Occasional ff'ing...sorry, long

[MontrealMum]

I am hoping you knowledgeable carseat divas can help me decide if this is a good idea or not.

DS goes to daycare and our emergency contact/pick-up is MIL. She has a TF for this purpose, and drives a large Volvo sedan. DS is 28 months, 30 pounds, and 39+ inches (have not measured lately). In our cars he's RFing in a RN XTSL. He still fits RFing in the TF both height/weightwise.

Here's the issue: when we bought the emergency TF, DH taught FIL how to install it and he was able to do it quite well. They did not want to keep a RFing seat all the time in their car so it was re-installed whenever it needed to be used, which was only once in the past year and a half. FIL has been quite ill (was hospitalized for 4.5 months) and can no longer do things like install carseats. MIL is unable to install a carseat safely because of her arthritis and muscle damage from breast cancer surgery. But she is perfectly able to strap and unstrap DS into an already installed seat. The seat is presently sitting in our bedroom because we've been doing some fancy carseat switching.

Here's my idea: if DH or I were to install the TF ffing in MIL's car she would be willing to keep it installed all the time. She is able to do the buckling part tight enough to my satisfaction, it's the install she can't do. We don't really have anyone else to be our emergency contact--- most friends work, don't have cars, or don't take carseat safety seriously enough for us. MIL takes DS' safety very seriously, she's available during the day, and I trust her.

Do you think it's OK to allow a nearly 2.5 year old to ff occasionally? As I said, MIL has only had to pick him up once in the past year and a half so far. I figure he's safer in a properly installed ff seat than in an improperly installed rfing one. The seat would be TT (by law) since we are in Canada.

[Momof3Labs]

Absolutely it is okay. Keep in mind that 99% of kids are ff'ing by that age/size; you shouldn't feel guilty if an occasional emergency car ride is ff'ing. In fact, right around that age and weight, we had turned both of our boys ff'ing for various reasons and I didn't feel at all bad about it.

Be sure to check the seat periodically and see if the straps need to be moved up - it's easy to forget how they can grow in spurts when you don't use a car seat often!

[niccig]

It sounds like he might never be in the car, and if he does it might only be a few times a year. I wouldn't stress about it. He's RF in the cars he is in the most. And it's equally important that you have an emergency back-up and that the seat is always installed correctly. Just make sure the top tether is done up, and that you occasionally put him in the seat to see if the harness needs to be moved up.

[HIU8]

My DD is 30 months and will very shortly be FF full time. She is 37 inches, 32 lbs. I'm attempting to keep her RF for a couple more months, but since our carseat goes to 33 lbs RF, I will have to turn her around. I was not happy about it, but she did make it this far (DS made it to 3 yrs 4 months--I'm hoping to get DD to 32 months at least through the winter). I would not stress about occassional FF at your DS's age.

[MontrealMum]

Thanks guys, that makes me feel much better! Having that darn seat just hanging around our house when it's supposed to be for MIL to use is making me nervous, and I'll be glad to get it ready to use again. And thanks for the tip to check the harness re growth.

[catroddick]

Just a quick add- he will be much safer in a correctly installed FF seat then an incorrectly installed RF. It's all a matter of perspective.

[caleymama]

Originally Posted by Momof3Labs

Absolutely it is okay.

I'm definitely an advocate of keeping kids RF, but this is a situation where I would not hesitate to put the seat FF.

[bubbaray]

DD#2 started FFg full time at age 2.5. So, yeah, I'm a-OK with it.