"You can turn him forward now"

VoodooChile

New member
I'm just curious why pediatricians say that--the mentality behind it? Not at all as a combative or snotty question, I'm genuinely wondering. Do some think that parents who have kids rear-facing beyond the minimums do so because they don't know better, that we've left them rf and didn't realize we "could" turn them? Again, I'm not asking to be rude at all, I'm really wondering.
 
ADS

alake

New member
I was told that Leah could be turned forward facing when she was 10 months old, by somebody at a car seat check. I was having her convertible installed in my car, and the lady asked why she was still rear facing. She said since she was walking/ cruising she could be forward facing. Leah at this time only weighed around 15 or 16 pounds. I told her I planned to rear face her for a while yet, that my seat says they can't ride forward facing until at least 22 pounds. I really didn't know about extended rear facing until I joined this group. I turned her forward facing at 18 months, when she was about 24 pounds. In many of the seat available she still could be rear facing, but she suffers motion sickness. She will be riding in a harness until at least 6 years old. My nearly six year old is still harnessed, though it is by her decision I gave her the option to Booster full time. We ordered new seats for them when we moved to Miami, and she got to choose. They each got Hannah Prosports, which they love.
 

Mags462

New member
Because they think they are giving you information you don't know.

My kids go to two different peds (long story).... one is very "well known" and is HARD to get in to - the other is designed to serve lower income families and has low cash rates and sees a lot of medicaid patients. The "well known" ped is really great about booster use but lacks in the RF knowledge. They still advise 1 and 20.... however the "lower income" clinic is adamant about RF until at least 2 and to only flip them once the seat is outgrown. The pedi actually asked me to advise her on a seat for her LO since she felt her leggy 18mo old was uncomfie in the old style Britax.:eek: I about fell on the floor.

So really i think they are just trying to educate - and they are conveying the information they think to be true. Stating to you "you know you can turn them" is just them passing on info that they aren't sure you know or not. That's my guess anyways. If i were you, i would say in response "and you know the AAP recommends RF now until at least 2 right? I can print you out the recs if you weren't aware" ;)
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Because some parents don't know. I know a woman....that keeps her kids in whatever seat situation they are in until the ped tells her otherwise. She does know enough to keep within weight limits and such. But her DD2 went FF at 2yrs because the ped told her to (and she only kept her RF until 2 because ped told her to). Her DD1 was still in a booster at almost 9yrs because the ped hadn't told her to take her out of the booster (yay ped!!).
 

mimieliza

New member
I honestly think that for pediatricians, the biggest concern is keeping babies out of outgrown seats, rather than encouraging extended RFing. How many 1-year-olds have you seen stuffed into outgrown infant seats to keep them RFing to 1 year and 20 lbs.? It is thankfully becoming less common, since infant seats have gotten bigger, but I certainly have seen plenty of babies stuffed into Snugrides and Evenflo infant seats since their parents believe that the baby is "too little" for a convertible.
 

MorgieBear'sMama

New member
I'm curious to see our pedi's thoughts on this. Babies turn 1 tuesday and their check up is wed.

She ask every single time if Morgan still rides in a booster, I hope she does advocate rf to atleast 2.

Trying to type on a tiny touch screen is hard, please forgive my typos.
 

JerseyGirl'sMama

New member
mimieliza said:
I honestly think that for pediatricians, the biggest concern is keeping babies out of outgrown seats, rather than encouraging extended RFing. How many 1-year-olds have you seen stuffed into outgrown infant seats to keep them RFing to 1 year and 20 lbs.? It is thankfully becoming less common, since infant seats have gotten bigger, but I certainly have seen plenty of babies stuffed into Snugrides and Evenflo infant seats since their parents believe that the baby is "too little" for a convertible.

This.
 

Irishmama

New member
I honestly think that for pediatricians, the biggest concern is keeping babies out of outgrown seats, rather than encouraging extended RFing. How many 1-year-olds have you seen stuffed into outgrown infant seats to keep them RFing to 1 year and 20 lbs.? It is thankfully becoming less common, since infant seats have gotten bigger, but I certainly have seen plenty of babies stuffed into Snugrides and Evenflo infant seats since their parents believe that the baby is "too little" for a convertible.

I see that all the time here. One baby had almost his entire head over the shell of his Snugride. But, I see too many ff buckets here too. :(
 

VoodooChile

New member
I see it too! Now I'm wondering if he was thinking I was cramming a 32 lb, 37" 2 1/2 year old into a Snugride? Although just telling me to ff him could just lead to an outgrown, ff bucket in that case. Eh, who knows what he was thinking, but it's not like he tried to argue with me or anything. I was just curious what led to that statement being made, b/c a lot of ERF'ers seem to hear it.
 

luckyclov

New member
They don't cover CPS in medical school. And just because it may seem like common sense/knowledge to *us* that rear-facing, for as long as possible, is safest, it may not be to them. Their brains aren't wired that way. They aren't going to run through physics and crash dynamics and skeletal structure before covering something that was pre-set for them to cover. They're just recommending...what they're "supposed" to be recommending in that departmemt. No more, no less. Not because they don't care, necessarily, but just because it's not their area of expertise.


I compare it frequent times to vaccinations. Many (not all, but many) pediatricians can't tell you what, exactly, is in a vaccine, or how it's made, or when the last case of wild polio was, or a real, true run-down of risk v benefit. They just know why they exist and what is it they're supposed to follow and recommend.
 

Baylor

New member
In defense of good Peds, mine says 2 yrs and my cousins ped on her first visit with her dd at 6 weeks said " do not turn her ff before 2 yrs. She called me to tell me as soon as she got home.

auto-correct on the loose..
 

erind

Member
At DS's 3 year check the pedi told me he should not be rf because in an accident his hips could be displaced.
 

bnsnyde

New member
Maybe outgrown seats? Good question!

If I'd kept our perfectly good Evenflo (still unexpired) my 2 yo would have to be FF b/c it went to 30 lbs. RF. He's not even 2.5.
 

aetj115

New member
At my sons 2 year check they asked me if he was rf or ff. I said rf, they asked if he still fit and I said yup! They said "keep him as long as you can rf!" Woohoo :) also at our under 3 early intervention program here they advoacte erf.
 
At my newborns check up today the medical student working with my pediatrician said to keep her RF as long as possible and I told her of course and that my 1 and 2 year old were still RF
 

jeminijad

New member
I compare it frequent times to vaccinations. Many (not all, but many) pediatricians can't tell you what, exactly, is in a vaccine, or how it's made, or when the last case of wild polio was, or a real, true run-down of risk v benefit. They just know why they exist and what is it they're supposed to follow and recommend.

They do study immunology, virology, bacteriology, chemistry, org chemistry, pharmacology, and a dozen other things that qualify them to recommend a vaccine. I do not find this an apt comparison.
 

skylinphoto

New member
jeminijad said:
They do study immunology, virology, bacteriology, chemistry, org chemistry, pharmacology, and a dozen other things that qualify them to recommend a vaccine. I do not find this an apt comparison.

Then why can't they answer what's in the vaccines? Even when you ask specific questions..
If you ask a knowledgable car seat tech questions about specific things they can typically give you a good answer.

I'm asking out of pure curiosity (I don't like the vax vs no vax debates).

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Car-Seat.Org
 

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