Planning a family road trip? Are you curious about car seats with leg extenders? Wondering if they are safe for your child? This article has the answers to your questions.
We recommend that kids use the rear-facing child car seat for as long as possible, provided they are within the weight and height range recommended by the manufacture. You may, have noticed that your child's legs keep touching your vehicle's seat or hang over the seat edge. This is quite normal as kids usually outgrow the height limit of the car seats.
To combat this issue, you should purchase a car seat with leg extenders. This article has information on all you need to know about car seats with leg extenders.
Are Car Seats with Leg Extenders Safe?
Yes, child car seats with leg extenders are safe. They offer the same protection as the normal car seats but with more rear-facing legroom. Your child tends to look uncomfortable with their legs touching the seat of your vehicle. When you notice this, it means your child has outgrown the height limit of their seat. On the contrary, this doesn't mean your child is ready to go for car rides in a forward-facing car seat.
What Are Common Types of Car Seats with Leg Extenders
Several car seats come with built-in leg extenders. These kinds of car seats allow you to keep your child rear-facing for a little while longer. A few of them are listed below.
- Graco Extend to Fit Convertible Car Seat
The Graco extend2fit car seat comes with leg extenders offering your child more legroom. If your child's legs touching the seat or popping out from the seat worries you, then this car seat is one you should consider getting. It offers your child up to five inches of extra leg space as well as an extendable leg rest.
You can bring out the leg extenders to give your child more leg space or retract them if you want to sit in front of the car seat. This car seat is suitable for children within the weight range of 4 to 50 pounds.
It is important to remember that the extendable leg rest will consume more space in your car. If your car is a small car with space constraints, this car seat will be a wrong fit for you. You can check out the other car seat types listed in this article.
- Primo Viaggio Convertible Kinetic by Peg Perego
This car seat boasts of 10 adjustable height options and an anti-rebound bar. The anti-rebound bar improves your baby's comfort by increasing the available legroom. It offers up to an additional 2 inches leg room for your child. The Primo Viaggio convertible kinetic child car seat for children who weigh as much as 45 pounds.
The car seat can be used from infancy until your child is a toddler. Once your child is old enough to start using a forward-facing car seat, please convert it to one. Just turn it from the rear-facing position to face forward. Be sure to check that it is installed tightly to your car.
- Clekk Fllo Car Seat
The Fllo car seat comes with leg extenders that give your child a lot more leg space. This seat can be used for your newborn until he is about four years old. The Clekk Fllo car seat has a streamlined appearance but a very spacious and comfortable interior. You can install it easily at the center of your vehicle's backseat. The installation process is easy and straight forward. Unlike other child car seats with only six years of life span, the Clekk Fllo seat can be used for up to 9 years!
How Do I Install the Graco Extend2fit Car Seat?
- Installing the Extend2Fit is a pretty straightforward task. This Child seat comes with latch anchors to attach it to your vehicle. Ensure the car seat is installed tightly to avoid it flying forward in a crash. The bubble indicator shows you if you have installed it in the correct position.
- Strap your baby in using the no-rethread harness. The harness is adjustable, meaning you can adjust it with ease as your baby grows. Ensure you strap in your baby correctly. The harness should be on the baby's shoulder or a little below the shoulder.
- Alternatively, you can book an appointment with child safety seat experts. They will help you install the child car seat correctly and teach you all you need to know.
How Do I Install the Primo Viaggio Convertible Rear-facing Car Seat?
- Place the car seat on your vehicle's seat. For safety reasons, we advise you to install your rear-facing seat to your car back seat(source). The back seat is far from airbags; hence it is the safest position for your child.
- Using the latch provided on the child car seat, install the car seat. Make sure the latch locks in the seat tightly. If it shifts more than an inch in any direction, you'll need to retighten the latch.
- Alternatively, you can install the car seat using the car seat belt. To do this, you will need to pass your seat belt through the path indicated by the car seat manufacturer. Once you have passed the seat belt correctly, lock it in and check if it is tight.
How Do I Know My Child Has Outgrown the Rear-facing Car Seat?
Your baby feet hanging out of the car seat or touching the vehicle seat doesn't mean it's time to change to a forward-facing car seat. Your child only outgrows the rear-facing car seat when his weight and height measurements exceed those stated by the manufacturer.
Conclusion
As your child grows, you might notice that the legs touch the seat of your vehicle. However, this does not prove that your child has outgrown their rear-facing car seat. Some rear-facing car seats come with leg extension that give your child more legroom. These car seats with leg extenders are completely safe.
