Rear Facing in a Decathlon & Marathon HELP!

[aramatp2]

Ok - we finally broke down & bought a decathlon for my 98 Explorer (no latch) and a marathon for our 01 GMC PU. DD is almost 13 months old. She weighs 15.5 lbs & is 28.5 inches tall. We just tried to put her in both vehicles RF and she can't straighten her legs out! She has to bend them up and sit bow legged! I know you she shouldn't be FF until 20 lbs...but I don't see another way. Could we be installing the seats wrong???

Thanks!
Tamara

Samantha 10/31/04

[Neatfreak]

I think it's safe (and normal) for taller babies and toddler to have to cross their legs when their seats are rear-facing. Probably nothing wrong with how you installed the seat. The front of the seat base is supposed to be flush with the crease of the vehicle seat to get a tight fit, and little legs just have a limited amount of space to stretch out in.

[SusanMae]

Having her legs bent is NOT a problem. There has been no incidence of children having leg/foot injuries in an accident due to rear facing, but lots of neck/back/spinal injuries from forward facing too soon. Leave her RF until she is 33 pounds or the top of her ears are even with the top of the seat. It's one of the best decisions you could make for your daughter.

The reason why your daughter should ride RF for as long as possible(with crash test footage):
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx

Pictures of children rear facing beyond 20 pounds(make sure to look at their legs):
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbumAll.aspx

Hope this helps you out

Susan

[aramatp2]

Oh my gosh! I had no idea! Thank you so much for posting this. DH just agreed to put the seats back to RF tomorrow morning...although he said he thinks only until she is 20 lbs and doesn't really think she should RF until 30 lbs...but by the time she is 20 lbs I'll have him talked into it! :0

Tamara

[KrisM]

As others have said, bent legs is not a problem. My DS can straighten his by putting his feet near the top of the seat back. He moves around and does this regularly.

[kphil]

There have been a couple of articles in the popular press recently to inform parents that kids should stay rf longer...perhaps those would carry more weight for your dh? Here's a link to one: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868
and another:
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15578660&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6
I think the following quote is particularly compelling: "The study showed children under 2 who were riding in forward-facing child car seats during a crash were more than four times as likely to be injured in side crashes as opposed to the children in rear-facing seats."

Good luck!

Kirsten

[Joolsplus2]

So true! My dd was 4 when she finally had to turn around FF, and she was SO uncomfortable compared to when she was RF (I'd be bummed if someone took away the coffee table where I like to rest my feet UP when I'm sitting around, too! lol).

You can see the pictures of my dd in her Marathon in the link in my siggy..

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

[Joolsplus2]

Post back if you need any help installing them RF, it's a bit more of a challenge than FF, but we can walk you through it!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[aramatp2]

You guys have all been fantastic! I had DH turn them both RF this morning. Then this afternoon I took DD shopping...secretly I wanted to try out the new Decathlon in my Explorer! She loved it! She wasn't uncomfortable at all...and I think she liked the fact that she was up higher then in the infant seat. She even fell asleep on the way home and her head just laid on the back on the carseat and she looked very comfortable! (Although I must say I do miss just carrying the infant seat in and letting her sleep longer... :) )I'm got awhile to work on DH letting me leave her RF.

Thanks again to everyone!
Tamara

Samantha 10/31/04 "I love my new Decathlon!"

[SusanMae]

Maybe ask him to do research and see if what he finds about extended rear facing(RF past 20#) is the same or different than what you have found. I can't imagine him finding anything bad about extended rear facing.

I don't know if I said this before or not...but it is quite common in some countries for children to RF until 3+, in fact it's the law.

Susan

[Joolsplus2]

<clap clap clap>... good luck, it'll probably take a good long time for her to hit 20 pounds, too ;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx