Those of you who read this blog regularly, or know me in person, know that I am a huge advocate of extended rear facing for toddlers. In fact, I’m sure plenty of my friends are sick of hearing about it. It is something I strongly believe in, though, and I try to educate as many people as I can about it. Rylie was almost three when we finally turned her, and we will not even think about turning Bryce until he is two.
Why should you leave your child rear facing as long as possible? I’m not going to go on and on here about the reasons, but bottom line is that it is safer. Period. You can type “extended rear facing car seat” into Google and get a slew of research on it. You will also find out why your child has a greater risk of serious injury (including internal decapitation) or death by being turned around before 2.
I honestly cannot believe how many people used to ask me why Rylie was still rear facing, even before she turned 2. It amazed me that people didn’t know how much safer it is. People would give me weird looks when they would see me putting her in the car in her rear facing seat, and the looks got even weirder the older she got. I didn’t care. My kid was safe. People could give me weird looks all day.
I used to get comments like “oh, my kid is way too tall for that. His legs are all scrunched up.” So? Rylie is average height. She never once complained. She didn’t even know there was another way to ride in the car. Kids fall asleep on the hard floor, they sleep without pillows on cots at school, they sit in positions I wouldn’t even be able to get into, so obviously their little bodies get comfortable much easier than ours do.
Another one of my favorite comments was “my kid screams in her seat when it is backwards.” Guess what? They scream when it is forward too. A lot of kids don’t like to be strapped in anything. Regardless, I would rather listen to screaming and know my child is safe, than to turn them just because I think they are upset about being backwards.
The CNN article (taken from Parenting.com) talked about how parents are so eager to turn their child’s car seat because it is a milestone, and milestones are exciting. As much as I love checking off milestones, that was one I was not eager to cross off my list. I don’t know why people get so excited to turn their children around. Even when we finally did turn Rylie, I wasn’t excited about it.
Now that the AAP has made 2 years old their new guideline, I hope parents will start to listen. It really IS safer. It would be nice, too, not to get those weird looks from other parents this time around with Bryce.
13 comments:
Brooklinn will be two in July and I still have her rear-facing! Lots of people ask questions or comment etc but I just tell them "she isn't ready to be turned around yet". The main thing people say is about her legs but a friend of mine put it this way = "broken legs - cast it; broken neck - casket". I'm going to share your blog post on my FB page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/365-days-of-my-life-as-a-MOM/104089516338410) - stop over and have a look and of course I would love it if you followed my blog too: http://365daysasmom.blogspot.com/
i'm right there with you! we're RF at nearly 15 months and have no intention of turning anytime soon. i don't bug people about their choice to FF after a year, so i don't get why people bug me about my choice to keep her RF. and i HATE the argument that "it's just easier" or "what happens if you get into a head on collision?" uhhh... UGH! anyway, i'm right there with you and think it's about friggin time. now the booster seat thing (past 10 or so) is a bit much IMO.
I'm a peanut, so I'll be rear-facing FOREVER. Mommy thinks the excitement to turn is because then you can see your happy little pumpkin smiling at you in the rearview mirror, and sometimes she IS tempted, but we know RF is safer, so that's how I'll stay!
The hubs came home from work yesterday and just told me about this. Safety is the most important thing with regards to our kids!! We should all listen :)
I kept my daughter rear-facing until she was 18 months, and got so many comments about it. Don't even get me started on how many people thought it was ridiculous that my almost 6 year old was still in a 5-point harness!
I turned my first born forward facing after he turned 1, but that was the norm then. This baby will stay rear-facing until he/she is 2.
It also surprises me how many people don't know the state's car seat laws or the fact that seats actually do expire.
I'm really glad the AAP has adjusted their guidelines. I have so many friends that started turning car seats front facing when their kids were 20 pounds OR a year old, instead of AND both conditions being met. I'm just not in that much of a hurry for my daughter to grow up or to put her in danger to do that.
I kept my daughter rear facing until she was 18 months. I would have kept going with her rear facing but based on our car seat and the set up in our SUV, it just wasn't comfortable or safe for any of us any longer.
I"m just glad mine are all past this age. With my oldest we struggled just to keep him rearfacing til a year. I am all about safety but sometimes things just don't work out as well for everyone else. My son was SUPER tall and super strong. He was actually moving the seat with his legs being rearfacing and that scared me more than anything. And it was properly installed, expensive seat that had been checked and rechecked.
I'm very glad we are past this point, my kids weren't good rear facers but when I turned them around and they could see, car rides became more peaceful for everyone. :)
David will be 2 yrs old in April and he is still RFing. I want to get a taller car seat that keeps him that way longer. He is only 26 lbs so he has 10 more lbs to safely stay RFing, he is just getting too tall for his current car seat (stupid short shell LOL)
Thank you for writing this - I tweeted it and facebooked it - people need to hear this! I had one mom recently tell me "I know my 18 month old is still 18 lbs, but she is old enough I turned her anyways." Sorry, age has NOTHING to do with safety. Car wrecks don't care how OLD you are.
At 2 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 5 days old, my baby girl is still RF and I don't care how inconvenient it is. She has really, really long legs too and isn't the least bit uncomfortable. No collision is safe but any collision (even rear endings) is made safer for the little ones if they are RF.
Thanks for inspiring me to do a similar post on my blog to spread the word!
two thumbs up. I blogged this yesterday - it's a topic that's very important to me. Violet stayed rear facing in my husband's car (the one she rides in 90% of the time) until she turned 2, and in my car until she was 22 months (I used to drive a VW Beetle which was a PITA to put a seat in rear facing much less get the kid in the seat - but we did it for almost 2 years!)
Great post LeeAnn! I think raising awareness is key here. Many people don't realize how much safer RFing is, so they just turn them following the guidelines. I think laws following these new guidelines will probably happen next.
Hey Steph - I still have my 5 year old in a 5 pt. harness too...safety is safety ;)
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