Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:38     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
It is not babying a child to keep them rearfacing until 2 - unless you mistakenly view carseat transitions as important milestones.

Would I rearface until 4 or 5? No. But rearfacing until 2ish makes sense.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:34     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:


While she never wished it, one can easily see her knowingly nodding her head if something like that (god forbid) were to happen. The PP obviously believes that parent can and should take all the risk out of their children's life. It doesn't matter what the cost is, for parents or children. Infinitesimal reduction of risk is worth infinite cost in attention, time, and inconvenience to the parent. Somebody else suggested "Just import a European seat". Yes, just that, like parents have nothing else to do or think about.


If you have time to spend on this message board, you have time to put some thought into your child's safety and consider what is the best fit for your child, car and situation. Its very easy to order a European seat. Its no different from ordering from Walmart or Amazon or your favorite store. Just costs a bit more. I will take the obvious risks out of my child's life as I'd like to make sure they are happy, healthy and functioning to the best of their ability. But, really, its ok for you not to..it makes for less competition for college, jobs and other things for my child.


Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:32     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Here's some interesting articles:

http://www.carseat.se/swedish-rear-facing-seat-saves-a-2-year-old-life/

http://www.carseat.se/britax-max-way-saves-a-life/

http://www.carseat.se/the-swedish-rear-facing-car-seat-approach/
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:29     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?


While she never wished it, one can easily see her knowingly nodding her head if something like that (god forbid) were to happen. The PP obviously believes that parent can and should take all the risk out of their children's life. It doesn't matter what the cost is, for parents or children. Infinitesimal reduction of risk is worth infinite cost in attention, time, and inconvenience to the parent. Somebody else suggested "Just import a European seat". Yes, just that, like parents have nothing else to do or think about.


If you have time to spend on this message board, you have time to put some thought into your child's safety and consider what is the best fit for your child, car and situation. Its very easy to order a European seat. Its no different from ordering from Walmart or Amazon or your favorite store. Just costs a bit more. I will take the obvious risks out of my child's life as I'd like to make sure they are happy, healthy and functioning to the best of their ability. But, really, its ok for you not to..it makes for less competition for college, jobs and other things for my child.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:28     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
**before 18 MONTHS
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:27     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
I think many people are missing the point. Keeping your child rear facing protects them better in crashes that happen with the front of the car. Between 70 and 80% of crashes happen with the front of the car. We are talking about probability here.

Rear facing children still die in crashes. Being rear facing does not create a magic bubble around your children.

Children who are rear facing are also children who can do things like put their feet in their mouths. It would take a whole lot of yoga for me to do that as an adult. Parents often assume that because they would be uncomfortable in position similar to a rear facing seat, then children must be uncomfortable as well. It simply isn't the case.

If you want to interact with your child, get out of the car and do it. This is transportation, not an opportunity to learn all the foam letters before age 18.

A toddler's head takes up about 20% of his or her body weight which is significant when the child is turned forward facing too soon. All that weight goes toward the point of impact in a crash with the front of the car. The child doesn't have the benefit that adults have in having their bones ossified, tendons and ligaments developed, and muscles developed. An adult's head takes up about 6 or 7% of the total body weight. You do the math.

If you can ignore videos of child size crash dummies' heads flying forward and snapping the spinal column, go right ahead. If you still don't believe it, head on up to Shock/Trauma in Baltimore and hang out for a while. See how those patients with spinal columns that have snapped at the cervical spine are doing. See how many are still alive.

Good luck.

Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:24     Subject: Re:At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I rear-face to age 5. I will do everything possible to keep my kids alive, and this is the easiest and best way. A Diono seat fits most kids for a long, long, time. Easily 3, and usually 4. 5 for some kids, too. My child is almost 5 and will easily fit in the Diono seat rear-facing. Legs don't matter at all. It's the spine and head that we worry about.

Then we harness to age 7 or 8 or so, then booster until 11 or 12, whenever they 5 step to fit the adult belt.

I do NOT want my kids to die in a car accident. It happens left and right in the papers.

I'm also a carseat tech and if only people knew the heartbreak of losing a child, and how easy it is to keep them safe by using the proper seat and installing it properly.

