CARSEATS!!

Jodi - posted on 07/05/2010

Sara, I would if I had a moment and half a brain right now....my daughter is sick at the moment and I have had limited sleep ;)
Yep, even when they are school age the sleepless nights don't necessarily disappear!!

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 07/05/2010

You should start another debate...I don't think we've really debated guns much in this community.

Jodi - posted on 07/05/2010

Sara, it's just that in my mind the two are equally dangerous (having a gun in your house and taking your kid out of a car seat too soon), that's all :) It's totally irrelevant to the debate. just made me feel better saying it, LOL.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 07/05/2010

I'm not sure I see the connection between guns and car seats...

Jodi - posted on 07/05/2010

I find it ironic that the one country in the world that has rear facing seats to fit 4 year olds because it is safer also allows guns in the house. Not that I disagree with keeping our kids safe in their car seats........just struggling to get past the irony of it....and yes, I know its a different debate, but I just COULDN'T resist saying something I have been thinking for days.

Susanne - posted on 07/05/2010

Thats the problem we've got over here in the UK they just dont sell carseats that you can keep rear facing for a baby over a year old and i expect if they did they'd charge mega bucks for it.

Jess - posted on 07/05/2010

We recently turned Ava forward facing and she is 10 months *its not against the law here in Australia*. After seeing that video, Im changing her back first thing in the morning, its too cold and dark to go outside and do it right now !



I think I will just get a dvd player and hook it up try and ease the pain we are all going experience with her bend stuck staring at the backseat again. We moved her because she hated it so much.



Unfortunatly there really isn't a child car seat that caters for extended rear facing =(

Rena - posted on 07/01/2010

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRea...

Rena - posted on 07/01/2010

Rena - posted on 07/01/2010

If more ppl watched the consequences of their actions before it happened to them maybe they would change their mind. and the safety recommendations (not laws) is a couple years and many pounds more than 20 lbs and 1 yr. just look.

Charlene - posted on 06/30/2010

Gracie is 11 months and STILL in her infant seat as she still fits in it and the previous seat is always safer than the next one. She's almost at the height limit now though, so we will be getting her a convertible seat for her first birthday. (July 25!!) :( :(

She already sits with her legs folded, and not due to lack of room, she's just more comfortable that way.

Stephanie - posted on 06/30/2010

My son just turned 1 year (June 26th) and is 24lbs. So yes he can legally sit forward facing. However his car seat will hold him rear-facing until he is 40 pounds. Will his legs probably be touching the back of the seat before I turn him around -- Absolutely. But I would take a broken leg any day over a spinal cord injury.

Susanne - posted on 06/14/2010

When i was a baby i was strapped into a carrycot and put on the back seat they didnt even have the seat belt around it lol. My son was turned around when he was about ten months old but that because im in the uk and our seats turn at that age. If the laws were different and they sold carseats over here that were rear facing for longer then i would have kept him that way longer.

Chatty - posted on 06/13/2010

...don't forget the armrests and cup holder....LOL! Roxanne reminds me EVERY time we get in!

Meghan - posted on 06/13/2010

my mom was just talking to me about that, apparently even MY carseat was NOTHING compaired to what J's is....spoiled kids these days with their 5-point harness and padded seats LOL

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 06/13/2010

lol, yes they are, Dana. My mother-in-law brought her two oldest babies home from the hospital on her lap. Crazy!

Chatty - posted on 06/13/2010

Times they are a changin.....LOL!

Rosie - posted on 06/13/2010

i gotta wonder how many kids died back when i was young. my mom told me a story the other day when i was a newborn, my sister broke her arm. so she drove a 2-3 year old child who was screaming and thrashing in pain, in a car with a stick shift while nursing a newborn. i couldn't even imagine!!

Amy - posted on 06/12/2010

Brandy, it's true that you shouldn't exceed a seat's weight requirement for rear facing - but that doesn't mean that a parent can't or shouldn't decide to upgrade to a seat that permits rear facing for longer. There are clear advantages to rear facing beyond a year or given weight - *as long* as the seat you're using is suitable for rear facing at that weight.

Amy - posted on 06/12/2010

You can rear face for much longer than a year, and you should! It's well worth the research: http://www.childrestraintsafety.com/rear...
I didn't rear face for the first year because I was ignorant and took the advice given by the baby store clerk as gospel. I'm so glad we never had an accident as looking back the seat & installation were so wrong at times. I was lucky enough to have a friend with a younger baby who is very well informed on car seat safety & I asked her for a lot of advice as my daughter got older. Done again, there are a lot of things I'd change!

My daughter's 6 now, so my current pet peeve is children who aren't in booster seats for long enough:
http://www.childrestraintsafety.com/boos...

