WHY Do some of you have giant kids Rear Facing?

[Gypsy]

My 30 pound, 36 inch 2 year old is super comfy rear facing! His seat goes to 33 pounds and I hope it will last another 6-12 months. I'd hate to turn him forward before 2.5 years, though 3 would be much better!

 

[Gypsy]

I really like this YouTube video, it was made by a brother for his sister over concern for his nieces safety. It was made with love, and it really shows!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI

 

[Amaris]

Isaiah has been foward facing since December when he hit 33lbs. He was 3 years 5 months when we turned him. He made it up to 35lbs and now he's back down to 34. He is starting to get more comfortable forward facing but has to have something under his feet or he cries that his legs feel "spidery"! I think he means they are going to sleep but I'm not sure!!!

 

[rlsadc]

i am glad to hear you are considering flipping your child back around...it really is far far far safer

 

[all together ooky]

Isaiah has been foward facing since December when he hit 33lbs. He was 3 years 5 months when we turned him. He made it up to 35lbs and now he's back down to 34. He is starting to get more comfortable forward facing but has to have something under his feet or he cries that his legs feel "spidery"! I think he means they are going to sleep but I'm not sure!!!

Just turned DD FFing a month and half ago. She sits on the passenger captains chair in a grand caravan. I find it helps her to have the front passenger seat pushed back enough so that her feet can touch/rest on it. Yeah, sometimes you feel "kicks" but her legs don't tend to fall asleep. And she likes being able to put them up.

 

[Starlight]

I got an email from a friend just this morning asking if Wendy's Piper was safe in the picture of her in the swimsuit w/ her legs fully extended.

I did my best to answer the question, and I'm hoping I got it right.

"That's Piper! She's 4, but she's a tiny 4.

I bet you didn't expect a physics lesson from me this early in the morning, but here goes.

A frontal crash is the most common type of crash. In a crash like this, the passengers snap forward and then back (we continue moving with the speed of the crash, until impact, and then we fly back). The amount of force is equal to the velocity x weight. So a 22-lb child (say [dd2]) in a 40mph crash becomes an 880-lb force. [dd1], at 40 lbs, would be a 1600 lb force.

Anyway, the risk here is Piper's legs. In a crash, her whole seat would slide towards the front of the car, taking her legs with it, and then slide back. Theoretically, when she slid back (w/ lots of force, this isn't a gentle slide) they *could* slam in to the seat back, and cause them to break. I say theoretically, because there have actually been no reported cases of this actually happening.

The alternative would be if Piper was forward facing. If she was, her head/neck/spine would snap forward and then slam in to back of the carseat. In a severe enough crash, this might cause breakage or internal decapitation. The spinal column is much more sensitive than the legs.

So, how many people have you ever met with a broken neck? And how many with broken legs? Broken legs are more easily repaired than spinal columns.

And that's why Wendy (wendythomas) chooses to keep Piper rear-facing. But she is 32 lbs, so she's just about done.

Piper also likes to sit cross-legged, which I would think is more comfortable...

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Here is more information. There is also a link to the rear-facing album, which shows kids, like Piper, rear-facing forever all the way at the bottom, and in the middle, there are crash test videos, which everyone should watch!"

So, tech's did I get it right?

 

[SafeandSecureBaby]

Another tid bit of information for making the extended rear facing argument is that a one year old spinal column is simply not prepared yet to take on the crash forces of a forward facing crash. The photo below shows the difference between a one year old cervical vertebrae and that of a six year old. Extended rear facing allows the bony structures more time to become bone, versus cartilage, which helps contain and protect the veins, arteries and spinal cord from potential damage from a crash.

 

[snowbird25ca]

Another tid bit of information for making the extended rear facing argument is that a one year old spinal column is simply not prepared yet to take on the crash forces of a forward facing crash. The photo below shows the difference between a one year old cervical vertebrae and that of a six year old. Extended rear facing allows the bony structures more time to become bone, versus cartilage, which helps contain and protect the veins, arteries and spinal cord from potential damage from a crash.

I love that picture to show people, it really drives home how muscle strength and body weight doesn't make any difference when it comes to being ready to FF.

My dd was ff from 18 mos until 30 mos. She hit 32" in her convertible at 18mos and I was worried about going over the exact measurement limits at the time... then I was afraid she'd have a fit about going back rf'ing. When she was ff'ing she always braced her legs up on the back of the passenger seat the way she had put them up on the back seat when rf'ing.

I was playing with the seats trying to figure out a 2nd seat for our car and had her carseat rf'ing, so decided to try her in it... and after a bit of initial intrepidation, she was fine. She tends to sit with her knees out and her feet in now - you might be able to tell in my siggy pic. And on longer trips she'll alternate that with putting her legs up the way Piper's are.

