Carseats

Because I just heard something completely horrifying (1-year-old in a booster!), I have to make a carseat post.  A lot of parents are clueless on carseats.  I was when Erin was little.  I knew she had to be rear-facing at first, although I really didn't know why.  I turned her at a year and 20 pounds because the research we have today on extended rear-facing had not been made available to the public yet.  We didn't know when was the right time to go to a booster, or to stop using one.  Our carseat research kicked off when Orren was about 4 months old and outgrew his infant seat. (Orren was a large baby.)

When we looked into it, we found that rear-facing is 500% safer in front and side impact crashes, and that those types of crashes make up 96% of crashes with injuries.  We watched crash test videos, and saw how the shell of a rear-facing carseat supports the child's whole spine in a crash, and protects the head from injury.  We also saw how the forward-facing child is flung with great force against the straps of their carseat, their limbs and head flailing forward into the seat in front of them, often causing fractures and concussions, in addition to spinal injury from the force of being flung forward and stopped abruptly by only a harness.  It was clear to us before long that we would rear-face Orren for as long as we could. 

Harnessing is another thing.  Kids are safer in a 5-point harness than they are in a booster, especially if they're small for their age.  Kids under 40 pounds are at risk for submarining in a booster.  Submarining is where they slide under the seatbelt.  Kids die of this because the seatbelt will strangle them.  Erin was only 35 pounds when we learned about this.  She went back into a harness for the next year and a half.  Another factor for boostering, which wasn't an issue for Erin (or many girls) is that the kid must be capable of sitting still, and in a proper position for the entire car ride.  Erin was fine on that front, but many kids don't reach that level of maturity until they're about 5 or 6 years old. A seatbelt won't work if the kid won't wear it right because they're popping around like jumping beans in the back seat.  It's really common sense.

The law hasn't caught up to this stuff yet.  The 1 year and 20 pounds rule still stands in all US states.  Most states do not have a minimum booster age, although some of them say 4 years or 40 pounds (maybe some say 4 years and 40 pounds, I'm not sure).  Many states require kids to use some type of seat, in compliance with manufacturer recommendations until 8 years or 4'9". That's the law in TX and GA, which are the states we've raised our kids in for the most part.  I think the thing to remember is that just because you CAN doesn't mean that you necessarily SHOULD.  I could forward-face Chai next week.  He's 21 pounds and about to turn 1.  I could booster Orren.  I won't do this stuff, though, because it could be a death sentence to them in a crash if I did, and I could never live with myself if I didn't give them the best odds.

I want to do a little photographic rundown of seats that are good and not good.

Here's Erin at age 6 in a Graco Nautilus.  Yes, I know it looks like her head is above the top of it.  It isn't.  The angle of the picture makes it look this way.  Anyhow, this is what a big kid in a 5-point harness looks like.  She was under 40 pounds in this pic, and would have potentially submarined in a booster, so a 5-point was way safer for her at that point in time.

This is Orren, about 15 months old and 28 pounds, rear-facing in his Radian XTSL. You can see Erin in the background in her Monterrey high-back booster.  By the time this was taken, Erin had gone through a large growth spurt, and was over 40 pounds, therefore she did not run the risk of submarining in her booster.




Here's Orren at 3 years old, forward-facing in his Britax Marathon.  He had outgrown the rear-facing height limit of this seat.



 Now, here's a pic of what NOT to do.  This is Orren last weekend, so about 3.5 years old, trying out a booster at Babies R Us!  It would be totally legal to put him in this seat in the car since he meets the requirements to use it (3 years and 30 pounds).  It would be a really bad idea to put him in this seat even though it fits him (actually, that head rest would need to go up a click.  This seat would actually fit a kid smaller than Orren!) because at only 33 pounds, he would face a high risk of submarining in a crash.  This would be a great seat for him to use in a couple years when he's not only over 40 pounds, but also mature enough to sit still for a whole car ride. (If you know Orren, you know he's not there yet!)




Now, just because this one is adorable, here are Orren and Chai (5 months and almost 3 years) both rear-facing in Radians, and cuddled up in a silk veil, coming home from a long day with mommy's bellydance troupe.

 This is my favorite one of all.  This is a chart that shows how the spine develops from cartilage to bone over the course of years.  This is how it goes regardless of your baby's weight, head control, muscle tone, or any other factor.  This is why it is so important for kids to rear-face to at least age 3.