When to turn front facing?

[twowhat?]

Mine were 3 in our small car (an older Forester - because there just wasn't room in the backseat to go longer) and 4ish in our minivan (where there was plenty of room). One thing that helped (I think) is that we had car seats that were lower profile and didn't have huge bulky sides so it was no big deal to reach in and do the straps. The Marathon is pretty "bucket-y".

[Zukini]

DS is still rear facing at 2years and 10 months in DH and my vehicles, but forward facing in the grandparents vehicle as of a few weeks ago. He is 30 lbs and average height, and fits just fine in Boulevard Clicktights (mine and GP car) and Roundabout G4.1 (DH car). We have him more reclined to where the baby / toddler reclines meet up on the label in order to give him a little more legroom. He will continue to ride rear facing till he hits the limits for each seat.

OP, I would see if adjusting the Boulevard seat to a more relcined setting helps with the loading and unloading of little one. Also, if you have another secondary vehicle that you can pass this seat into (for rear facing use as well), you could consider another seat for your car like the Graco Extend to Fit. I've heard great things about it for rear facing, and should have paid attention more when selecting that 3rd seat for the grandparents given their constant "yap yap yap" about his legs being squished etc. I was more concerned about the ease of install for them and hence another Clicktight was top of my list. Said seat is now permanently installed for them by me, since they have knee issues that aren't getting any better and lifting it in and out weekly isn't feasible.

(Why we turned him - the rear facing conversation was becoming too much of a distraction for the grandparents, and I wanted them to be more focused on actually harnessing him properly and driving safely every single time. He's almost age 3, no way would I have turned him before 2.5 minimum. Plus it's infrequent that they drive him, like once or twice a week and all local roads, their house - preschool - my house - Chick Fil A kind of thing. I would totally turn the seat back around in their car for highway driving etc)

[gymnbomb]

OP, I would see if adjusting the Boulevard seat to a more relcined setting helps with the loading and unloading of little one. Also, if you have another secondary vehicle that you can pass this seat into (for rear facing use as well), you could consider another seat for your car like the Graco Extend to Fit. I've heard great things about it for rear facing, and should have paid attention more when selecting that 3rd seat for the grandparents given their constant "yap yap yap" about his legs being squished etc. I was more concerned about the ease of install for them and hence another Clicktight was top of my list. Said seat is now permanently installed for them by me, since they have knee issues that aren't getting any better and lifting it in and out weekly isn't feasible.

It was definitely harder to get DS into our NextFit which is also a more "bucket" shaped seat -- that is not the reason we got rid of it, but it was an annoyance. We currently have a Milestone in one car which has nice low profile sides and is really easy to get him in/out of, and an Extend2Fit 3 in 1 in the other car, which sits up a little higher but is also much easier to load him in than the NextFit was, and the extension panel feature for extra leg room is really cool. I only have it extended 1 inch right now because the seat is in a Corolla, but plan to pull it out more when we get a mini van this summer! The Extend2Fits are actually really compact front to back if you have them more upright (even with the panel out 1 click we were able to put the front seat back an inch or two further than we were with other seats) and my son finds it very comfortable.

[123LuckyMom]

Be aware, too, OP, that kids sit very comfortably cross legged or in other positions adults would find uncomfortable. "Squished legs" are a reason lots of people think they need to turn their kids, but many, many kids ride comfortably with their legs folded up. My mother used to harangue me relentlessly about my kids' squished legs until I said, "I'd rather DS have a broken leg than a broken neck." That stopped her. Meanwhile, children rear facing with "squished legs" don't tend to get broken legs on impact, which is great, but doesn't lend itself as well to grandparent silencing as a good catchphrase!


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[Mommy_Mea]

Be aware, too, OP, that kids sit very comfortably cross legged or in other positions adults would find uncomfortable. "Squished legs" are a reason lots of people think they need to turn their kids, but many, many kids ride comfortably with their legs folded up. My mother used to harangue me relentlessly about my kids' squished legs until I said, "I'd rather DS have a broken leg than a broken neck." That stopped her. Meanwhile, children rear facing with "squished legs" don't tend to get broken legs on impact, which is great, but doesn't lend itself as well to grandparent silencing as a good catchphrase!


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That is the catchphrase I used as well when people gave me a hard time about extended rear facing. Both boys remained rear facing until they were 3, and turned because they reached the height limits of the seat. Neither kid ever complained, except I guess DS2 when he couldn't see something in the front of the car DS1 could see.

People still often comment on the fact that we still have the "big seats" (harnessed and HBB for ages 5 and 7). They ask how we keep them in those seats, I tell them they aren't given a choice. But neither kid ever complained, and I think DS1 would be happy in a harnessed seat still, and maybe would be better with the way he sits sometimes. He is certainly not ready for a LBB, he doesn't sit safely.

[georgiegirl]

I want to add that some older (and maybe cheaper) seats are not comfortable for 3 year olds rear facing. Ds2 (3.5) is rear facing in my car in a Peg Perego convertible. He will happily sit rear facing and has never complained. But in DH's car, we have a roundabout 50 (which expires this month), and I had to flip DS2 forward because he complained about being too squished (you could see he didn't fit),plus he hit the 35 lb weight limit. Newer car seats are designed so much better for RF than ones made 7-10 years ago.