No boosters for preschoolers!
And please keep your kids RF to age 3, at least. Their little necks can snap so easily in a crash.


They may not die in a car accident but their well-being may be impacted by being infantilized and overprotected. It would also be safer for your kids to eat pureed food until they are 12 as that will reduce the risk of choking. Being mocked by other kids or not having friends because at 12 you still have to be in a car seat is a high price to pay in terms of social, emotional and mental well-being. No 12 yr old is going to take their car seat into a friends car or want friends in their car while they are in a car seat.


You are an idiot. Your argument is the dummest one I've heard in a while.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:24     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine RF until they hit the weight limit of their Marathons at around 3. We did this because it was the safest thing to do. A broken leg can be fixed, a broken neck cannot. That simple.

They will be harnessed until they pass the 'test'
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/109817/few_booster_seats_are_safe



RF kids can still be seriously injured or killed in car accidents. It may be safer but it is not so simple as RF and you will have never have anything more than a broken leg.


The one thing I know is that I'm doing all that I can to have my kids safe, that is the simple thing. Everything else is out of my hands. But if I do not control the one thing I can, then I could regret the decision for the rest of my life. I'm not that strong enough to survive that I knew better and chose the easy way out.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:22     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:13 months...98 percentile height. Legs could not fit in any way that looked safe.


Kids hang their legs off the side, put their feet on the seatback or sit criss cross. It's not a big deal and children do not complain. It's the parents who complain b/c they perceive it to be uncomfortable. It isn't and it's a really stupid reason to turn a child forward.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 22:18     Subject: Re:At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Of course a child can die doing just about anything, but CAR ACCIDENT ARE THE #1 KILLER OF KIDS. Rear-facing is 5 times safer, so it's a no -brainer. Just keep them rear-facing for as long as they fit the seat. The child will be 3, 4 or 5 in 99% of cases. Simple as that. In Sweden nearly ALL kids rear-face to 4 or 5, and there are hardly any injuries or deaths to kids in cars there.

I don't understand how any parent could make an argument about SOCIAL WELL-BEING or OVER-PROTECTIVENESS when it comes to car safety? If the child does not 5-step and fit the adult seatbelt, he/she uses a booster. Most kids will be between 10 and 11. Have you seen what a seatbelt that goes across the abdomen of a typical 8-year-old does? It cuts the child in half in a crash. Kids and tweens don't fit adult seatbelts!

Using carseats to the maximum height/weight is not overprotective, it's good parenting.

And my child, EVEN AT 12, would use a booster when with friends if he doesn't 5-step, or NOT ride. That simple. And I wouldn't carpool any child without a booster if the child didn't 5-step. This is a child's life we are talking about.

I'm pretty lax about everything else, but NOT car safety.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 21:47     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine RF until they hit the weight limit of their Marathons at around 3. We did this because it was the safest thing to do. A broken leg can be fixed, a broken neck cannot. That simple.


I have never said that. I am not the poster you quoted earlier and they did not say that either. She has pointed out that the data shows rear facing is safer in the majority of car accidents. She never said it was a guarantee and she certainly never wished ill will upon your child. Also, FWIW, our ped even said at my daugthers 18 months visit, "We are much better at fixing legs than we are necks." I think everyone mentions legs because that is the reasoning often cited by those who turn the carseat at a year.


This quote was my issue - maybe if you / she/ he had seen the grief and loss that my friends went through when their baby who was RF died in a car accident, you wouldn't see it as "That Simple". Is RF safer - yes, I have never said it wasn't. Does it mean that it is "that simple" that you will just have to deal with a broken leg as the poster I quoted says - no it really doesn't.

Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 21:42     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine RF until they hit the weight limit of their Marathons at around 3. We did this because it was the safest thing to do. A broken leg can be fixed, a broken neck cannot. That simple.

They will be harnessed until they pass the 'test'
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/109817/few_booster_seats_are_safe



RF kids can still be seriously injured or killed in car accidents. It may be safer but it is not so simple as RF and you will have never have anything more than a broken leg.


