My grandson's mother feels it is ok for him to ride forward facing, because supposedly the doctor said his neck muscles were strong enough for him to do so. I think that he should be rear facing, not only because she is breaking the law but because it would be safer. Her reply is also that he would hurt his legs riding backwards.
2006-10-25 01:53:31 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
you are right. not only will it break his neck and most likely kill him in a car wreck, but she'd be breaking the law. The child has to be at least 20 lbs and 1 years old. If worse comes to worse, and she keeps doing it, hell, call the cops or social services on her. Its better to have people intervene now rather than have people intervene when its too late... Say dead child and arrested mother.
2006-10-25 01:59:14 · answer #1 · answered by cawfeebeanz 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Oh… the unfortunate position of being “the Mother-in-law” and being correct about something… eek. You’re right, it’s actually quite unsafe. The recommendation is 20 lbs AND 1 year.
It's actually more developmentally driven than weight driven. It's better to leave the carseat rear-facing until a year to give their bones longer to develop.
Sucks for me because my 11 month old is just 18 lbs so unless she has a growth spurt it looks like she'll actually be OVER a year old when we finally get to turn her forwards.
It certainly worth adhering to these recommendations though. If you are in an accident and the baby is rear facing, the baby's weight and spine are pushed in to the car seat. The seat absorbs their body rather than their body being flung in a forward motion. If forward facing and under 1 year, the only thing that stops the baby's head from being whipped forward is their spine, which is not strong and could paralyze the child.
My baby girl is actually getting quite tall and her feet hang over the front of the seat a bit and can touch the seat of the car behind her when she's rear-facing. The feet aren't the rule of thumb though when I read the guidelines for my car seat. For her to be too tall for the seat it would actually be a question of her head being over the top of the seat. By properly adjusting the straps this hasn't been an issue for us. As for bent legs? Well... that's why God invented knees. Kids sit cross legged all the time... heck they spend months that way before they're born.
Sure forawrd facing is more convenient, but if we were ever unfortunate enough to be in a serious accident and it came to this, in my books a broken leg is better than a paralyzed baby any day.
I don't want to be melodramatic, (not my style) but in reality a year isn't that long in the grander scheme of things. I suspect it would feel considerably longer though if I had to suddenly adjust to having a baby that couldn't ever move, feed herself or do a hundred other little things. I suspect it would feel like an eternity if I was the one that had caused it (even unwittingly.) I didn't decide to become a parent to do what was best for me.
Maybe you can show your daughter-in-law some of the responses you’ve received on this query and it might change her mind?
Is she at all in the position where they can't afford 3-4 carseats over the span of baby's need for them? (Infant ; convertible ; forward facing w/higher weight limit than convertible & potentially a booster seat later on?) Maybe you could help out in that area? Nice Halloween present perhaps?
Good luck, take care!
2006-10-25 09:43:23 · answer #2 · answered by Poopsie-Daisy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He should be riding rear facing due to week muscles. He should be facing rear for as long as possible although they say untill atleast 1 year and 20 lbs. Not one before the other. Your daughter is not only endangering her son, but breaking the law.
I have a friend that is a carseat inspection officer. Hes always said a baby is better folded and backwards then forward and broken. So the people above saying their baby was unsafe with their legs crossed or bent from rear facing are wrong to turn their baby around. Think about it a baby is born folded up and it did not hurt them for 9 months, nor in the months prior sitting in the seat.
2006-10-25 09:11:34 · answer #3 · answered by erinjl123456 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Our daughter ourgrew her infant rear facing car seat at about 5 months old. We bought a convertible car seat for her then and she's been fine in it ever since. She's almost 10 months old now and her legs are nice and comfy.
To be perfectly honesy with you, I believe your daughter is lying to you. No doctor is going to tell his patients (or their parents) to break the law, let alone the fact the the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends rear facing carseats for under 1 year and 20 pounds.
The car seat that we use is a Graco Comfort Sport (see link below). Our long, little critter is more than comfortable in it. She's done at least two 8 hour each way trips in this car seat without complaints. We've also done several 3 hour each way trips with this car seat, again no complaints.
