I'm composing an email to a friend who turned her first daughter at age 1 (probably just because they bought the Nautilus right out of the infant seat and it was easy and no one told her not to). Her second daughter will be 1 in July. Thoughts? This is a smart lady who I like a lot, but we're sort of new friends--they moved out of the area so we see them only sometimes. I'd like to give her some links, too, I guess, but I want to be nice, too!
Here's what I wrote so far:
"So I've become alarmingly obsessed with car safety. Its not that surprising, I had two family friends in terrible car accidents when I was in high school and the one who lived was wearing her seat belt, while the other one was not. Before I started reading around (to buy C a seat that will keep him rear facing) I thought that having a kid forward facing from age 1 to 2 was less safe but OK. Now I think it's like letting your kid play with a knife or a loaded weapon. They're 5 times safer in the second year rear facing, and car accidents are the number one cause of fatal injury to children. Since G's edging up on her birthday and probably out of her seat I thought I'd throw you a plea to keep her rear facing. Plus, I have not one but two perfectly fine seats here that you can have that can keep her rear facing until 40 lbs, which with your kids will certainly get her to her second birthday. C outgrew the Graco MyRide by height, and I really like that seat (two cup holders!) and then I went and bought a lighter seat for traveling and I think it's too short. It's a Cosco Scenera 40rf and it's never been used. It's a $50 seat, so less comfortable than the MyRide, but brand new."
Here's what I wrote so far:
"So I've become alarmingly obsessed with car safety. Its not that surprising, I had two family friends in terrible car accidents when I was in high school and the one who lived was wearing her seat belt, while the other one was not. Before I started reading around (to buy C a seat that will keep him rear facing) I thought that having a kid forward facing from age 1 to 2 was less safe but OK. Now I think it's like letting your kid play with a knife or a loaded weapon. They're 5 times safer in the second year rear facing, and car accidents are the number one cause of fatal injury to children. Since G's edging up on her birthday and probably out of her seat I thought I'd throw you a plea to keep her rear facing. Plus, I have not one but two perfectly fine seats here that you can have that can keep her rear facing until 40 lbs, which with your kids will certainly get her to her second birthday. C outgrew the Graco MyRide by height, and I really like that seat (two cup holders!) and then I went and bought a lighter seat for traveling and I think it's too short. It's a Cosco Scenera 40rf and it's never been used. It's a $50 seat, so less comfortable than the MyRide, but brand new."