Bucket seat that ff?
 

Just curious, the other day in the Aldi's parking lot, I saw a guy in a van across from me. As I got out, I noticed a baby in the 2nd row driver side in a bucket seat facing forward. I thought it was a bit odd, but went on in and did my shopping. When I came out, they had the slider open and I saw the baby seat on the base. An older kid climbed over the baby and the dad pulled the door shut. They drove off.

A number of issues... the baby I would guess to be about seven months old so legally shouldn't have been ff, but aren't they also using the seat wrong? I'm hoping that there is a ff bucket seat that I haven't heard of, but then I ask myself why would there be. I just said a quick prayer for them that they travel safely, but I'm curious.

There are a few seats that install forward or rear facing on a base (Orbit and the Graco Smartseat) but they are not bucket seats. No infant car seat carrier (the kind that has a handle) can be used forward facing. Unfortunately, I've seen them used that way a few times.

Was there a handle? As far as I know there are no seats with a handle that FF.

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

I know it's possible to install it incorrectly FF as my SIL did it. She was so excited after her pediatrician appt. when they told her she could FF (it's some kind of right of passage or something to her) that she went right out and reinstalled her bucket seat FF and then posted pics on facebook. I had dh call her and let her know that seat wasn't able to FF and she needed to get something else if that's what she was going to do (encouraging RF was pointless we'd already tried). She took it suprisingly well, of course put up a little argument that they couldn't afford a new seat but did get an appropriate seat for FF. Anyway, I digress. Yes you can install backward but it's not tight or safe. I don't know of any actual bucket seats that go FF.

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

Yep, handle was up. That was one of the first things I saw.

I saw someone do this several years ago and when I pointed it out, she said the baby was safer b/c she could see if she was choking on spit-up. :bangdesk: Since that was so long ago, I thought perhaps, just perhaps something had changed. I figured not since everyone is pushing for ERF, they wouldn't make an infant seat able to be turned (when correctly installed).

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

We must know the same person. What is with this LAME excuse? Really? choking? How about not allowing food in the car?

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

I'm all for extended RF but if you've ever had a baby with reflux this makes a lot more sense. My son would reflux for over an hour sometimes totally unexpectedly after eating. When he was two weeks old he refluxed in the car and started choking. I had to pull over super fast rip him out of the seat and turn him over to clean his airway. It was super scary, BUT I wouldn't have known what was happening any better if he had been FF I could hear what was happening. But still super scary and infants who reflux don't have to have food in the car to do it.

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

My son puked every car ride for the first 2 years of his life. His esophagus is permanently open. He had an nasal feeding tube that he occasionally coughed up. At 3, he is still on 7.5 mL of Prilosec.

I still would NEVER consider forward facing him because of that.
Broken legs? Cast it. Broken neck? Casket.

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

Yup. I agree it is scary, and I have had that happen as well. So when I hear stories of people FFing their infant seat or BWing in the car (for the record, I would NEVER do either of these things), there's a little part of me that totally understands and feels for that parent. Both my kids either puke or scream in the car at any given time. DD1 stopped when we turned her seat at close to 2 when she outgrew her seat RF (super long torso). But yeah, when even the shortest car ride is this incredibly stressful ordeal where you're always worried about your child choking or you're listening to her scream her lungs out, I can see the appeal of these ideas. BUT that doesn't make it ok, and I would much prefer crazy stressful car rides than my child dying of a broken neck in a low impact collision.

Re: Bucket seat that ff?
 

Oh, I totally understand. And it wouldn't cause ME to FF any earlier. But to call it a LAME excuse is pretty harsh if you've never had that experience. I would rather have a chocking child than a dead one, but I also understand the unbelievable stress of having an infant who chokes in the car and you can't see them.