Brandy - posted on 06/12/2010

i actually used to work for evenflo in the parent link dept. my job was to educate consumers on the use and safety standards of our products if you have a question about how long your child should remain rear facing etc... you should call the customer service number. each seat is designed according to the safety standards of current vehicles. that is why you shouldnt use outdated car seats, there is a height and weight requirement for your child and that should be used as opposed to the age. if your child is the right weight to be forward facing there is no reason extend rear facing especially if the child is over the weight limit and to tall, the seats were designed to keep your child safe in the forward facing position as well, as long as they are the right size and you have a current seat that is properly installed.

Jaime - posted on 06/12/2010

No worries Teresa...like I said, I agree that people should follow the law too...I just don't exercise the extra precaution.

Teresa - posted on 06/12/2010

Jamie.... I prefer riding that way... at least w/ one leg. Much better than being the driver. ;)



Oh, as long as the law is followed I certainly keep my opinion to myself...except for sharing that opinion on message boards. ;) My 17 month old nephew has been forward facing for a while and I've never said a word about it.. other than sharing my opinion w/ my cousin-in-law when she was discussing it w/ me before she turned him. She's following the law and I have no problem w/ it. Seeing him sitting forward is a little odd for me though cuz he just seems SO tiny.



I'm kind of lucky that my son acutally loves being rear facing. He's in the middle seat of the van, so he gets to face his sisters in the back. :)

Meghan - posted on 06/12/2010

we went to mexico when my son was 3 months old. We rented a car and yes-he was in a car seat..I just remember seeing familes with young babies and a 7 year old the back of a mopid...HA. Imagine that!!

Chatty - posted on 06/12/2010

Bottom line for me......obey the law and I'll mind my business, although, I feel it's best to at least make an attempt to rear-face as long as possible. LIke I said before, Roxanne was 18 months when we turned her forward-facing. My goal was to keep her rear-facing until 2......obviously we didn't make it that long!

Jaime - posted on 06/12/2010

@ Teresa...as far as our legs being bent in a car regardless of how we sit, obviously that's not what I'm referring to. Try putting your feet on the glove compartment and see how long you last sitting in the car that way...that's much more likely to be similar to how a 3 or 4 year old will feel if they are rear-facing in a car seat. I'm not suggesting that it's impossible for them to sit that way...just not comfortably.

@ Sara...I have no ill judgment of parents that take extra precaution but I do personally feel like we get too hung up on safety these days. I'm not suggesting that my son won't wear a helmet when he's skiing, tobogganing or riding his bike, but when it comes to the car...if I'm following the requirements then I'm okay with my decision. You might not see the merit in my decision because of the neck support issue, but I don't want to live everyday focusing on the possibility of an accident or a dangerous situation that could kill my child, etc, etc. I have no issue with parents choosing to keep their children rear-facing for as much as 4 years...I just don't happen to be one that will do that.

Teresa - posted on 06/11/2010

Ahh... ok. That makes sense. :)

Amber - posted on 06/11/2010

@ Teresa~ I didn't mean he exceeds the limit for the one he has, I meant he meets the limits to move up to the next one. He's in a toddler seat that is good until 45 lbs and he is only just 40 lbs now. The other seat we have starts at 40 lbs, we just prefer the 5 point harness.
But thanks though. I appreciate the thought :)

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 06/11/2010

Yes the law is one year and 20 lbs. The law also says you can drink at 21, but you don't have to :). Cars are built safer, but the issue is the child's neck. When you're in a head on accident your head flings forward then snaps back. It doesn't matter how safe the car seat says it is or how safe the vehicle is. Those aren't going to keep your head from moving. I've read about 18 month old babies dying from internal decapitation because they were forward facing. It was never something I had to think too hard about. It's safer to be rear facing so that's what we're going to do. If we got into an accident I don't want to live the rest of my life thinking 'if I'd kept her rear facing she'd still be here.' I would much rather be called over protective than risk turning my daughter around before her neck could withstand an accident.

Teresa - posted on 06/11/2010

Aren't everyone's legs bent when they're riding in the car? Unless they're too short of course.... What's the difference between being bent and resting on the seat or dangling down towards the ground?



Not a judgement at all. Just an observation and a question. I know MY legs are bent during every car ride. ;)

Gelaine - posted on 06/11/2010

Well i have to agree that you need to keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. My thing is front seats.. if you have to have a child in a front seat that is under 12, the safest person to go there is a child in a forward facing harness eat, and the seat all the way back... I've taken carseat training to be licensed for daycare, and putting a child in the front can kill them whether their seatbelt is on or not.. (i watched a video of a nine year old, who became paralyzed head to toe, from an accident- they were only going a few miles to home.) You may be offended by what other people are saying.. but if your child can be killed (same goes for early forward-facing advocates) then i think your decision can be made clearly.. Become educated on the subject, and understand that the law is there for a reason.. Also, no matter how careful of a driver you are, you never know if that other person is going to stop at that stop sign.

