Hating front-facing - am I doing something wrong??

[Judegirl]

We just turned dd (31 lbs) front-facing in her Marathon, and we're having a hard time adjusting to it. It has to be in its upright postion, which seems to be *very* upright. She can't really sleep, because even if she manages to nod off, her head falls forward and she jostles awake with every pothole. And I hate driving with her head hanging down like that... it scares me to no end.

Her feet just dangle, no footrest or anything, which is not great for her spine, and she has no way of keeping any of her toys or her bottle on her lap - everything rolls right off if she relaxes a little.

Is it just me, or does this just suck? Rearfacing she was reclined, her head cradled in the seat, her toys on her lap, her body supported by the seat. This way she seems like she's strapped into the FreeFall ride at Great Adventure...what am I doing wrong??

Thanks,
Jude

[Kidrepair]

You could still keep her rf for another 2 pds. it sometimes took my kids 6 months or more to gain that much. Don't know if she is too tall or not. Also have you tried to use the recline feature for ff? My MA reclines a lot without using the recline on the MA but I know all cars are different. Also if the seat were reclined maybe her legs would not hang as much and would be a little more supported, I think I read in the owners manual that after a certain weight the recline feature could not be used but without looking I can't seem to remember what the max weight was. Good luck.

[carolines mommy]

What kind of car do you have? If you have a vehicle with captains chairs, maybe you can recline the captain's chair a bit and install the reclined MA in it.

Erika
Mommy to Caroline Nov 03 and Chelsea April 05

[Joolsplus2]

I agree, we hated having to FF! It took months and months and months to go from 31 to 33, though, so RF her a little longer, I concur.
When you have to go RF again, try pulling the base forward a bit on the vehicle seat, if your seatbacks don't recline, that sort of builds in a little recline...and take off the vehicle headrest if possible, that can usually make the seat much more reclined. Legs will just dangle until those feet can reach the vehicle seat cushion, which makes a terrific footrest :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[hapaness]

Um...do you mean when she has to go FF'ing again? Not RF'ing :D

[Joolsplus2]

D'oh!!!! Well, it's getting nigh the end of the year, it was time for my one mistake ;)

(JUST KIDDING!!!!!!! Thanks for 'editing' for me :) )
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[s7714]

That's what we had to do with ours to get it to a more comfortable angle (pull the base forward on the seat). We have a jumbo pool noodle segment between the back of the car seat and the vehicle seat to keep it stable. A CHP officer stuck a small noodle in there when I had it checked out, but recommended that I go buy one of the thicker noodles ones so the seat would be at a more comfortable angle. ETA: We have a Marathon as well.

As for the feet dangling, unfortunately when we pulled the base forward, it virtually eliminated any footrest area on the vehicle seat. I had been thinking about getting one of the footrest things OSA had, but they aren't available anymore, so DD's legs have been left to dangle for the time being.
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/72181/304757/117.html

Jennifer
Mommy to
Annalia 3/03
Sophia 6/05

When raising kids the days are oh so long, but the years are short.--John Leguizamo

[Joolsplus2]

Was he a tech, or just a CHP guy? Really, you should never, ever put anything behind a FF seat... I'd call Britax and find out if that's approved or what, because it's a pretty generally big no-no.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[essnce629]

I found that footrest thingy on Target's website and it's in stock. It looks interesting and I'll keep it in mind once we turn Conner around (he's 30 1/2 lbs right now).

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-7236793-0268666?asin=B000674KM6&AFID=Froogle&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

***Latia
Conner, my homebirthed water baby, 8/19/03
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aug2003angel
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Self-weaned at 24 months! http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/9870.gif

[s7714]

Thanks, I might have to order one of those. Just wish people had posted some reviews about it--I hate buying things like that site unseen!

Jennifer
Mommy to
Annalia 3/03
Sophia 6/05

When raising kids the days are oh so long, but the years are short.--John Leguizamo

[s7714]

Hhmmm. I'm honestly not sure if she was a tech or just an officer. Either way, I'll try calling Britax to verify. Thanks for the info. It really ticks me off when someone who's supposed to know what they're doing doesn't...I may have to find her name in the paper I got back when the seat was checked and gripe someone out! :P

Jennifer
Mommy to
Annalia 3/03
Sophia 6/05

When raising kids the days are oh so long, but the years are short.--John Leguizamo