We have a Graco MyRide 65 and the top of Harry's head was one inch below the top of the seat. Once you reach that height it's time to turn the seat around. We made it 31 months rear facing. I wish we could have made it longer, but it is what it is. There are newer seats on the market that can keep taller kids rear facing longer, but they're expensive and not in our budget.
He'll outgrow the MyRide when his shoulders are above the highest shoulder restraint holes. He's currently just below the second to the highest, so I'm guessing we have at least a year left in this seat. After that we'll get a harness to booster combo seat.
While I'm a bit disappointed that we had to switch Harry, keeping him rear facing for so long was no small feat. Here are a few things that helped us keep him that way so long.
- Don't let your child think their seat is different. Just don't mention that their seat is backwards. Harry never new anything different than rear facing. He never questioned it and we never brought it up. Obviously this might be easier said than done if there are older siblings in the mix.
- Set smaller goals for yourself so you don't get disappointed if you don't ERF as long as you'd initially like. My first goal was to two years old (the AAP recommends rear facing until at least a child's second birthday). After that I wanted to make it past the winter, and then it was to his half birthday, which was last month.
- Don't let yourself think that turning the car seat around will be easier. I was surprised to find it's not! At least with my car. Getting Harry in and out is the same and I wasn't able to move the front passenger seat back as far as I would have liked.
Click here for more info about car seats.