Suzette - posted on 06/11/2010

Jaime,

I agree to an extent. After the weight limit is reached, I'm going to get a convertible car seat that has the rear facing capability. While I want my daughter to rear face as long as possible, if we take extended road trips I'm not going to have her little legs bent for hours on end. We have family that lives on the West coast and we live closer to the East coast. I can imagine how she'd feel bent up like that in a car seat for hours. If we're within the laws, on road trips like that, I'm more inclined to move her to forward facing.

I also have no judgment for mom's that choose not to take the extra precaution and go further with it. ;)

Jaime - posted on 06/11/2010

I'm certain that I will get some gripes about this but I think that there is such a thing as being too protective. The laws are 20lbs and 1yr...I followed that and at 1 year my son was forward facing. If we got into an accident then yes, there is always the possibility that he can be hurt worse facing forward than backward...but it's not a guarantee--just an extra precaution. It might sound as if I don't take my son's safety seriously, but I can assure you I do. I just think that there are so many laws and cars are built and designed differently to increase the safety features each year that I feel like we sometimes get too hung up on the issue of safety. If your child can rear-face up to 40lbs then more power to you but to me it seems unnecessary...40lbs is 3 or 4 years old for some kids...I can't imagine many kids that age that will be cooperative or comfortable with their feet touching the seat and their knees bent for hours or even 15 minutes in the car. Doesn't make much sense to me...but that's my opinion and I have no ill judgment of moms that choose extra precaution.

Suzette - posted on 06/11/2010

Michelle,

I don't like your decision, I don't hate you as a person. I don't KNOW you, to say I hate you would be a bit of an extreme. No one is perfect, if I ever claimed to be... well I think my mom would laugh her butt off and likely die with tears in her eyes from the laughter. (I think I could likely bet on that one too!)

As for the pregnancy hormones, I'm pretty sure I got offended by an ant bite at some point in my pregnancy... I was that hormonal. =)

If I said I hated other parents, it should have said I hated *seeing* other parents do that. (I'm not the greatest of typists when I'm exhausted, and this far into the 3rd trimester, that's quite a bit!)

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

Sorry for your daughters safety we do hate your decision to front face her much to early. We don't hate you just your decision on this matter. It could mean the difference between life or death for your precious little girl.

Michelle - posted on 06/11/2010

I absolutely defend my decision to put my daughter in a forward facing car seat at 10 months old. She is my daughter and it is my right to make any choice I deem fit for her safety and well being. As far as trying to turn this around on anyone else. NOT even close to what I was doing and I am sorry for those of you who feel that is what I was doing. I was merely pointing out that each one of us chooses what laws we follow and what laws we break. I try to follow all driving laws when it comes to stopping and speed, however I am human and not perfect. I never claimed to be.



I apologize for insulting anyone else's opinion on this site, I am going to chalk it up to 24 week pregnant hormones and say that I was offended in reading everyones post about how they HATE other parents who do not follow the car seat laws....

Suzette - posted on 06/11/2010

Michelle,
"I guess everyone can hate me, but I put my daughter in a forward facing car seat at 10 months. I am not going to explain my actions to anyone as I don't see a reason. However I am going to say that I understand the laws, I understand the reason for the law, and I understand I should obey the law. I wonder how many of you follow the set speed limit every time you drive or come to a complete stop at every stop sign or yield when you are suppose to yield?? People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks..."

I don't hate you, I just disagree with you completely and think that attempting to turn the situation around on everyone else is wrong.
When I was 5 yrs old and my mother and I were in a car accident due to black ice on the road, we got lucky. I wasn't in a car seat/booster because the laws then were so completely different. In fact, I had let myself out of the seat belt, but we got lucky. The car rolled about 4 times, landed on it's roof, the windshield blew out, and my mom was so disoriented she couldn't find her way out. I had to show her the way out of the car. I escaped without so much as a bruise or a scrape, she bore the brunt of the accident, thankfully just bruises and scrapes.

I can't drive, I have epilepsy (not due to the accident then). My husband, on the other hand, before pregnancy, didn't obey the laws as well as he does now. Now he does obey the speed limit, yield signs, and stop lights. He does it so much so that people get irritated with us, though he could care less. The safety of his family is more important to him than anything else, as well as to me.

As someone else said, we're not talking about brands of diapers, we're talking about the safety of our children.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

We can do that in the US too Dana or the Police Dept. as well.

Chatty - posted on 06/11/2010

P.S. Here in BC, Canada you can take your carseat....whatever the brand, to your local fire department and a hunky man in uniform will assist you to install it properly and go through a checklist with you that gets sent to ICBC ( Insurance company ) so it can never be said that the seat wasn't installed properly or that you weren't informed of how to do it! It's a great program......not sure if they offer it anywhere else but I know that's what I did! They've actually been trained on how to install seats.