Yes, it would be nice if she could face forward now. It'd be a convenience for my husband and I if she could face forward now. It would be easier to keep her amused and tended to if she were forward facing, but we love her enough so that the convenience doesn't even come into our thinking when we put her in her seat.
Your daughter and your grandson only have two months to wait until he can legally and more safely ride while forward facing. Everytime we get into the truck with our daughter, we count down the weeks and months until she can see where she's going instead of where she's been. But we are willing to wait for her safety, and so should your daughter.
2006-10-25 09:19:28 · answer #4 · answered by gonefornow 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's very unsafe, and it's breaking the law. It is possible that the baby's length has outgrown his infant seat. Most infant seats are not meant to be forward facing. She needs to upgrade to the next style of carseat that can be used for toddlers forward facing, but she needs to get one that can also be used as an infant rear facing seat. It will probably accommodate a longer baby better than an infant seat. We have one that can go from 5 pounds to more than 40 pounds and from rear facing to forward facing. It is the Cosco Touriva...$40 at Walmart.
2006-10-25 10:07:58 · answer #5 · answered by JordanB 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is VERY unsafe for a child that is not a year old to be facing frontwards. My son is only 5 months, weighs 23lbs and is 27in long, he grew out of his infant seat very quickly, but they have car seats that are convertible. The one I have for my son has several reclining positions so you can actually start them off in this car seat without even putting them into an infant seat. There are lots of car seats out there that will grow with your baby and still allow them to be rear facing. It is breaking the law for a child to be front facing until they are a year old AND 20lbs. There is obviously a reason for this, I don't see why any mother wouldn't want to wait the full year just to be safe. I mean she's only got 2 months left, it's a short time to wait if it may save your child's life.
The car seat that we own is called Eddie Bauer® 'Laurelhurst' 'Elite' 3-in-1 Car Seat, I would definitely recommend it.
2006-10-25 09:56:22 · answer #6 · answered by LittleRaysMama 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is unsafe for the baby to ride face forward especially since there has been scientific reulsts regarding this issue. If your grandson's mother gets into an accident with him facing forward there is a chance that the child could be thrown thru the front window, be paralyzed for life or dead. And the fact about it hurts his legs to sitting backwards, that is totally untrue. My children rode in cars backwards from the day they was born until with one of them at least till they was 3 then they rode face forward.
2006-10-25 09:06:06 · answer #7 · answered by pdanahey2003 1 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies be at least 1 year old and at least 20 pounds before facing front. It has nothing to do with the strength of the babies neck muscles and the babies legs will be just fine. Your grandson's mother is putting your grandchild at risk for not following these guidelines! I included a link for you.
2006-10-25 09:31:34 · answer #8 · answered by hollyberry 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They should be REAR-facing until one years old.
He will hurt MORE riding forward facing then just his legs.........
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/...
When your child outgrows the maximum height and weight of his/her infant seat, you may require a convertible rear-facing seat until your child is ready to be facing forward. Use a rear-facing car seat until:
the baby is at least 9 kilograms (20 lb.)
the baby can pull him/herself to a standing position
the baby is one year old.
http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.h...
Rear-facing seats
All infants should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds. That means that if your baby reaches 20 pounds before her first birthday, she should remain rear-facing until she turns ONE
2006-10-25 09:27:15 · answer #9 · answered by Joogie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The child's mother is correct. The general rule of thumb is 6 months, and the baby has to be over 20 pounds. Not all children reach 20 lbs by 6 months, so both conditions have to be in place. The child should also be in the middle of the back seat, or the center seats in a minivan. No child should be put in the front seat - not only because of air bags, but because if the windshield breaks in a vehicle accident, the child can go blind. The child should be in a car seat, and not yet a booster. Usually children go into boosters around the age of 2 or 3, depending on their height & weight. You can always double check the car seat laws by calling your local police department non-emergency number, as some vary slightly by state.
2006-10-25 08:59:54 · answer #10 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 5⤋