Rear-facing - why it is so important

[bombedier]

I posted some time ago about the story of Joel.  Since then, I have been working with Joel's grandfather to produce this video....

http://www.joelsjourney.org/curriculum.html

Comments

[kamileer]

You would have been royal pissed off at Maya's preschool today. There is a sibling of one of Maya's classmates who is 8 months old and in the bucket seat. A couple of the moms asked when she was going to get out of the bucket and the dad adamently said "1 year." A few of the moms chimed in that it isn't just about weight but about length too and that most babies grow out of the standard Graco (older style) bucket before a year. He got really snappy and said that his son was in it for a year and it was fine, so the baby is going to be. I chimed in that my friend is a carseat expert, blah, blah, blah and he was not having it. He said that the baby will be in this seat until she turns one and then they will "turn her around."

[bombedier]

I don't understand people...sometimes they have to learn the hard way to learn at all.

[kamileer]

I mean, I am right about this, right?

[bombedier]

Yes. A seat can be outgrown by height or weight, whichever comes first. Rear-facing, as long as there is an inch of hard shell above the top of the child's head and they are under the weight limit, then they are fine.

[emschwar]

Question for ya. A friend of mine wants me to turn her 2 year old's car seat around. She weighs 24 lbs and is a tiny thing. She knows RFing is safer. (She even wonders why people put their 4 year olds in boosters instead of leaving them harnessed, and has a regent for her 5 year old.) I sent her this video. I told her she's basically doing the same thing as the people who put their 4 year olds in boosters.

I told her I didn't know if I could do it in good concience. She said "You know I'm going to do it with or with out you. If you do it at least I know its in correctly."

Any ideas? (FWIW, I'm not 100% sure she'll do it with me or without me.)

[bombedier]

Why is she so desperate to turn her FF? Maybe after she watches the video she will change her mind.

The bottom line though is it is the parents decision and it is better for her to have a correctly installed FF seat than an incorrect one.

If she will do it anyway, I'd help her out. We can't save every child unfortunately.

[emschwar]

She wants to turn her because the 2 year old is fighting her when she tries to put her in the car seat. She thinks she'll be happier FF. I tried to tell her that if she waits it out, the kid'll go back to peacefully getting into the seat.

[bombedier]

agreed she just needs to wait it out.