wwyd (forward facing baby)

mlf625 · July 2011

DH's cousin put a picture on FB this morning of her baby sitting forward facing in a convertible seat. He's 7 months old. Admittedly, I tend to be kind of a hardass about rear-facing, but if the kid were 12 months+, I'd keep my trap shut - her kid, her choice. However, this kid is 7 months old. It's quite possible that DH's cousin just doesn't know that he should be 1 year/20lb+ before FF. He's a big baby and may already be 20lb, so I'm guessing she misunderstood the rec as 1 year OR 20lb+.

DH says I should send her a FB message being like "hey, what's up, kid is so cute, blablabla", then mention the pic and ask if she knows about the ERF suggestions. Maybe add a link to AAP's suggestions. Or maybe I could just comment on the pic like "he's SO cute! What's he doing forward facing, though?"

WDYT?

[Poll]

rnfromtn · July 2011

First of all, how well do you know this cousin? Do you have a comfortable rappore with her? I would send a private message saying that it is against the law for an infant to be forward facing before they are a year old and that you would hate for her to get a ticket for something like that. Yes, in the end it is about safety, however you don't want to look like you are critiquing her parenting. Just that you are worried about her getting a ticket. Oh, and then send her an invite to join us here!

mlf625 · July 2011

rnfromtn:
First of all, how well do you know this cousin? Do you have a comfortable rappore with her? I would send a private message saying that it is against the law for an infant to be forward facing before they are a year old and that you would hate for her to get a ticket for something like that. Yes, in the end it is about safety, however you don't want to look like you are critiquing her parenting. Just that you are worried about her getting a ticket. Oh, and then send her an invite to join us here!

I know her fairly well, we don't see much of each other but we keep up on FB. She's not the type to offend easily in my experience, but in the event that I totally piss her off, it's not a huge deal - we live across the country and likely won't see her for years.

I think she'd get eaten alive on here. Her baby watches hours of TV and she started solids at 2 months. Wink

g8trkim · July 2011

I wouldn't make a comment about the car seat thing. I would send it in a private message just because I think since you're kind of calling her out you wouldn't want to embarrass her. Obviously, try to be as nice as possible without sounding judgy.

TMDMJAOCT07 · July 2011

Are you 100% positive he's ff in the car? Could it be possible that they were trying it out and it wasn't secured in? Or that it could be hard to tell in the picture?

If your 100% positive of the above, and you have a good relationship, I'd mention that its against the law, etc.

I did vote for myob, but after I thought about it for a second, I thought of the above.

mlf625 · July 2011

TMDMJAOCT07:
Are you 100% positive he's ff in the car? Could it be possible that they were trying it out and it wasn't secured in? Or that it could be hard to tell in the picture?

Yeah, 100% sure it's FF. I can see blurred stuff outside the window, so I'm also pretty sure the vehicle was moving - but even if not, they don't have other children, so there'd be no reason a FF seat would be in the vehicle if not for the 7 month old.

Ruby_Soho · July 2011

Just to be dramatic about it Wink Potentially saving the life of a baby far outweighs any damage I might cause to a relationship.

Saying that, you sounds onto it enough to say something in a non judgy, just looking out for her sort of way. I would go the ticket route with a link to the AAP or other info where she can find out the law and actually just how dangerous. Hopefully that would be enough to encourage her to RF as long as possible.

nealbl · July 2011

Just put a link on your facebook wall with the new AAP regulations. Say hey all friends and family new regulations about rear facing your children. Thought I would share this article it is really interesting. Then hope the cousin sees it.