A few weeks ago it became apparent that the infant car seats had become uncomfortable for the boys by their crying when we put them in & took them out of their car seats. It had become more difficult for us to get them in & out of their seats also because of how tight they had gotten. So right before we headed south Donna installed Caden & Kellans' new car seats. Garrens had to wait because his could not be installed rear facing on the middle seat :( Well, with the other two's installed rear facing, Donna could not get in the van. The car seats are so tall and lean back so far when installed rear facing we had to put the front seats all the way forward. This is not a problem for 5' 2" me, but for 5' 10" Donna it posed a problem.
Well this weekend we had planned on going to FL to do some house hunting which required Donnas' presence in the van, lol. We weighed the boys & they are all well above 20lbs so we went ahead & decided to turn their seats around. We really didn't have much of a choice if we wanted to travel as a family. I worry a lot, especially with the new recommendation to keep kids rear facing until age 2, but we tried everything we could to get 3 car seats in rear facing & still fit our gigantic stroller. We didn't want to turn one around & not the others either.
The boys seemed a bit confused at first, they kept looking up & at each other. When we got going & they realized we were right there in front of them, they kept yelling at us. Caden really wanted Donna to turn around and pay attention to him. They settled in well & didn't cry going in or getting out of their new seats. They did not nap as well though in them. They sit upright now instead of reclining so I'm guessing maybe that is why.
Donna & our nephew, Chandler
You may want to check your local laws - in most places the min is 20 lbs and 1 yr old. I know it is HARD to fit car seats into cars though!
ReplyDeleteThat is the law, they will be 1 next week... YIKES!!!
DeleteI wish more people knew more about extended rear facing with children in car seats. It breaks my heart to see so many FB and IG pictures with infants and children under 3 already forward facing.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that in almost every state, the law is 20lbs AND one year of age before you can turn them forward facing legally?
Did you also know that the vertebrae do not begin to fuse until age 3-6 years old. This is why rear-facing is the safest as it gives more support and protection to the incomplete vertebrae and therefore the spinal cord. With vertebrae in pieces, a forward facing child has a greater chance of damage to the spinal cord when their head and neck whip forward and back in a crash. Internal decapitation is no joke and it doesn't take much force from an accident to cause it.
One other common mistake I see? Chest clips. They are not called stomach clips, they are called chest clips. The chest clip is designed to keep the harness straps properly positioned on the child’s shoulders; this is important because the harness is the component that keeps the child restrained in the car seat. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that 59% of child harnesses are not tight enough. If the harness is loose and the chest clip is too low, one or both harness straps can slide off the child’s shoulders, allowing the child to potentially be ejected from the car seat in the event of a crash.
In a collision, the chest clip can cause damage and/or internal bleeding to vital organs in your child's abdominal region, which is not protected by the ribcage.