So I posted a wanted ad for a used toddler car seat for forward facing for my 13 month old. (for my DH's car - to be used to drop Zoe off in the morning at daycare - 4 blocks away)
This is one of the responses:
Hi there,
I noticed your wanted ad on Craigslist, and just wanted to pass
on some information I found while researching car seats for my own kids. I
noticed you said you wanted your daughter, who is 13 months, to be in a forward
facing car seat. The purpose of a convertible car seat is to keep the child
rear facing once they have outgrown their infant seat, until they reach the
maximum weight limit for rear facing, and then use the seat forward facing.
It is recommended by Child Passenger Safety Technicians as well as the
American Academy of Pediatrics to keep children rear-facing to 30-35lbs and at
least two years of age. A lot of people aren't aware of that, because all we
are told are the laws, 1 and 20lbs to forward face, but those laws were made
several years ago when there were no seats on the Canadian market that
rear-faced to higher weight limits. In Sweden, they actually rear face their
children until 4-5 years old, and they have the lowest children's traffic
fatality rate in the world.
Anyways, here are some links that might be
informative for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo
https://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx
https://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#rearfacFF
Best
of luck to you and your daughter.
Then I replied (I don't know why I bothered):
Thanks. I have all that information. My daughter is very long and her legs are too long to be rear-facing still. Her feet (in the rear-facing position) are flat up against the back of the seat. That is extremely dangerous as well.
To which she replied:
I understand your concern about her legs. That is actually a very common
misconception. In fact, there has never been a documented case of leg injury in
a rear facing child. Statistically, leg injuries are far more common in a
forward facing child. However, the risk of neck injury, including internal
decapitation (the child's head becoming separated from their spine but still
attached by the skin) is 500% greater in a forward facing child under age 2 than
in a rear facing child the same age. I actually know someone who's child was
forward facing at 18 months and was in a low speed collision. He has permanent
spinal injuries that would not have occured if he were rear facing. Legs can be
fixed, spinal cords cannot.
I'm attaching a document that I really urge
you to look at before turning your daughter forward facing. From one parent to
another, I don't want anyone to have to learn this the hard way. The attachment
What I should have done was responded to her first response with "Do you have a car seat for sale?"
I knew there were the breast-feeding nazi types. I wasn't thinking there was also car seat nazi's!
Re: A craiglist nazi on car seats - LONG
Be prepared b/c there are tons of "car seat nazis" on here. FWIW, you CAN still RF, even if your daughter's legs touch the seat... it's perfectly fine. I mean, to an extent, it is... after a certain length, I would imagine that a lot of damage can be done with a RF child, but at 13 months? Doubtful. But it's your call! Just know there are tons of people very passionate about car seat safety.
no kidding. Not saying that the info she had isn't valuable...
Honestly, I don't think she was lecturing. I think she was very polite. Her tone implied that maybe you'd just never heard of this. She stated that she didn't know it until recently herself. If you choose not to keep your child RF'ing that's fine--it's your right. BUT she was only trying to help. Give her a break.
And for what it's worth, she's right. Your daughter's legs RF'ing are at much lower risk for injury than her neck/spinal cord is FF'ing. But again, it's completely your choice.
How annoying!!!!
This is one of those situations where the person doesn't know the situation whatsoever. Our pedi said she was too long for rear-facing. I'm all for safety but unsolicited crap like that leaves a bad taste.
I can understand the annoyance, but she's probably just really passionate and has way too much time on her hands
She was polite about it and it sounds like she is just genuinely concerned for toddlers' safety because, even though you are, a lot of people aren't informed. Sounds like she was just trying to be helpful...even though it's a bit out there.. LOL
And Collski, I'm not trying to lecture, I promise
But just so you know, the AAP states that's the earliest you can FF, not necessarily when you should:
HERE is the AAP website on it
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
Mama Jan's Kitchen... a food blog
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
LOL no kidding. I think people are way more passionate about it on here, while IRL, people have never even heard of it!
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
Again, totally your choice, but your pediatrician was wrong.
Here is the AAP's recommendation:
The right car safety seat
Infants?rear-facing
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should ride rear-facing starting with their first ride home from the hospital. They should remain rear-facing until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat?s manufacturer. At a minimum, children should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
You can find it here:
https://www.aap.org/healthtopics/carseatsafety.cfm
I can't remember exactly but I 'think' 78 cm? She's 90th percentile (THAT I remember) for height.
Thanks. DD must be right around that too because she's usually 90th-ish percentile for height...
BFP 5/07 - Kylie born 2/08. BPF 2/09 - Alexandra born 10/09.
TTC since 8/13 - diagnosed difficulty conceiving due to LP defect. Took vitamin B and Vitex Berry to help lengthen.
BFP 2/14 - Missed M/C found at 8.5 weeks. D&C at 9w2d. Partial Molar Pregnancy.