Anyways, she'll be 3 in July and will be rf'ing until she hits either the height or weight limit on her marathon. She's 28lbs fully dressed with a full tummy right now, so we have a ways to go still. And honestly, I think the adjustment was harder for me - it's harder to not be able to fully see her and it's harder to hear what she's trying to tell us. But we're getting used to it - and she's getting louder as she gets older.

 

[VoodooChile]

I think there's this myth that being ff is somehow easier or more convenient for the parents. I have had dd both ff and rf, and I have arthritis (or something like it--I think I have permanent status as "medical mystery"), and I didn't find ff (in the MA) any easier than rf.

 

[LuvBug]

I think there's this myth that being ff is somehow easier or more convenient for the parents. I have had dd both ff and rf, and I have arthritis (or something like it--I think I have permanent status as "medical mystery"), and I didn't find ff (in the MA) any easier than rf.

totally! My sis thought it would be easier to load DN if she was FFing, but then when she hit the limit she found out(at least for her) it wasnt!
I as well had a MUCH easier time loading DS RFing than FFing. He is a BIG fighter and I could use the recline against him in RFing, but now I have to come up with some other trick to get him to sit while I buckle.

 

[mommy2jana]

I didn't know the benefits of extended rearfacing when my daughter hit the 20 lb limit shortly after she turned a year old. All of my friends turned their kids forward at 1 yr, so why shouldn't I? I didn't become car safety obsessed until this past November when I joined this board. I bought dd a Marathon in December and she RF'ed for a little while, until she was too close to the weight limit for me to feel comfortable. She had a tummy bug the other week (now again tonight, too) and she lost several pounds. So, she's RF'ing again until she hits 33 lbs.

She is a smidge over 3.5 years old. She LOVES to rearface. She just sits cross legged or she props her feet up on the back of the car's seat.

 

[wendytthomas]

I got an email from a friend just this morning asking if Wendy's Piper was safe in the picture of her in the swimsuit w/ her legs fully extended.

I did my best to answer the question, and I'm hoping I got it right.

"That's Piper! She's 4, but she's a tiny 4.

I bet you didn't expect a physics lesson from me this early in the morning, but here goes.

A frontal crash is the most common type of crash. In a crash like this, the passengers snap forward and then back (we continue moving with the speed of the crash, until impact, and then we fly back). The amount of force is equal to the velocity x weight. So a 22-lb child (say [dd2]) in a 40mph crash becomes an 880-lb force. [dd1], at 40 lbs, would be a 1600 lb force.

Anyway, the risk here is Piper's legs. In a crash, her whole seat would slide towards the front of the car, taking her legs with it, and then slide back. Theoretically, when she slid back (w/ lots of force, this isn't a gentle slide) they *could* slam in to the seat back, and cause them to break. I say theoretically, because there have actually been no reported cases of this actually happening.

The alternative would be if Piper was forward facing. If she was, her head/neck/spine would snap forward and then slam in to back of the carseat. In a severe enough crash, this might cause breakage or internal decapitation. The spinal column is much more sensitive than the legs.

So, how many people have you ever met with a broken neck? And how many with broken legs? Broken legs are more easily repaired than spinal columns.

And that's why Wendy (wendythomas) chooses to keep Piper rear-facing. But she is 32 lbs, so she's just about done.

Piper also likes to sit cross-legged, which I would think is more comfortable...

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Here is more information. There is also a link to the rear-facing album, which shows kids, like Piper, rear-facing forever all the way at the bottom, and in the middle, there are crash test videos, which everyone should watch!"

So, tech's did I get it right?

If she's talking about the picture in the RFing album, that's a leotard, not a swimsuit. LOL Piper does gymnastics.

Well explained. Why was Piper chosen out of all the kids in the album? I'm just curious.

Piper was 31.5 pounds today with her boots on after a meal. Her fleece adds just shy of another pound, IF she wears it. Seeing as it's going into summer now there'll be less of the fleece and boots, but I'm thinking if I need to weigh her every day it may be time to admit the inevitable and get her liposuction...I mean turn her forward full time and forevermore. LOL

I was actually out playing in my truck the other day and I think I can get it to be compatible FFing in the middle. Under the LATCH bar with the lapbelt. The plastic over the latchplate popped off, so now it fits well and I can get it snug enough. With the plastic on the latchplate it added too much space around it and didn't allow for enough slack to come out. So I'm feeling ok about turning her forward in the middle. I'd just love to see her to five RFing. Four more months, though. I don't think she'll make it.

Wendy