so I forget he actually weighs a lot for his age. I will keep him in the Frontier which we love. DH was just wondering if we should keep him RFing a little longer, but I've concluded I am ok with him in the Frontier. Hopefully, DS2 will be able to stay RFing much longer, although he is a chunky kid and already weighs about 21-22 pounds.

[Joolsplus2]

Radian and Complete Air go to 40 pounds rearfacing and are taller than the Britax, though, if you wanted to put him RF again.

Just sayin'.....

:)

[arivecchi]

Radian and Complete Air go to 40 pounds rearfacing and are taller than the Britax, though, if you wanted to put him RF again.

Just sayin'.....

:) Jools, which Radian is that? I see that the Radian 65 is RF up to 33 pounds and DS is already 32 pounds. I'm thinking of leaving him in the Frontier because it seems like most kids are FFing by 32-33 pounds anyhow given the car seat limits. We do have a Blvd, but DS2 is using that now (and loving it :))!

[Joolsplus2]

ALL Radians made after 09/08 (the new design with smaller recline boot, reinforced sides, and new chest clip) may rearface to 40lbs. http://www.skjp.com/news_detail.php?cid=1665
He's at a fine age to be FF now in a seat with good side impact protection and top tethered, but some very pro-rearfacers won't turn their kids before three (and preferably even older if possible) due to the spinal development that takes place between age 3-6 that allows kids to tolerate crash forces better with less risk of neck injury. I think the top sticky link, carseats 101 has pictures of spinal development at different ages. And of course Sweden has the lowest rate of child death and injury in car crashes, and routinely rearface to 4 or 5.

:)

[jjordan]

Not Jools, but all the newer Radians (from Sept 2008) go to 40# rearfacing. I'm guessing yours is older than that. (Although I thought the older ones were 35#...?)

[arivecchi]

Thank you both. I will look into the Radian, but we do :heartbeat: our Frontier. I wish I had known about the Radian earlier! Serves me right for being a Britax snob! :hysterical:

[arivecchi]

Oh man, the Radian 65 in Champagne is mighty tempting, but I would feel bad about our brand new Frontier not being in use! :banghead:

[niccig]

My DS will be 5 in December and he's 35lbs and 40" - he could still fit RF in one of the 40lb RF seats. But I'm not getting one. We already have 2 forward facing seats that we like, and at his age I'm not so concerned about extended RF. If he was 2 yo, then I would keep RF.

[arivecchi]

Update: Discussed this with DH last night. DS1 will be 3 on Dec. 2nd and we don't drive much since we live in the city and mostly walk everywhere, so we are sticking with the Frontier. We will keep DS2 RFing until he hits the Rfing limit of his Blvd. If DS2 is too young at that point, we will consider another convertible then. Thanks for all the great advice ladies!