You're all making me want to turn my son back around

[hudsonam]

I hope I don't get flamed, but my son is 16 months and FF. We turned him around at about 13 months. I had planned to keep him RF for as long as the seat limits allow, and then we turned the seat in my parents' car around because it really didn't fit well RF with their bench front seat, and then we turned it FF in my husband's car because he has a two-door and it's hard to get him in and out, and I soon followed with my car because I have an Evenflo Triumph and the harness adjustment is a nightmare RF.

I know he's safer RF, so I should really turn him back around. You are all such good influences in this world of people who don't educate themselves properly on these important things. Between my SIL with her ancient car seats and my friend who wanted to turn her son around at 9 months because they were taking a long trip and thought he'd be happier, it's so easy to be swayed in the wrong direction. I really think I may go home and turn my son's seat around. Especially since my car is the one he's in the most. Thank you all!

[skipspin]

Good idea! Arean't these boards great? This coming from me, who turned their DD FF at 12 months, 20 lbs. When she was about 15 months I found a different car seat board and ended up turning my DD back around and just now turned her back FFing at 30+ lb and almost 3 yrs. I've come a along way and now I'm even a tech!


Joy, mommy and CPS tech

[mom2acrew]

No flames here either. My oldest ds was 20 # at 5mo so he was ffing cringe, luckily that was 8 yrs before I knew better.

I would suggest you try it and see how it goes, completely understand why a 2 door would be difficult. Make sure the seat is tethered in any vehicle he is ff in that will help him greatly in a crash. As far as reason to rf when you can, these two pictures though say it all. It is the same test but with the dummy forward facing in one and rearfacing in the other. It's hard to imagine how far forward a child moves until you see it in pictures.

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/rearfacing.html

[DebbieJ]

No flames from me! Kudos to you for thinking about it!

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[MamaParis]

Good for you! :)








Paris

*DD: 3 years old - RF in a Britax Marathon, FF in a Maxi Cosi Priori

*DS: almost 2 years old - RF in a Britax Marathon and RF in a Britax Wizard

*DD: 2 months - RF in a Chicco Key Fit and RF in a Britax Decathlon

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

no flames at all... that wouldn't work well with the supportive nature of the board.

we try to educate, not act like a dictator.

I think turning him back around would definitely be best... remember, on the Triumph, he has to have at least 1" above his head of hard shell.

Kat

[hudsonam]

Thanks! If I remember correctly, the Triumph does not have a tether for RF. I probably already know the answer to this, but is it still safer to have him RF even without the tether?

[MamaParis]

Right!
Just the Britax seats have the RF tether.

But yes, its still safer to have him RF - even without the RF tether! :)

[kellyotn]

RF in a two door does stink! My 4 door was in the shop so I put 2 MA's in a 94 Accord Coupe. My youngest was 19 months and RF in my car. I really considered FF him in the Accord for a couple days. But, there's no tether and the car just seemed so small that I ended up RF him. It was a *giant* pain. The MA is so tall, it was a real acrobatic act to get him into the seat at all, let alone buckle it! :)

If the Evenflo is that bad RF, can you look into a Scenera? It RF for a super long time! ;) The Triumph is pretty short and you'll likely need a different seat later anyways.... My tall DD lasted until 3.5 in a Scenera and there's no way she'd have lasted until even 2.5 in an Triumph. Just a thought! ;) Its a great travel seat because its so light and narrow.

[ktshea]

Heehee - reading the posts on this board made me turn my kiddo back around too! She was forward-facing for about three months and now is rear-facing again. My biggest fear about turning her around again was that she would complain, fuss, cry, or otherwise be unhappy about it (she was 16 months old when we flipped her backwards again), but she just went along for the ride and seems happy as ever. The reason she's rear-facing again is because someone (nfowife maybe?) posted this link to crash-test videos back in March (when you open the link, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the video links):

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

I emailed it to a couple of my friends and they promptly turned their little ones back around too! It made my stomach turn to see that baby go flying forward, even if it was just a crash-test dummy.

FWIW, I also have the Evenflo Triumph and agree it's a bit of a pain in the rear to adjust the straps. Overall I decided it was worth the hassle, and it's not too bad. But I have to admit I've been shopping for a Britax lately to replace it. :)

[Joolsplus2]

You sound like me :). It took me a whole year of pondering putting my dd RF back when I first got into carseats before I finally did it when she was 3 (see the link in my siggy...).

We almost need a cool motto... It's never too late to turn back! (assuming the child is within the limits of the convertible seat, lol).

For the FF seats, if you don't have tether anchors in those cars, I probably have the part numbers so you can get them added, they do a huge job at keeping kids safe, too.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[hudsonam]

Thanks everyone!

Luckily we do have tether anchors in our cars for FF. Not my mom's car, but he's rarely in there.