BFP 11/14
My Pregnancy(ies) Blog
MamaJan~ The first thing I thought was, "This woman is totally a nestie."
That being said, I think her intentions were good and the information that she sited is correct. I think that you felt your parenting skills were being attacked and you got defensive. Nothing wrong with that...and who knows, I may react the same way if someone told me something I was doing with my son was wrong.
FWIW, we plan on keeping Ben RF as long as possible (at least until he's 2). After doing the research, I think it's just safer. That's my choice.
For the Britax Marathon - the car seat Zoe has:
From the Britax site:
Use rear-facing for children who weigh 2.3?13.6 kg (5?30 lbs.) and
whose height is between 45.7 and 81.3 cm (18?32 in.)
? Use forward-facing for children who weigh between 9.1 and 29.5
kg (20?65 lbs.) and whose height is between 73.7 and 124.5 cm
(29?49 in.).
At 11 months she was (I looked it up) 79 cm. Totally fine for putting forward-facing.
She isn't in any danger with her feet on the back seat. There is no evidence saying it is unsafe.
The recommendation is to rear-face to the limit of the seat.
My DD is 30 inches and perfectly fine rear-facing.
We wouldn't consider it if it wasn't literally for a four block radius. In a residential neighbourhood (no busy streets).
It's a year AND 20 pounds. ?My son is about 32" and his feet def. reach the seat, but he is just fine rear-facing. ?Britax also says the child can remain rear-facing until his/her head is within 1 inch of the top of the car seat. ?
You certainly are entitled to your personal preference, but there's no arguing that rear-facing is the safest option at this stage. ??
She is now 13 months (as stated in the OP). She was 12 months when we moved her FF. At 11 months she was already 79cm.
There are sooo many people like that on CL... My friend posted a piece of furniture that the previous ownera t her house as "shabby chic" and got a furious response, calling it "shabby sh!t" and harped on and on abotu how she shouldn't call it that, etc... cuckoo!
Maybe if she would have said in one single sentence a quick FYI in case you were unaware of car seat safety and then at that point if you were interested you could have inquired more. She may have had good intentions but you were not asking an opinion you were asking if a car seat is for sale.
Yep, ditto pp - she's a nestie!
m/c 11/2/09
*in da bag so far: D90|nikon 18-200|50mm f/1.8|sb700*
YES! And LOL!!!
We have the marathon also and DS is 31 inches tall and still RF. I just checked the user manual online and this is what it said about height.
The only reason I looked at it is because I thought there is no way that I am going to move DS FF when he reaches 32 inches tall. I would not have spent that kind of money on a seat that wouldn't be able to keep him RF for at least 18 months if not 24.
Rear-Facing Weight 5 ? 35 pounds (2.3 ? 15.9 kg.). Only use rear-facing with children: ? who weigh between 5 and 35 lbs. (2.3 ? 15.9 kg.) and ? when the top of the child?s head is 1? (2.5 cm.) or more below the top of the child seat shell (Fig. A) and ? when the harness straps are located in the nearest slots at or below the child?s shoulders (Fig A).The specifications in Canada are different. American car seats aren't legal here.
Maybe the Britax Marathons in Canada are slightly different w/different limits? B/c our Britax Marathon says:
RF'ing 5-35lbs and until top of head is w/i 1 inch of top of seat. It doesn't have any restrictions on height other than this. DD was 31 1/4 inches at 12months (taller now, but I'm not sure how tall) and she is no where near tall enough to justify turning FF'ing yet. She still has 2 should slots to go before she's there (she's in the second shoulder slot from the bottom).
Must be - even the manual is different, as well as the specifications.
I always wondered this. Living in Michigan and working at BRU, we see some Canadians, and before I got pregnant I worked in the Baby Gear department and I would always have them asking me if the seats were OK for Canada or not because the standards are much different. I always felt bad because I couldnt tell them, because I dont know Canadas standards. I should have asked on here, lol
Yeah. Exactly.
The information she gave you is correct... including the 500% greater risk of decapitation AND that it isn't actually dangerous at all for her feet to touch the back of the seat. She was trying to help protect your child, and she did it quite nicely, actually.
read the rest of the post. I think I'll take the word of the manufacturer and my pedi over the info of a complete stranger on craigslist who obviously just wants to be right.
I actually looked up information on Britax carseats and the ones in Canada are exactly the same carseats as the ones sold in the US, they are simply labeled differently and have bilingual manuals.
But, ok.
the US manuals do not talk about length. The Canadian ones do. They are different standards. I don't make up the rules!
Yeah they are VERY different. You cannot legally use an american carseat here. You'd get a big fine. So you can tell people absolutely not. Unless they have the transport Canada sign on them, forget it.
There are a number of seats that US has approved that didn't pass our own standards.