our little man

3.04.2008

car seats

something i read the other day got me all riled up about car seat safety, and i've sort of been stewing over it since. it's not my place to tell others how to parent, but i do think that spreading some education and awareness is a vital part of being a parent - if i have information that could be valuable to others, than i should put it out there. how else do people learn? being an informed parent now-a-days is a challenge - there are so many products out there, so many opinions about medical treatments, safety guidelines, and on and on. i can hardly claim that i have all the information, but i do feel good that i try. sometimes people make decisions without ever really thinking about their options. sometimes they don't even know other options exist. i'm the kind of person who likes to research. call me a nerd. but i like to know what my choices are and what the benefits are to each one.

most of my parenting is based on what feels right for my family, but a lot of that is also supported by facts and information that i have learned along the way. take breastfeeding for example: it's what works best for our family and feels right, but i also know from research all of the health and emotional benefits it provides and that helps support my decision. having information provides me with an additional confidence in my parenting.

so back to car seats. i have made it a point to learn as much as i can about car seat safety because it's such a serious concern. i want to be sure that my kids are as safe as they can be when they're in the car. learning the right way to install a car seat or the guidelines and restrictions for your particular model isn't just important - it can be a matter of life and death. (did you know that the shoulder straps should be in a slot below or at your baby's shoulder when they are rear-facing, and at or above their shoulders when they're front facing? or that the chest clasp needs to be positioned up so that it is level with their armpits?) the basic rule for forward facing is that the baby should be both 20 pounds and a year old before they are turned around. turning your baby around before then is simply unsafe. and those are minimum recommendations. the american academy of pediatricians recommends that babies remain rear-facing as long as possible - leaving them facing back until they have outgrown the limits of their seat. for the car seat we have for ben, a britax roundabout, the limits for rear-facing are 35 pounds and 40 inches. that's the size of a typical three year old.

we kept sophie rear-facing until just before ben was born - when we knew we were going to have to change the placement of her seat in the car and it would have been very difficult to get her in and out from a rear-facing position. i believe she was 21 months when we turned her to face front. benjamin is still very happily facing backward, and as he is barely at the 20 pound mark, we wouldn't have turned him around yet, anyway. my plan is to keep him rear-facing for as long as possible. we have an advantage that right now the kiddos are facing each other in the car, and that is the way ben wants to sit. i think he would be upset to turn around. but even if he were alone in the car, i would still keep him rear-facing. it's simply safer.

posted at 7:20 AM by aimee // 9 comments