Disgusted with some Pediatricians
(Ok this was written yesterday just for everyones date/time reference).
I'm waiting for Monkey to stop babbling, whining, rasperrying and spitting and fall asleep for nap time. He took a *drum roll* THREE HOUR nap yesterday! He woke up at 0630 went down at 0903 and woke up at 1150 (so just shy of 3 hours). Must be a growth spurt or something. He went back down again at 1600 but only slept for 20/30 minutes. I didn't expect him to sleep for long in the afternoon since he took such an epic nap in the morning. :) But I got to lay down and get some rest myself (which was MUCH needed!)
On to my topic de-jour (and sorry but it's going to be long and ranty). I am truly disgusted and appalled to discover that there are pediatricians out there recommending to parents to go ahead and put their children into forward facing car seats before they hit BOTH the 20 pound and 1 year milestones. Not only that, but I believe that every. single. pediatrician should be recommending and encouraging extended rear facing and using a 5 point harness for ALL children. The statistics are staggering at how much safer it is for children to be rear facing for as long as possible and in a 5 point harness. The complaints of:
1) "My child's legs touch the back of the seat."
2) "If we get into a crash his/her legs will be broken"
3) "That's uncomfortable to have his/her legs folded/bent."
4)"I can't see him/her."
and 5) "He/She wants to be forward facing."
are all unfounded and ridiculous.
Let me rebuttal:
1) There is no reason why your child's feet touching the back of the seat should have any sway on the direction of the car seat. There's nothing wrong with it.
2) I would rather have a child with a broken leg (or 2) then a broken neck that causes permanent paralysis or death.
3) Imagine you're 2 years old again. Do you remember the odd and awkward ways you use to lay around, sleep and play? It may LOOK uncomfortable to an adult who isn't bendy and flexibly anymore but for your child it's no big thing. Kids are flexible and it is NOT uncomfortable to have their legs bent or crossed.
4) You may not be able to see your child but you can hear them. You can, if desired, pull over every now and then to check on your child. Again: I'd rather my child be safe than have the convenience of being able to see my child.
5) YOU are the parent. Your child should have no say in what direction they face in the car. Be the adult, be the parent, be the responsible and educated decision maker.
I've had 2 individual (and separate) occurrences in the past month where a pediatrician has (ridiculously) told a parent that it was ok to turn their (either under age or under weight) child forward facing and it makes me livid. One instance was in real life where an acquaintance with an underweight child (underweight due to having Williams Syndrome, so she's special needs as well) was told by her pediatrician a year ago (when her child turned 1) it was ok to turn the child forward facing. The mothers reasoning was that her child "didn't like" to be rear facing. Her child just last month turned 2 and just this month hit 20 pounds. Can you imagine what her child weighed at 1 year if she only recently hit 20 pounds!?
Another occurrence was yesterday here on OD. I noticed a diarist on the front page and for some reason clicked to read her entry. I rarely ever do that. I'm glad that I did. In her montage of pictures of her cute kiddo was a photo of her under 1 year old in a forward facing car seat and I couldn't stay silent. I pleaded with her to turn her child rear facing and offered her some information. She accepted the information (yay!) and I got that info to her. She told me her pediatrician gave her the go ahead to turn her daughter forward facing.
Where are these doctors getting their information???? There is so much information and so many studies showing how rear facing for as long as possible and using a 5 point harness for as long as possible is the safest way for a child to ride in a car. I did so much research in looking for Monkey's new car seats since he had outgrown his infant carrier (by height not weight) and I invested so much time and energy making sure he would be safe in the seats that I bought. If my pediatrician told me it was ok to turn him I'd find myself a new pedi that day. I couldn't trust a doctor that would put my child's life in danger so casually.
I know I got preachy but this is something I feel so strongly about and feel every parent should know. It's all for the safety of your child. It's serious and it shouldn't be taken lightly.
