Monday, March 21, 2011

Haute Mom Dilemma #36 - Ridin' Around Town

Stella is 20 pounds and looming towards the 22 pound limit in her current Chicco Travel System car seat. I seem to remember a faint whisper of friends telling me to pay attention to the weight limits in car seats but I must have been blinded by the matching sets and ignored their warnings. This leaves me back on the computer researching the best car seats as Stella's first birthday fast approaches boosting her into the front facing car seat.

This morning I see that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have published a new policy that states that children should be kept in rear facing car seats until age 2. As thoughts of changing my recent search of car seats to convertible ones tug at my brain, I come across a blog asking how many parents are going to follow the guidelines. Really? Statistics show that children under the age of 2 are 75% less likely to die or be severely injured in a car crash.if they are rear-facing. The new guidelines also suggest children then transition into a booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years old. Maybe I should add booster seat to my list of things to obsess about while I am at it. Luckily the AAP knows all about moms like me and have a list of approved car safety seats and boosters. Let the stalking begin!

Http://www.healthychildren.org/English/News/pages/AAP-Updates-Recommendations-on-Car-Seats.aspx
Stella's Current Ride

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5 comments:

  1. I think 2 is too old to be backwards personally. My son is 19 months and I don't think he would be comfortable like that still.

    Ginger (new follower from bloggy moms)

    http://literallyinspired.blogspot.com

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  2. We switched Julianna over to her britax convertible seat about 2 months ago from her chicco (travel system). I was getting shoulder & back aches from carrying the car seat. So... we switched over to the Britax convertible... LOVE IT. It's rated very very safe & very comfortable. It is rear facing up to 35 lbs then front facing until 65 lbs. We won't need a booster for a long time. It was not cheap but worth every penny for Jule's safety & comfort.
    Some have commented online that rear facing might get a little uncomfortable as they get longer (like almost 2 years) - but I guess it's worth it if it saves her life. She'll be fine. :)

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  3. so many moms say their babies feet touch the seat. my thoughts are that i'd rather have my baby's foot broken in a car accident sitting backwards rather than loosing my baby because he was sitting forward.

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  4. I'm so glad they came out with this now as I am also shopping around for the next car seat. I too think my daughter won't make it rear facing until age 2 but we'll see.

    Btw love Stella's sunglasses!!!

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  5. By all means continue the research on car seats because once she reaches the weight capacity on her current seat you WILL need a convertible car seat. I would go to Babies R Us because they will allow you to put the car seat in your car to ensure that it fits properly before purchasing it, (some car seats are too large to fit rear facing in some back seats). Let me know which seat you choose

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Really haute comments