You are being dense on purpose and it is not persuading anyone to your side. I am confident in my decision to leave my 2.5 year old rear facing for the moment and have no problem with the decision you make for your children. I seriously do not understad why you have such an issue with mine.


I have no problem with RF or with your decision at all. I have a problem with your insistence that your child will never have more than a broken leg and mine will be dead because you RF until 2. That simple.


I have never said that. I am not the poster you quoted earlier and they did not say that either. She has pointed out that the data shows rear facing is safer in the majority of car accidents. She never said it was a guarantee and she certainly never wished ill will upon your child. Also, FWIW, our ped even said at my daugthers 18 months visit, "We are much better at fixing legs than we are necks." I think everyone mentions legs because that is the reasoning often cited by those who turn the carseat at a year.


While she never wished it, one can easily see her knowingly nodding her head if something like that (god forbid) were to happen. The PP obviously believes that parent can and should take all the risk out of their children's life. It doesn't matter what the cost is, for parents or children. Infinitesimal reduction of risk is worth infinite cost in attention, time, and inconvenience to the parent. Somebody else suggested "Just import a European seat". Yes, just that, like parents have nothing else to do or think about.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 21:40     Subject: Re:At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
DS is 23 months, 35", 32 lbs and next time we drive (we don't own a car so drive infrequently) he'll be forward facing.

Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 21:36     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine RF until they hit the weight limit of their Marathons at around 3. We did this because it was the safest thing to do. A broken leg can be fixed, a broken neck cannot. That simple.

They will be harnessed until they pass the 'test'
http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/109817/few_booster_seats_are_safe



RF kids can still be seriously injured or killed in car accidents. It may be safer but it is not so simple as RF and you will have never have anything more than a broken leg.


You are being dense on purpose and it is not persuading anyone to your side. I am confident in my decision to leave my 2.5 year old rear facing for the moment and have no problem with the decision you make for your children. I seriously do not understad why you have such an issue with mine.


I have no problem with RF or with your decision at all. I have a problem with your insistence that your child will never have more than a broken leg and mine will be dead because you RF until 2. That simple.


I have never said that. I am not the poster you quoted earlier and they did not say that either. She has pointed out that the data shows rear facing is safer in the majority of car accidents. She never said it was a guarantee and she certainly never wished ill will upon your child. Also, FWIW, our ped even said at my daugthers 18 months visit, "We are much better at fixing legs than we are necks." I think everyone mentions legs because that is the reasoning often cited by those who turn the carseat at a year.
Anonymous
Post 06/08/2012 21:35     Subject: At what age, did you turn your carseat forward?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1. Her pediatrician gave the okay; weight wise she was within the threshold and her legs were just so cramped. It made life so much easier and she began to actually enjoy being in the car. I will be honest, until I moved here, I had never heard of people waiting until 2+ to go forward facing.

I don't think it has to do with living here as much as the recommendation changing last year to at least 2 years.

For the poster that made the stupid comment about the helmet. Keeping your kid rear-facing is such a simple move that makes your kid 5x safer. There's nothing impractical about it (like wearing a helmet all day). Do what you want with your kid but others may be interested in doing some research, there are plenty of videos of crash tests available online showing the difference in impact of ff vs rf (google it). When an adult's head snaps forward in a car wreck we may get whiplash but the same impact can break a kid's neck since their developing spine isn't nearly as strong, and their head is proportionately more heavy. I'll be waiting until at least 2 and probably longer to turn my kid. It may be uncomfortable for the kid (which is debatable anyhow) but the alternative is much, much worse. In Europe they recommend (or mandate?) rear-facing til age 4.


We are also ERFers, but the European method doesn't hold up here, in my opinion. First, it's not all of Europe, and secondly, they have different cars, car seats, and car safety laws that makes it much, much easier to RF than here with our cars and car seats. If the Europeans had our cars and seats, I bet they'd have a lower rate of RFing. It's just not comparable.


We have bigger cars, which makes it far easier to RF. They do have better designed car seats, but there is a simple solution to that. You just import one. It is very comparable and looking at their statistics, they clearly in some areas are doing far better than we are.