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RF is safer, and it is not an opinion. It is a fact.
- Nov 23, 2009 at 11:31 PM
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- Comments (90) Total Views (2792) Everyone can see this journal post.
Let me start off by saying, I don't understand why whether or not ERF is safer or not is even a debate. How can it be? If you follow the basic principles of gravity and motion, that right there should be proof enough. Newton’s Law of Motion states that an object keeps moving in the direction it was headed at its original speed until it is stopped by something. This means if a car is traveling forward and a child is RF, in a crash the child's body would continue going in a forward direction, causing them to press AGAINST the shell of the carseat. This protects the neck and spine. Crash forces are measured using the formula: weight x speed = force. For example, a child weighing 20 lbs in a crash and you are traveling 40 mph, your child's body turns into 800 lbs of force. A child trying to hold their spine and neck up at 800 lbs of force can (and often does) have devastating consequences. Can you imagine a baby that is only a yr old trying to hold their neck up in a crash like that? They can't even hold their head up with someone lightly pressing on their forehead, so how do you figure they can hold it up in a crash?
Another argument is that your child is "big" for their age. This is not a realistic argument to not RF. A child's height and weight has nothing to do with their muscle strength and maturity and the ossification of their bones. A child can be the size of a 2 yr old when they are only 12 months old, but they are not as strong and coordinated as a 2 yr old. A young child's bones are weak and are not ossified like older people's. They break easy and cannot withstand force and pressure. So once again, a big child does not equal a strong child. Remember the formula for force. If a child weighs 20 lbs going 40 mph for example, that is 800 lbs of force pressing on their spine, neck and bones. Compared to adults, children have heads that are disproportionally larger; a child’s head comprises 25 percent of his overall height, compared to just 6 percent for adults. This, combined with the fact that children have vertebrae that haven’t completely fused until age 3-6, makes it much more likely that the weight of their large head snapping forward in a crash can result in serious damage to the spine, or death.
In some countries, such as Sweden, children rear face up to the age of 3 or 4. These countries have very few child deaths from car accidents. In fact, "From 1992 through June 1997, only 9 children properly restrained rear-facing died in motor vehicle crashes in Sweden, and all of these involved catastrophic crashes with severe intrusion and few other survivors". Extended rear facing until age 2 and beyond if the child meets the weight requirements is proven to be the safest way to ride.
Many parents think they can't RF longer because they don't have an expensive, fancy carseat, but the fact is, you don't have to. ALL convertible carseats RF until at LEAST 30 lbs, if not more. You can get the cheapest carseat and still RF past the bare minimum 1 yr and 20 lb mark.
One last thing to keep in mind is that a child's legs being bent or up against the back seat is NOT unsafe. Many people think they shouldn't RF because of a child's legs touching the back seat. There is not one single documented case of a child's legs breaking due to ERF, however even if their leg WAS broken, it can be fixed, whereas a broken spine cannot.
This is my little guy Bryce, RF in his Britax happily and comfortably at 20 months old. Notice the straps are above his shoulders and not below, which is actually NOT correct. I did not know that at the time, but when they are RF, the straps should be below shoulder level, and if FF, should be above the shoulders. I have learned so much about carseat safety since joining CM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIeExpDLDA&feature=related
http://www.mybreastfeeding.com/index_files/carseatchecklist.htm
http://www.earlyinterventionsupport.com/parentingtips/safety/rearfacingcarseats.aspx
Comments:
Very well put! Voted popular!
I couldn't agree more with ya. I didn't know abour RF and sadly turned both my boys around at 1 yr and 20 lbs. My youngest just turned two when I heard about it. After that, I decided to turn him back around. He was FF for almost a year! Hehas been RF for 2 month and loves it! Even my 4 yr old wants me to turn him around like "brudder"! LOL
Great post... How people want to argue with straight up logic, fact, and the law of physics is beyond me. My baby will remain RF as long as possible!
Good job mama, We are big erfers, Fiona rear faced till she was almost 4 and Nolan will rear face till he is out of our 45 lb rear facing radian xt :)
Times change. :-) When I had kids,they had just invented car seats and they were always attached by seatbelts in the backseat and could only be forward facing. (This was in the mid 1960's.)There were no car seats when I was a baby...just Mom's lap.
But, we all lived! LOL. People were better drivers? Hell, I have no idea. But there were fewer people and fewer highways. Slow roads,slow careful drivers.
Oh, how I wish I could RF my 2-year-old. He has outgrown the weight limit for his seat for rear-facing. We gave his old seat to his baby brother and got him a new one (with the same limit, darn it), and he still asks to ride in his old seat backward. He could see better. Because we have 2 big seats, he's no longer in the middle so his view is restricted. I wish I could afford a RF-seat that goes to 45 pounds!
Lindalu2 I just wanted to say that I hear that all the time. "Well we didn't RF and we're just fine.." Well if you had been in a bad accident with small children who were FF, they very likely would NOT have been fine. Car accidents are the number one killer of children under 14 yrs old. The ones who were "just fine" are most likely the ones who never experienced a bad crash. I'm very glad that carseat safety has come such a long way. It has saved a lot of lives.
This gets so old. sorry. it does. I ERF'd too.
by the way, that Britax looks expired. the chest clips haven't looked that way since 2004, which would put that seat expired this year. you should also know that the plastics can give and break in an accident if they are past their expiration date. That seat has or is about to expire.
Awesome post! One of the ladies I worked with said she had turned her baby around at 6 months...SIX MONTHS!!! because he was big. Granted, he was a big baby, but he wasn't that big. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
I like to RF for as long as possible!
I don't get the "we are fine" argument, either. Did you get into an accident? Probably not.
Thank you for posting fact. :-)
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Love ya, Kaybean. :)
I agree with you full-heartedly, of course. While there are a lot of things in parenting that are left up for debate, there are a few things that are just plain ol' FACT, black and white. Rear-facing = safer. Period.
- RanaAurora
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