I do this every once in a while, just because I'm curious. Not gonna bash if you don't/didn't ERF.
Is/was your 2 year old or older child rear facing?
My kids are 2.5 yrs and 15 months and still RFing Neither of them are anywhere near outgrowing their seats, so they will RF til they outgrow its limits.
Random blips:
Even though the law states that you can switch your child FF at 1 yr and 20lbs, it is safest to keep them RF as long as possible.
In most states that don't have a clear law, it's a proper use law which defers to the car seat manual, which will always say to keep your child RF as long as possible.
The AAP recommends RFing til at least 2 yrs, or until the child outgrows the limits. The NHTSA recommends to RF til at least 4 yrs of age, or the limits. The Swedes have been ERFing their children to at least 5 years of age for decades!
RFing is actually about 5x safer than FF in a crash.
There have been no documented cases of a child breaking their legs in an accident while RFing.
You actually can tell a child has outgrown the seat by RFing if there is an inch of space left above their heads(different seats have different stipulations, IE Diono where it is 1.5", Dorel seats which stick to their limits, most of the time 40").
http://www.safercar.gov/parents/RightSeat.htm http://mommyboots.com/2011/06/extended-rear-facing-the-safest-choice/
I switched DS at 25 months and I'm not sure when I'll switch DD. Probably around the same time. She is already FF in the truck, but she rarely rides in it.
We turned FH FFIng at 4 years. We turned chub at 2.5 because she started screaming bloody murder to the point of throwing up unless she was turned like her sister. Not worth it to me.
DD's 3 1/4 and will remain RF until this baby is born (then we'll have to move her seat FF because her seat only fits in the middle RF and that doesn't leave enough room for an infant seat)... she'll be 3.75 then. I'm pretty sure she'll still be able to RF that long. I'm sad I have to FF her but such is life. I'll try to fit the seats in but I doubt it'll happen.I have a small car.
Planning on RFing as long as we can. DS is 10 months old. My family thinks I'm crazy but whatever. I've read facts and statistics, seen videos of crash tests, and I think this is what is right for us.