You can also go into any ICBC agent or check out their website.

@Stephany....I guess we can claim ignorance after something happens to our children but I'm not willing to take that chance. Like someone else said it's our responsibility as parents to inform/educate ourselves, especially when it comes to potentially dangerous situations.

Toys 'R' US is another place I know you can visit for information on the specific different seats, their restrictions and how to install them if you're having problems or just don't know!

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 06/11/2010

Everywhere in my manual it says to rear face as long as possible and it says the minimum requirements for forward facing. So that's why I'm confused as to why parents turn babies around before they meet the requirements (at least where the law is a year. I understand it's different in other places). I would think you would read the manual to make sure the seat is installed properly because doing it incorrectly is also extremely dangerous.

Teresa - posted on 06/11/2010

Wow Stephany! Your 4 year old is bigger than my 8 year olds.... :)

Jennifer - posted on 06/11/2010

I think that it is one of your many responsibilities as a mom to educate yourself on the law and what is safe for you kids.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

Stephany I didn't learn it from the car seats I was completely educated by our pediatrician who informs me of all new laws and hands out sheets with every visit.

Stephany - posted on 06/11/2010

My oldest was gi-freakin'-gantic (he wore size 3T clothes before his first birthday!). When he outgrew his infant carrier/carseat at 3 1/2 months (for length and weight) I had no idea what to do! Haha! I bought a convertible carseat and I think he was rear-facing until about 14 or 15 months old. By that time, though, he was nearly 3 feet tall and weighed 32 pounds. He has always been our Andreas the Giant.
My youngest son is quite the opposite. Now, at almost 3 he is wearing 3T and is almost 40 inches tall. He only weighs 31 pounds. Compared to our other son, he's our skinny-mini (even though he's about average weight and tall for his age). By then Graco had released the infant carrier/carseat that allowed for use until around 30 pounds and 28 inches (if I remember correctly). He outgrew it in height around 9 months, so we moved to another convertible and kept him rear-facing until around a year and a half. Now he's in a harness-type carseat whereas my oldest is in a belt-positioning booster (at age 4, 57 pounds, and 51 inches tall). I think the law here for boosters is 4'8'' and 8 years old. I just plan to keep him in it as long as we can, but he could reasonably be over 5 feet tall by age 8 so what am I supposed to do then? My husband jokes that we've got an all-star basketball player on out hands!
In the end, everyone has different reasons for doing things. I had never heard of extended rear facing until I came to CoM's a few months ago. In fact, I got criticism from some people for keeping my kids rear facing for so long! I didn't know the safety implications of following the minimal laws. I do think that if this is the new limit (rear facing to age two), then the "infant" carseats should be changed to reflect that. If a new mom who is ignorant of the new standards walks into Target to buy a carseat and she sees that her kid will outgrow it "around a year", then how is she supposed to know NOT to turn them around at that age? We're all moms- we hold the market of carseats in the palms of our hands. If this is so important to some of you, write to Graco and Evenflo and whoever else makes carseats and ask them to be responsible for informing the uninformed. It will achieve far more than pointing out to a stranger that they are doing something wrong (which makes very few people open to new ideas, btw).

Chatty - posted on 06/11/2010

Well said, Teresa!

Teresa - posted on 06/11/2010

Do I always follow every traffic law perfectly? No, of course not. Everyone is human and makes mistakes, but I don't intentionally disregard the law and knowingly put my child's life in danger

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 06/11/2010

I always follow speed limits and stop at stop signs (etc.) and I am extra cautious when my baby's in the back. We're not talking about what brand of diaper is better here. This is the safety of our children.

April - posted on 06/11/2010

i heard that 2 is the new 1 for turning them around. hence they should remain rear facing until their second birthday.



my son is 23 pounds and forward facing, but i am planning to turn him around. 6 months til his 2nd birthday, but that's 6 months too long to be forward facing, imo.



his car seat can recline back...it helps keep his legs from touching the back seat...

Chatty - posted on 06/11/2010

Michelle.....are you seriously trying to defend your actions? Nobody is going to hate you for admitting it BUT PLEASE don't try and make us out to look like the bad guys.....

To answer your question, YES, since I had my daughter it's been surprisingly easy and with little effort I do manage to obey the traffic rules. I don't speed with her in the vehicle and I've always stopped at stop signs....you don't?

Jessica - posted on 06/11/2010

When I am alone in my car....do I obey every traffic law? No. However, when my son is in my car...I absolutely do. I am overly cautious in fact (and probably annoy people driving behind me, as I drive slower than usual, am much more cautious about taking turns, etc.) Its different when there is someone in the car other than yourself to watch out for. Its the same thing with the car seat. If I don't want to wear a seatbelt, that is my choice to take a risk. But why put your child at risk for danger? Babies can't talk, and can't ask you to make the safest decision for them. Its up the parent to do that.