car seat saftey?
Despite the laws regarding an infant in Rear Facing position for 1 year and 20 lbs, why do parents still tend to switch for Forward Facing before the child is 1 year old, even though their weight is over 20 lbs? I know they say the infant is happier and they can see out the window and all, but the child shouldn't have a say in how they sit, cause they don't know about accidents and how they can be severely hurt in a crash, only the parents know. So, why make the child happy, by putting them in more danger? The child should have no say in how they sit, since they have no idea about safety. Even if their legs are really long, wouldn't it be better to have potentially broken legs than a spinal injury? Also, I do realize some have siblings in which are sitting forward, but should THAT really give you the idea to make the decision to FF your child too young, for the child happiness?
I just want to know, why parents (not the ones who keep RF, but the ones who do it too early) do this? Why?
We are going to do extended RF too. There is no rush to turn him around. I don't know why there would be with anyone.
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8 Responses to “car seat saftey?”-
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I do not understand why people FF before the limits of the seat. I turned my daughter FF at 2 years, 9 months and 32lbs because she was so close to the 33lb RF weight limit on her seat. She has done nothing but complain that her seat is "backerds" and she hates having her feet dangle. When I took her to the doctor for her 3 year appt, she had lost a few ounces, so I turned her back RF and she LOVES it!
I have 3 friends who turned their DDs way before the limits for the following reasons: 1 – convenience (my convenience does not matter one bit when it comes to my child’s safety), 2 – her daughter was "battling" about getting in the carseat (IMO this is a discipline issue, not a carseat issue, especially since she still "battles") and the 3rd friend turned her DD because RF didn’t work for their family (how on earth can your child RF not work for your family????)
If a parent KNOWS and understands the risks and safety benefits of RF then in my mind they are negligent. I understand that the information on rearfacing to the limits of the seat is not out there and our laws are not best practice, but when parents KNOW, I can not understand it.
i have no idea why some put they’re Lo’s at risk??? I’ve been wondering the same thin lately.
I have no idea either and it’s a pet peeve of mine to see babies forward too early. I will be doing extended rear facing with my daughter. I guess it’s like anything else, parents want to get to that next phase quickly even if baby isn’t ready yet.
Yes-they can have their legs all squished up and it’s still way safer than having them forward.
I have no idea. And it’s also a pet peeve of mine to see parents doing that. As well as to see parents not using booster seats when the child clearly needs one.
The fireman that taught me how to use my car seat told me that it’s highly recommended that babies stay in the rear facing car seat until 25 pounds. He said that even switching at 20 pounds and 1 year can be dangerous. My little guy is 10 months and about 17 pounds. I’ll be keeping him in his rear facing seat until 25 pounds. I trust the fireman who has pulled kids out of accidents over a book anyday.
Besides, for us, it also delays the added expense of buying a forward facing seat for a little bit.
To make my baby happier about being in the car seat, I ride in the back with him when my husband drives. Or sometimes I drive and hubby sits in back with baby. This keeps him entertained and he can still see out the window.
I don’t know but my friend turned her daughter FF when she was 11 months because she said her daughters legs were getting smashed. I think I would rather her legs be smashed than be killed. It just irks me that she did that. Her daughter is well over the weight limit but still it’s breaking the law and not safe for her child….who knows why people still do this. It’s stupid and selfish if you ask me.
okay why the thumbs down if everybody else is saying the same thing?…..whatever..lol
My son is two and rear-facing as he is still under 30 lbs. I live in Canada and carseats are only allowed to be approved up to 30lbs RF but its the same seat as the US model I’m sure so I may keep him in it to 35lbs.
Seriously my son doesn’t know the difference and what I say goes HE’S TWO! Yeah I might let him have his way on many things but not that.
I imagine its because people don’t think statistics apply to them. I think some think that they are too good of a driver to get into a wreck (without taking into consideration that someone could hit them). I’ve heard some people say they just don’t care what the government says, they’ll do what they want, when they want. And of course there are some that just truly don’t know any better (which seems weird to me because I’ve read the entire car seat manual front to back at least twice, but some people just pop ‘em in the car and go).
My 15 month old 22-23lb baby is still rear facing with no immediate plans to turn forward facing.
As you know
I well agree with you that it boggles my mind when parents won’t do what’s needed to keep their kids safe, although my biggest problem is seeing 2 & 3 year olds in booster seats, done of course b/c its ‘more convenient’. My blunt reply to that is always "how ‘convenient’ will it be paying for funeral expenses?".
Just wanted to say though, that in most states it is NOT law that they must stay rear facing to 20lbs and 1 year. Most states don’t mention rear facing requirements. I just sat and looked up 10 different states, NONE of them have specific laws regarding rear facing vs. forward facing. Their laws are instead generic ones stating how long a child must remain in some kind of age/size appropriate restraint.
The only catch there is that many states do have a ‘correct use’ clause about child restraints. So technically, it can be argued that its against the law to use a forward facing seat for a child under 1 year or under 20lbs b/c all current seats require the child to be at least 20lbs before using forward facing. So that would be violating the correct use clause, not following the manufacturer’s instructions.
The 20lbs/1year rule came about in the 1980′s when the seats we had then only went to 20lbs rear facing. That’s it. No big medical science saying its safe at 1 year/20lbs, just what was available in the 80′s. And they put the 1 year in b/c on average most kids are around 20lbs at 1 year. Science as you already know, has told us clearly that that’s not safe practice. And today’s car seats reflect that – ALL current seats go to at least 30lbs rear facing, and many go to 33lbs or even 35lbs rear facing. So we have these updated seats, but everyone is going by outdated rules! Crazy. I mean, airbags weren’t widespread in the early 80′s either, and most of aren’t still living with that way of driving!
As for the parents saying their kid is happier forward facing – its a pile of rubbish. #1 – its a safety issue, you don’t compromise those. Say ‘NO’ and be done with it.
#2 – the parent is making stuff up. A child can’t want what he doesn’t know about. If he has always been rear facing, he doesn’t know he can sit any different way.
#3 – kids are more comfortable rear facing, they can prop their feet up so their legs don’t fall asleep.