disappointing appointment

laudymama

New member
So DS had his 18mo checkup today and I was so hoping the pediatrician would bring up the new recommendations about RF to at least 2 since DS is still under that but no :( I really thought he might too since at his 9mo checkup he asked how DS rode in the car. Of course he was still RF then and doc said at 1 he could turn and we know quite a few other people who use the same pediatrician and he's told them at the 1yr checkup they can be turned (this was before new recs). Sad that they're not bringing this up.
On a completely different note....DS is 33in tall at 18mo and that is ALL torso! I half hope he keeps up this freakish growth so I have an excuse to import a Swedish seat:D I already have DH on board w/ it after having him read about ketchupqueen's accident so I'm halfway there right?:whistle:
 
ADS

MommaWhitney

New member
I some what think pedi souldnt be giving out car seat advice unless they are also a cpst. They tend to give parents bad advice unknowingly. BUT I know ours ask for statistics, ever wonder where they get that info :)
When my DD1 went to her 4yr appointment the Dr. asked her if she sat in the booster. DD didnt even know what a booster was. I had to explain she was still harnessed. She said that was great and moved on. When my DD2 turned 1 and was 22lb she said I could FF her. I explained Id be RF till atleast 3 if not longer. She looked at me strange but I said AAP recomends rf as long as the fit in the seat and hers would alow for her to rf that long. And she said that was good. She has no kids and is a young new doctor and is not confrontational at all.
In every room there is a post card taped to the wall of the laws. Im thinking of asking her if shed replace those with nhtsa guideline flyer since it follows more of AAPs ne guidelines. I just havent yet. Maybe you can do that too.

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laudymama

New member
Sounds like a good opportunity for you to educate your doc!
Very good point! I was kind of hoping he would bring it up though so I could just sort of "chime in" after because I was feeling a little reluctant to be the one to bring it up since they already kind of think I'm the wacko mom because I don't vaccinate DS. Not that I mind being THAT mom, because I'm doing what I feel is best at this stage, but more because I just wasn't feeling up to laying a whole new thing on them today knowing I was already going to have to go through the whole vaccination speech and stand my ground there. (We go thru it at every checkup).


MommaWhitney- I don't know how to quote 2 different people in one post:eek:....I agree that doctors probably shouldn't be giving out carseat advice unless they're cpst's most of the time, however I do think that if they at least passed on the new recommendations it would make kids safer than they were w/ the old recs and sadly, a lot of parents take what doc says to be the supreme all answer since "doctors know best":rolleyes: At least we could get some kids to 2 and maybe longer if mom or dad decided to research why the recommendations changed.
Wouldn't it be great if pediatricians were also required to take some sort of carseat safety, even tech class, and have to stay up to date on it?! That would definitely get a lot more parents believing!
 

monica-m

CPST Instructor
At DS' 12 month appointment the nurse tried to tell me that I could turn DS around. I informed her that the recommendation was for a minimum of 2 years and that we would be RF for as long as it was possible. The doctor brought it up later in the appointment and asked me how to tell if the seat was outgrown by height. He has small children so I was a little surprised that he didn't know (I guess he didn't read the manuals like most parents) so I told him about the 1 inch rule. There was a Safe Kids flier in the literature they gave me but the recommendations were out of date so I told him they should update them to reflect the current recommendations (they were from 2002 or so).
 

Ninetales

New member
My doctor has never said a word about carseats, including at her 1yr visit yesterday. Of course, when he asks about vaccines and I say we're not doing them he doesn't say anything about that either. I <3 my doc.
 

menfusse

New member
Other than when I had my kids, and they asked if we had seats before leaving the hospital, I have only ever had one medical type person ask about how my kids ride in the car. It was an NP, whom we had never seen before. Our regular ped was out that day, and all I needed was E's school physical filled out. So, in that process, she asked if I still had her in a booster. LOL. Um, I said...she's still in a harnessed seat and only JUST turned FF. She said Oh good! But, that was about it. Neither of the peds we've ever seen asked or mentioned it, lol.
 

christineka

New member
Our ped has been recommending rf to 2 ever since the Marylin Bull article was published in pediatrics, but she only mentions the recommendation at the 1 year visit and as long as the child is under 20 pounds. Or at least that's my experience. I think the ped may not offer info that she knows I already know. Last visit she had a student who started off with the rfing info. The ped knows I'm into car seat safety.
 

amymariee

New member
My pedi is not a cpst but she has 4 kids her self and is pretty up to date on carseats . She has a 2,4,6,8 ... 2 yro is rf in a tfp the 4 yr old in a radian rf the 6 in a frontier and the 8 in a parkway I think :)
She recommends rf to the minimum of two harness to at least six. Hbb to at least 8 and lbb to whenever they stop needed it
 

erikanohelani

New member
My pedi is not a cpst but she has 4 kids her self and is pretty up to date on carseats . She has a 2,4,6,8 ... 2 yro is rf in a tfp the 4 yr old in a radian rf the 6 in a frontier and the 8 in a parkway I think :)
She recommends rf to the minimum of two harness to at least six. Hbb to at least 8 and lbb to whenever they stop needed it


Wow sounds like a great doc! We need more of her.
 

KaiLing

New member
I did bring it up with my doc, since it's on something they hand out. This was last year. I said they're 5 times safer RF until 2 and she said "well we say to switch them when they're uncomfortable," and went on. She's nice, didn't seem offended, just not in a information-receiving mode at the check-ups and doesn't care.

My sister is a 1st year med student, and was shadowing a peds resident the week the "new" recommendations got some press. The docs and NPs were dutifully telling everyone to rear face until 2! My sister thought, that's great! Then the resident turned around and said to the med student "this is such a stupid recommendation." My sister thought, huh? And checked it with me. I was, of course, livid: this is *how* med students learn, and the resident was totally undermining a good policy of the clinic. Things won't change if docs teach younger docs like that!
 

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