Listen up. I know there are a million articles/blog posts about car seat safety. And I know there’s a lot of confusion, especially for first time parents, on when it’s time to go from rear-facing to forward-facing. The information I’m presenting here isn’t new, but something I have recently become passionate about. So if you have a child in a car seat, especially under the age of two, PLEASE keep reading. Or if you are planning on having kids, this is all information that you will use. For everyone else? Maybe you could pass this along to friends and family with children in car seats 
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Fact: Every day we lose 4 to 5 children in car crashes. They are the leading cause of death for kids in this country and yet most of us are completely untrained in the best way to keep our kids safe from them– by properly installing your car seat. “Across the country we find a greater than 95% misuse of car seats,” says Alisa Baer, M.D., a pediatrician and nationally certified child passenger safety instructor, also known as The Car Seat Lady.
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Can you believe that?! 95% of parents are installing car seats wrong?! And sadly, my husband and I were among that group. Last week while my little family and I were on vacation in south Florida we were rear-ended on the freeway. There was lots of traffic and the guy behind us wasn’t paying attention and rammed into us when traffic suddenly stopped. These types of things all happen so fast that it’s hard for me to properly judge how hard we were hit. Our rental car was un-drivable afterward, so I’m guessing it was hard enough.
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Anyway, the moment after we got hit my husband and I quickly turned around to check on Ollie. I was expecting to see Ollie in his carseat upset and scared because of the LOUD crashing noise, but what I saw instead made my heart stop. Ollie’s car seat had tipped over– so his face was pressed up against the seat (he’s still rear-facing). He was screaming. When Taylor pried the carseat back I saw blood all over Ollie’s mouth. Even though I was terrified, I knew he wasn’t seriously hurt. Trying to be as calm as possible, I quickly took him out of his seat to comfort him. I shushed him while I quietly sobbed. I have never in all my life been more scared. I was expecting to find my baby safe and sound in the back seat and instead found him flipped over, scared, and bleeding. And the accident wasn’t even that bad. What would have happened if it had been worse? I shutter at the thought. (And I know this may seem a little dramatic since this was just a fender-bender, but it was my first accident. And the safety of my baby was at risk so I don’t think I’m too off-base to react this way…)
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So after everyone got acquainted with each other and made sure no one was hurt, we sat on the side of the freeway for THREE hours waiting for the police to come. That gave me plenty of time to think. This phrase kept popping into my head: Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe that. Now more than ever. What were we supposed to learn from this experience?
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Here’s what I came up with:
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1. All this time we thought we were properly installing Ollie’s car seat. We read the manuals, watched the videos, even took our car/carseat in to have the fire station AND the sheriff’s station inspect it, but both turned us away–grrr. (We should have gone somewhere else, I know, they just don’t make it easy here in Austin. It’s so hard to get a hold of someone at the inspection places to schedule an appointment!) Now to save face just a little, I do think we had his carseat more secure in our own car, but quickly installing it into the rental car we obviously made some errors. This accident was a definite wake up call for us. You better believe that when we got home I watched all the installation videos again, making sure that the safety tether was secure (we didn’t have this in the rental car because he’s rear-facing and cars usually only have tether anchors for forward-facing seats–this is why his carseat tipped over), AND scheduled an appointment to have it inspected–FINALLY got a hold of someone!
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2. Always be prepared. I had no idea that we would be stuck in a car for 3 hours, but I could have fooled you! I had extra milk in our little cooler, water bottles, snacks, and activities to keep Ollie distracted and entertained. I normally am not that prepared when going out and about at home. Since we had a big day out I made sure to grab lots of stuff, but after this experience I will definitely be more mindful of what I choose to bring with me when I go out. (Side note: I then thought a lot about food storage, and emergency preparedness. Must get on that.)
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Now before I get on to the important carseat guidelines, I just want to give a little shout out to Ollie-baby. Not only was he violently woken up from his nap, but then he had to be stuck in a car for three hours (during dinner time), and then strapped back into his carseat at his crankiest time (bedtime) to drive a half hour or so back to the hotel, and how did he do?? FREAKING FABULOUS. He didn’t cry once. Not once. Instead he had the time of his little, glorious, precious life playing with the steering wheel, honking the horn, playing peek-a-boo, and eating all the snacks we had in the car (thank goodness for fruit and veggie packets!).
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Now for the educational part of this post:
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PLEASE read more information provided in the links. All this information could save your baby’s life. Seriously.
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CAR SEAT SAFETY
(Left: child in rear-facing seat Right: child in forward-facing seat)
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Why ride rear-facing?
In short, rear-facing kids are 5 times safer than those riding forward-facing.
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Who should ride rear-facing?
All children who are within the rear-facing height and weight limits for their convertible car seats, no matter what their age–but certainly all infants and toddlers under 2.
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When should a child switch from rear-facing to forward-facing?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids “should continue to ride rear-facing in a convertible car seat for as long as possible,” which means till they are too tall or too heavy for their child safety seat. Likewise, NHTSA recomends “Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat’s manufacturer.”
Height: If head is within one inch of the top of the child safety seat.
Weight: If child is 30-40 pounds–it depends on which seat you have. (Read your manuals to find out)
NOTE: It is OK for the child’s feet to touch the vehicle seat. This is SAFE and is NOT uncomfortable.
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Where should rear-facing kids ride?
In the center of the back seat. The center is 43% safer than the side because you cannot take a direct hit if you are sitting in the center. **Note: If you have more than one child in the rear seat, the forward-facing child should sit in the center, since this child is less safe by virtue of being forward-facing.
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How should a rear-facing child sit in his car seat?
There are two important components to properly seated rear-facing children: recline angle,shoulder-strap positioning.
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Which child safety seats go rear-facing?
- Infant seats: For newborns and infants up to 22, 30 or 35 pounds–weight limit depends on the model of the seat.
- Convertible seats: Rear-facing for babies and toddlers up to 30, 35, 40 or even 50 pounds and then forward-facing for kids up to 40 pounds or more.
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Lastly…
It’s very typical (and developmentally appropriate) for infants and toddlers to dislike their car seat and other forms of restraint (high chairs, strollers, etc.). It’s understandable since these restraints limit their mobility and freedom. Most kids would much rather be crawling around exploring instead of being strapped into a car seat. And while it’s annoying, err disconcerting rather, to hear your baby cry, it’s more important to know that they are SAFE. And it’s also important to realize that it’s unlikely that they’re crying out of pain. (They’re crying because they’re telling you they don’t want to be in their chair–they want to be free to play!)
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So. If after all of this, you still aren’t convinced to have your baby sit rear-facing for as long as possible, then PLEASE at least use the safety tether, okay? Okay. And get your carseats inspected by a professional. A simple ” car seat inspections near me” on google should do the trick 
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May all your summer vacations be accident-free! Drive safe y’all!
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