Now I'm off to entertain the Monkey since napping is not going to happen right now it seems. I got up a bunch of times while writing this so I hope it's totally coherent. It took about an hour with getting up so much! :) I promise to write something not so heavy soon. And maybe even pictures of the Monkey too! :)
I'm waiting for Monkey to stop babbling, whining, rasperrying and spitting and fall asleep for nap time. He took a *drum roll* THREE HOUR nap yesterday! He woke up at 0630 went down at 0903 and woke up at 1150 (so just shy of 3 hours). Must be a growth spurt or something. He went back down again at 1600 but only slept for 20/30 minutes. I didn't expect him to sleep for long in the afternoon since he took such an epic nap in the morning. :) But I got to lay down and get some rest myself (which was MUCH needed!)
On to my topic de-jour (and sorry but it's going to be long and ranty). I am truly disgusted and appalled to discover that there are pediatricians out there recommending to parents to go ahead and put their children into forward facing car seats before they hit BOTH the 20 pound and 1 year milestones. Not only that, but I believe that every. single. pediatrician should be recommending and encouraging extended rear facing and using a 5 point harness for ALL children. The statistics are staggering at how much safer it is for children to be rear facing for as long as possible and in a 5 point harness. The complaints of:
1) "My child's legs touch the back of the seat."
2) "If we get into a crash his/her legs will be broken"
3) "That's uncomfortable to have his/her legs folded/bent."
4)"I can't see him/her."
and 5) "He/She wants to be forward facing."
are all unfounded and ridiculous.
Let me rebuttal:
1) There is no reason why your child's feet touching the back of the seat should have any sway on the direction of the car seat. There's nothing wrong with it.
2) I would rather have a child with a broken leg (or 2) then a broken neck that causes permanent paralysis or death.
3) Imagine you're 2 years old again. Do you remember the odd and awkward ways you use to lay around, sleep and play? It may LOOK uncomfortable to an adult who isn't bendy and flexibly anymore but for your child it's no big thing. Kids are flexible and it is NOT uncomfortable to have their legs bent or crossed.
4) You may not be able to see your child but you can hear them. You can, if desired, pull over every now and then to check on your child. Again: I'd rather my child be safe than have the convenience of being able to see my child.
5) YOU are the parent. Your child should have no say in what direction they face in the car. Be the adult, be the parent, be the responsible and educated decision maker.
I've had 2 individual (and separate) occurrences in the past month where a pediatrician has (ridiculously) told a parent that it was ok to turn their (either under age or under weight) child forward facing and it makes me livid. One instance was in real life where an acquaintance with an underweight child (underweight due to having Williams Syndrome, so she's special needs as well) was told by her pediatrician a year ago (when her child turned 1) it was ok to turn the child forward facing. The mothers reasoning was that her child "didn't like" to be rear facing. Her child just last month turned 2 and just this month hit 20 pounds. Can you imagine what her child weighed at 1 year if she only recently hit 20 pounds!?
Another occurrence was yesterday here on OD. I noticed a diarist on the front page and for some reason clicked to read her entry. I rarely ever do that. I'm glad that I did. In her montage of pictures of her cute kiddo was a photo of her under 1 year old in a forward facing car seat and I couldn't stay silent. I pleaded with her to turn her child rear facing and offered her some information. She accepted the information (yay!) and I got that info to her. She told me her pediatrician gave her the go ahead to turn her daughter forward facing.
Where are these doctors getting their information???? There is so much information and so many studies showing how rear facing for as long as possible and using a 5 point harness for as long as possible is the safest way for a child to ride in a car. I did so much research in looking for Monkey's new car seats since he had outgrown his infant carrier (by height not weight) and I invested so much time and energy making sure he would be safe in the seats that I bought. If my pediatrician told me it was ok to turn him I'd find myself a new pedi that day. I couldn't trust a doctor that would put my child's life in danger so casually.
I know I got preachy but this is something I feel so strongly about and feel every parent should know. It's all for the safety of your child. It's serious and it shouldn't be taken lightly.
Now I'm off to entertain the Monkey since napping is not going to happen right now it seems. I got up a bunch of times while writing this so I hope it's totally coherent. It took about an hour with getting up so much! :) I promise to write something not so heavy soon. And maybe even pictures of the Monkey too! :)