When I was an infant my mother breastfed me while driving. We didn’t wear seatbelts and rode in truck beds. My first niece was born March 1, 1991. My oldest sister and I shared a car seat she bought at a yard sale so we could take our niece places. I would not buy a used car seat nor use any seat whose history I was not intimately familiar with now. I would also not use the type of seat that we shared.
Before we were licensed foster/adopt parents I didn’t know anything about car seats other than we had to have one for each license. We were licensed for two so we needed two seats. I had figured out who the car seat experts were on the message boards I frequented, so I asked for their opinions on seats. Not only did I get great recommendations, but I got the advice to leave the children rear facing to the weight limit of the seat or there’s an inch of shell above their heads.
I had never given it any thought. I knew that legally children had to rear face until they were a year old and weighed 20 pounds. I didn’t need to be told twice that those restrictions are a legal minimum and not necessarily the safest option for children.
Children’s bodies are small and their skeletal systems are not formed to be able to withstand a lot of force. When child is in a forward-facing seat, the child’s body absorbs the force of a crash. When the child is in a rear-facing seat, the seat absorbs the force of the crash. There are many injuries that can be avoided by keeping a child rear facing.
Turning a child forward facing is not a rite of passage. Our convertible seat rear faces to 35 pounds. I’m hoping to not have to turn Jessie until she’s three.