I just finished reading a 143 page report that has me convinced more than ever to keep Selah rear-facing in her car seat AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!! Basically, in a forward-facing seat, too much stress is put on the child's neck in a crash. Did you know that a four or five year old child can have shaken baby syndrome? (Just learned that at GWM the other day). Just think then, in a car crash, going 100 km an hour, how much more stress is put on the child's neck/brain. A forward-facing child in a car crash can be internally decapitated, which means that their spine is severed. A child's spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches, while the spinal cord is only able to stretch up to 1/4 inch. So, after that, it can snap. So just because your baby can hold his head up well, doesn't mean his neck is strong enough to hold his head in a car crash. Just think of the whiplash that an adult often gets in a crash. Do you want your baby to feel that and worse?? In a rear-facing car seat, the forces are spread over a much larger area of the body, and the actual car seat absorbs more of the forces. Most convertible car seats allow you to rear-face your child up till 30-35 pounds. So this may sound kind of harsh, but I just want people to know. If you want to read the report for yourself, here it is. If you want more information about car seats, or you have questions, this is a good place to go. There are lots of car seat technicians who have a lot of experience, some who are even EMT, so they have seen children after vehicle crashes. The one lady has had children die in her arms because they were not restrained properly in their car seats. You can also email me if you have a question (bruceandheather(at)gmail(dot)com).
Selah will be one year old on Saturday, and I'm so happy that I can say she will still be rear-facing. In fact, she will probably be rear-facing till she is 3 or 4 years old.
5 comments:
Good warning post Heather.
That makes a lot of sense -- better to be safe than sorry.
Hey, nice to catch up a little on your blog. Life's been too busy the past few weeks so I haven't been on the computer very much. The weather's so nice we are outside more which is a good thing I guess. Selah is growing up so fast, what a cutie! Happy 1st Birthday soon!! Hope you guys are doing great. Take care.
Love,
Aunt Brenda
Great post...I am 100% with you on this. Tate is still rear facing and he is almost 2. And he will be rear facing until he outgrows the weight limit for this seat - which will be a while yet. It's so nice to have at least a few friends who see eye to eye with me on this car seat thing! Most people think I am weird, or being unneccissarily cautious, etc...and they just look at me really funny when they see that Tate is still rear-facing...but I don't care!! It's WAY safer...like you said. :)
Auntie Brenda... thanks for stopping by! I noticed on your blog that it was your anniversary just the other day. I was going to comment, but I was out of time:)
Andrea... it's nice to see other people with the same ideas:) I had noticed in your one pic of Tate and Emily that they were both rf, otherwise I didn't know you were an ERF.
Hi Heather. I just came across your blog and had to comment on this post. (I actually think you were in my grade 12 English class I student taught a few years ago.) My daughter is 14 months now, and she is still rear facing and we are the only people we know who continue to do this. I want to have her rearfacing as long as possible, the only thing I can see is that soon her feet will be touching the seat infront of her and I'm not sure how comfortable that would be after a while, but we'll play it by ear.
Way to make a choice that is right for you and your family!
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