Rear Facing Your Precious Cargo

So I've been wanting to write this for awhile. Many new parents (myself included) are never taught car seat safety before their little one's arrival (and even after). In the early months of Sophia's life I did not know about car seat safety or the proper way to install a car seat or even to buckle her in safely. See the photos at the end of this post for examples of what NOT to do! I learned that I was doing it wrong through comments on Instagram on other mom's car seat photos. If it wasn't for these wonderful mother's teaching each other, I never would have learned what to do and what not to do. Praise God, we never had an accident in those early months when I was improperly using the car seat. Thanks to learning about car seat safety, I did further research and found out about the massive benefits of extended rear facing (and the risks of forward facing too early). Many people do not know or understand why rear facing is so important. I hope this post will help clear up some of the confusion while also giving some tips to avoid the major pitfalls of installing a car seat and buckling in your precious cargo.

My own mother did not understand the reasons for extended rear facing beyond a year and 20 lbs. No matter how many statistics I told her about how much safer it is to rear face (RF reduces injury by 96%; FF has a 40% risk of severe injuries). It wasn't until I found this video on YouTube that she finally changed her tune and is now pro RF beyond the minimum of 1 year and 20 lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

This video was made by the grandfather of a child who was forward facing in an accident (at 18 months and 33 lbs). You can see now what an advocate he is of RF when he learned all the information he shares in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U

This video shows visually how the strain is put on the neck and spinal cord when children are FF in a frontal collision (96% of crashes are frontal and side impact).

The quote below from an article on cpsafety.com does a good job of explaining why it is safer to RF than FF for a small child:

"When a child is in a forward-facing seat, there is tremendous stress put on the child's neck, which must hold the large head back. The mass of the head of a small child is about 25% of the body mass whereas the mass of the adult head is only 6%!  A small child's neck sustains massive amounts of force in a crash.  The body is held back by the straps while the head is thrown forward - stressing, stretching or even breaking the spinal cord.  The child's head is at greater risk in a forward-facing seat as well.  In a crash, the head is thrown outside the confines of the seat and can make dangerous contact with other occupants, vehicle structures, and even intruding objects, like trees or other vehicles.

Rear-facing seats do a phenomenal job of protecting children because there is little or no force applied to the head, neck and spine.  When a child is in a rear-facing seat, the head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned and the child is allowed to "ride down" the crash while the back of the child restraint absorbs the bulk of the crash force. The head is contained within the restraint, and the child is much less likely to come into contact with anything that might cause head injury."

Here are some more tips for safe riding:

• Be sure to read your car seat manual and your car manual to learn proper installation of your car seat.

• 

  Safe Riding Sophie!

  When buckling in your child make sure the chest clip is at arm pit level. Also check to make sure there is not too much seat belt slack (you shouldn't be able to pinch it together). And make sure the safety belts lie flat and are not twisted.
• The harness straps should be at or below your child's shoulders for RF. For FF they should be at or above their shoulders.
• Do not put bulky clothes on your child (i.e. snow suits and thick coats). Instead put a blanket over them once they are buckled in their seat for warmth. Reason being in the event of a crash the coats/snowsuits would get compressed and the child will not be as protected and could even slip out of the car seat belts completely.
• When properly installed your car seat should not move more than an inch in any direction.
• The middle of the back seat is the safest place for your
  child. If you have two children put the youngest in the middle and the older one on the passenger side of the back seat.
• If you are using an infant carrier seat make sure the handle is in the down position (most but not all car seat's have this rule - check your car seat manual).

I hope these video's and tips help other parent's. Ride safe everyone!!

This was probably my worst car seat offending moment.

There was a time I did not know car seat safety.

Update on EC

Well...Sophia is almost 9 months old! Sorry I have not posted in so long.... I've been working like a crazy woman!

I just wanted to update everyone on our experience with EC since so many mommies have been asking me about it. So far I have no complaints! We are still doing it part time and Sophia is doing so well with it. She actually holds in her poop until I get a chance to put her on her potty. Now that we have started solids (another post to follow on that experience) her poop is more solid too. And she only poops once every other day.

I am still following her cues to give her opoportunities to go on the potty. She definitely whines now to be put on the potty when she has to poo. She absolutely refuses to poo in her diaper. I also put her on the potty after she eats, has a diaper change, and when she wakes up since it is convenient and she usually has to pee around these times.

Pretty much every time I put her on the potty she goes. In traditional potty training some parents feel the need to praise the child for going to the bathroom or give treats. With EC it is recommended that you do not praise or treat for going on the potty. I think this has worked very well for us as Sophia understands that going to the potty is just something that everyone does and doesn't expect any reward other than the internal relief she feels after going on the potty.

If you are thinking of trying EC go for it! My guess is you won't be disappointed. If you are wondering which potty to get... I think you can tell from my photos we are big fans of the Baby Bjorn Potty! But get whichever one you like best. It is good to keep it simple though and try to avoid those potties with a lot of music and gadgets as they are counterproductive to the purpose of EC. Let me know if you have any questions you would like me to address in my future posts. Happy EC'ing!!