Maybe I'll steal my husband's Roundabout and give him my Triumph. The only reason I have the Triumph is that he's in my car more, and the Britax is a hand-me-down and that made me more hesitant about it. But the person we got it from swears it's never been in an accident and that his wife would never give it to us if it had, so it sounds like they're educated on car seat safety. I think it may be 5 or 6 years old. Is that pushing the expiration on a Britax?

[kellyotn]

Britaxes expire 6 years from the date of manufacture. You can find this date stamped on the seat somewhere. Its on the box too, if you have it. Add six years to the date, and that's when you have to destroy the seat and get rid of it. Don't just put it at the curb whole, because someone will find it and use it. Cut the straps, remove the cover (you can save it to use again), write "DESTROY / DO NOT USE" on it, put it in a black plastic bag, etc.

[hudsonam]

Thank you! Is that a hard and fast rule, or within reason, can it be used another year or two after that? I had a dr once who told me I could still use most medicines up to a year after the expiration date with no problem, for example. I know sometimes manufacturers are extra cautious in putting warnings or expirations in order to cover their butts with people who don't use common sense.

[jeanum]

The 6 year expiration date is very hard and fast, please don't use the seat past it. I can't find the link right now but maybe someone else can - there's a very tragic example with a photo of an expired seat that shattered in a fatal crash (fatal for the child who was in the expired carseat).

[hudsonam]

Thank you! I will check the seat tonight. I think it might be right around 6 years. If you find that link, I'd love to see it because it will help me to help my husband understand why we need a new seat for his car.

[jeanum]

Hi there again, I can't find the other link to the photo of the expired seat involved in the fatal crash. I did find a link to a crash test of an expired Britax seat on another board. It's pretty convincing although this Britax seat was 10 years old, well beyond the 6 year expiration. It's still an horrifyingly effective example of why not to use an expired seat IMO. Here's the crash test video link:

http://home.comcast.net/~dcbsr/test/Britax_GMTV_Check_It_Fits_Child_Facing_Forwards_te n_years_old_seat.mpeg

[hudsonam]

Oh my gosh, horrifying to say the least! Thank you!

[Joolsplus2]

Here it is, Jean, pop it in your favorites...

http://www.carseat.org/Technical/brokencs.htm

I have a friend in some segment of the plastics industry, she said it's a pretty rapid breakdown of the resin after a certain age, and I really wouldn't want to push it... Britax seats have been out long enough and get tested and retested enough that if they say 6 years, it's six years. The cover's still good, though, you can sell a good one on ebay to help defray the cost of a Marathon or FP Safe Voyage Deluxe :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[jeanum]

Thanks for the link, Julie, definitely adding it to my CPS related bookmarks.

[KrisM]

According to the caption on that photo, it broke because the harness was used with non-reinforced slots. It doesn't indicate that the seat was expired.

Also, as an engineer, I would hope that the true breakdown time of the resin is longer than 6 years. I wouldn't use it past that, but I am quite confident there is a safety factor applied to the 6-year rule.

[jeanum]

Good catch on the caption. I am very certain I saw a photo like that one showing a crashed, expired seat, but again, I can't find the link for it.

[Joolsplus2]

Duh, thanks, Kris...I was just so excited I could find the picture she was looking for that I forgot the minor detail it wasn't actually expired, lol. I need to dig up the other one I have where my friend was able to just pop a hammer right through the back of an expired seat and it shattered really easily...THAT's scary!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[mom2acrew]

Here Julie, I think this is what you were after:

This is from a tech and here is what she had to say about this seat

http://strollerfreak.itgo.com/carseats/Confiscated1995EvenfloScout.jpg


"I confiscated this from a local daycare center. Mfg Date 10/1995. That
plastic had definately degraded...it was very brittle as it only took
me three whacks to bust that shell up with the hammer sitting next to
it. When pieces went flying the first time I drug it out of the garage and into the driveway."

[hudsonam]

I found out that our car seat was made in Sept. 01, so we have until Sept. of next year to replace it. Thanks for all the info! I really appreciate it. :)

[DAKnits]

UGHHH, I have been thinking about this a LOT. I just turned my DD FF at 19 months (a month ago) and I was the ONLY one with a rear facing seat in all the playgroups and mommy and ne classes I went to. I knew it was safer to keep her RF and had read the articles, BUT b/c my daughter is 32 1/2 inches and seemed to cry when she couldn't stretch out her legs since they were so crammed against the backseat -- and b/c I got a new car, and took out the seat, I changed her to FF (but not without feeling uneasy about it). Is the weight max on RF for the Britax Marathon 33 lbs? My daughter is almost 30 lbs now. Anyone know the height max?

[jeanum]

Yes, the Marathon's RF weight limit is 33 lbs. It would be outgrown by height RF when the top of your DD's ears are above the plastic seat shell. HTH.

[Joolsplus2]

"real life" is such a hurdle to get over, isn't it? Good for you for going so long, and don't hesitate to try her RF again before she's 33 pounds...see the link in my siggy, my dd was plenty tall in the Marathon :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx