Let me just start with, this is nothing new! People have been rear facing their children till the age of four or five in Sweden since the 70′s. Yes I understand they may not drive as much, but their fatalities for children who are involved in accidents is next to none. Ours is the number one killer of children. I will concede that they have public transportation that actually functions unlike ours, thanks right wingers who opposed the high speed rail! Not like it wouldn’t of created millions of jobs and saved millions of people money or anything….jussayin. It is only my one opinion
Ever since I found out that I was going to have a kid and even before I would love to do research on how to be safe with car seats, which ones were the best, which strollers everyone used and the like. Luckily my college professor lent us a Chicco Keyfit 30 for Baby Bear to use. It worked like a dream and was extremely handy when we traveled to Colorado.
The new AAP recommendations are that you keep your child fear facing until the age of two or 30-35 pounds. The NHSTA (Highway Safety) recommends that you use the seat rear facing until your child has reached the maximum limits, not the minimum. Why would you not use a seat you have that works perfectly well rear facing, until at least 35-40 pounds?
There are not a large amount of seats you need. here are a few examples of the following:
A convertible car seat such as a Radian, Cocorro, and possibly Britax (with infant insert from Britax) can be used from birth.
Many people choose to use a bucket seat like the Graco Snugride, Chicco Keyfit and BabyTrend. These all have varying weight and height requirements as well. It is always wise to read the car seats manual once you purchase it to really understand your seat.
After your child outgrows the bucket seat or you simply wish to switch them to a bigger seat you can buy a convertible to allow them to rear face till they are three or four years of age.
After they outgrow the rear facing requirements of the seat that you own you can switch them to foward facing. I would personally use the britax frontier which allows you to harness up to a higher weight and then it switches to a high back booster. These seats usually last until they pass the five step test to use a regular seat belt.
So lets recap:
1. Infant bucket seat, rear facing. OR a rear facing convertible seat. (till 3-4 years of age)
2. Forward facing harnessed seat till they outgrow it by the maximum requirements for the harness. (5-6)
3. High back booster seat (you can usually just take the harness out and still use the afformentioned seat unless it’s a convertible) untill they reach the maximum requirements for that seat
4. Low back booster until they pass the five step test. Each car and child is different. They may pass the test in one car but not another, low back booster seats are very affordable.
5. Seat belt.
Common Myths and Questions:
1. My childs legs are touching the back of the seat! –Let your child worry about where they will put their legs, many prefer rear facing because their legs do not fall asleep since they are dangling. Legs are more likely to be broken if you child is forward facing in a seat rather than rear facing.
2. My kid looks uncomfortable!– Most of the time this is probably you juse projecting your emotions of discomfort onto your child, yes it may sound terrible but they do not know any different way to travel in a car.
3. I like seeing them in the mirror. –This is by far the worst excuse I have ever heard, it’s not even an excuse it is just a selfish parent need to see their offspring. Buy a plastic mirror to attach tot he back of the seat so you can still see the fruit of your loins.
4. It is more convenient for me to have them forward facing. – So when you get in a car accident it will be more “convenient” for you to watch your child immobilized in a halo, or posibly dead? I don’t impress upon people the importance of rear facing because it is some new fad like most things are today, I say it because we all know it is whats safest for children riding in a car.
5. I need to fit three seats across in my car but can’t do that will all seats rear facing. – Also? not acceptable there are plenty of seats that allow you to puzzle them three in a row. Car-seat.org is a great resource if you have any questions at all as to how each seat would fit into your car. It can be done!
6. They scream everytime i put them in their seat. – It’s not like they are throwing a fit because they want to be forward facing, they just simply do not want to be in the car. It is a phase that many babies go through and will eventually pass. Perservere and it will get better.
7. My child will be teased or think they are uncool. –This is not a popularity contest!
8. Car seats are too big to fit in my car!– Buy a car seat that fits your car, many seats do an just may seem like they do not fit because they are not properly installed in the car. When babies switch to convertible car seats, they do not need to be at a 45 degree recline, they can be at a 30 degree recline. Many babies actually prefer this. To say that you have a small car and cannot fit three car seats in it will make steam come out my ears. I’ve seen numerous pictures of people fitting not one but THREE car seats into the back of a VW Rabbit. It can be done, it takes some ingenuity and time but it can be done.
Protect your children in the car, that is our responsibility as parents.
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