Monday, December 15, 2008

Car seat Saftey

I've been asked a whole lot lately about why Jack is still rear facing in his car seat so I figured I'd just write about it on here in case anyone else wanted to know. Yes, most people turn their children around at 1 year and 20lbs and yes, Jack is significantly beyond both of those milestones. I did lots of research about car seats and car seat safety before we bought Jack's big car seat. After seeing and reading the difference in the trauma to their head and neck in forward facing seats as opposed to rear facing seats the decision to keep him rear facing was easy. Jack will be rear facing for as long as his car seat allows, 33lbs in the Britax Marathon.

The convenience of having him forward facing is really insignificant. I use a mirror attached to the headrest where he sits so he and I can see each other and he has gotten really good at sticking his hand to the side of the seat when I am handing him something.

More than likely by the time we are having the last of our babies as opposed to our first the idea of turning children around at one year will seem as outrageous as putting babies in the front seat (like our parents did with us.) Anyway, if you want to know more and see crash tests with forward facing and rear facing car seats take a look at the info below...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868


http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx


http://www.carseatsite.com/rear-face_article.htm



Forgive me for being preachy, I really just wanted to give an honest answer to an important question.