Car seat safety - rear facing saved my child from injury

Shiva14

I know it's been a while since I've posted (boy does a toddler leave you with sparse spare time) but I wanted to get up on a soap box for a second about car seat safety. I'll preface this by saying that me, LO, DS and my friend are all OK apart from some whiplash and aches.

I was on the way to the beach with a friend and DS today along with the rest of America. While driving on the highway, a car pulled in front of us from the left lane then came to a full stop in front of us because they didn't know what exit to take (we later found out they had been drinking). I slammed on my breaks and managed to stop the car about 5 inches from hitting them. The truck behind us, a Ford f-15, couldn't stop in time and sandwiched my poor Jeep between the two cars. 

Luckily the highway was congested so they were only going about 35-40 mph which still felt extremely forceful as they hit us. 

Now, DS is still rear facing at almost two and will continue to do so until he outgrows that setting. While my friend and I have whiplash and were tossed forward, he appears completely fine. The doctor at the ER told us that if he had been front facing, it would have been a different story as his chest and bones are not developed enough for that type of impact. He would have been tossed forward into his seatbelt and would have sustained considerable injuries. 


The reason I bring this up is because the fear of behind hit from the rear is the number one argument I see for making kids face forward - however rarely will the tempered glass in your rear window break. The force from the impact is the most dangerous element of a crash like that and a rear facing car seat absorbs that so much better than a front facing one does. 

Also - should you be in a crash, make sure not to reuse the car seat. Your insurance (or the at-fault persons insurance) will reimburse you for a new one. 

I'll step off my soap box now but please don't think a crash won't happen to you - you never know when you'll be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Be safe out there!

PSUBecky23

How scary! So glad you're all OK. I'm also a huge proponent of extended rear facing. So much safer. 

pilotswifey

My son just turned three, and is still rear facing. He will be until he weighs too much--which could still be a while, he's scrawny! 

Thanks for for sharing your story. So glad everyone is ok, and glad you had your LO so safe and snug!

jbscmama

Wow glad you are all okay! I will remember this and keep little one rear facing as long as possible, thank you... and hope you all feel better! 

geminigirl16

I'm glad that you are all ok! What a frightening situation @Shiva14 I'm going to have to make a point to go over all this info and ensure my SO and in laws follow this when driving with my son. 

Sporty1216

Amen! And glad you are okay! My kiddo turned two in April and is huge (32 lbs and 37") and still rear-facing. Hope to keep him that way until at least 3! 

camichael84

Glad you are all okay!

Last week, I had a childless friend surprised to see that DD (who is 20 months) was still rear facing. I ended up giving her the whole spiel on why we will be rear facing until 4.

Thscary

So glad you all are ok!!

fireflygirl12

So glad you are OK! +1 for ERF, my almost 4yo is still RF.

hey_clever_girl

I am so glad you're all okay, and thank you for sharing this story. I am a HUGE ERF pusher. This babe will be RF 3+ years. I had to fight with my husband to ERF our daughter and plan on being even more vocal about it this time.

rock1cherry

Wow glad to hear you're all ok! Thanks for sharing this with everyone - it's so important! 

KimmySchmidt

Glad you're all ok! I'm planning on RF as long as our car seat allows!

Shiva14

Thanks ladies!!! I love that everyone on this board (and the bump in general) are so pro erf. I got a long spiel from the ER doc about all the injuries they see from kids being forward facing and how it was nice to see a kid his age (not even two yet!!) still rear facing, so I wanted to spread some extra awareness. I appreciate all the well wishes, you all are amazing

sareej521

So glad to hear you're OK!  I'm huge on extended rf even though my husband and most of our families think I'm ridiculous! Our daughter will be 3 in 3 weeks and she's still rear facing, she's nearing the limits of her seat but should be good until baby gets here at least! 

Edited because autocorrect added crazy words...

BernieRae

Glad you all checked out ok. That must have been scary. As a FTM I hadn't yet though much about the transition from rear facing. I'll remember your story. 

PSUBecky23

BernieRae said:

Glad you all checked out ok. That must have been scary. As a FTM I hadn't yet though much about the transition from rear facing. I'll remember your story. 

Tons of info out there about how important ERF is. Many states have begun implementing laws requiring it until age two but unfortunately there are still many that don't. And technically the science behind it is that it's safest until age four. Happy to share all my car seat knowledge with you when you're ready. It can be very overwhelming. 

Kimmy717

i know im late to the party, but i am very glad you are all safe and sound. Thanks for the information!!

Sporty1216

For those looking for more info, car seats for the littles is a great website/FB page/Instagram to follow!