extended RF - How can we spread the word?

minismom

Well-known member
I KNOW IT'S LONG BUT PLEASE READ!

It's really crazy how many people still don't know that it's way safer to keep their kids RF as long as possible. I've seen a friend turn her 9 months old ff and when I asked her why she said because the seat manual said she could turn ff when he was 20lbs, which he was. She had no idea she had to wait til he was 1yo also. And obviously she had no idea that that's the minumum and not a requirement to turn ff.
I just came down to Brazil to spend the holidays with my family and I was at a baby store yesterday buying a high chair when this woman walked in asking for a car seat. She said "i need a new carseat, the one for bigger kids cause my son barely fits in his current seat. He's 13mo" The saleswoman proceded to show her a chicco seat. I didnt'want to interfere too much and acted like I wanted info too so I said "is that the kind that can be RF to?" and was told no. The mom shopping then said, I already have a rear facing and he doesn't fit anymore. She then went to look at other seats. When she came back to the register she was paying for the ff chicco and i just had to say something. I asked what kind of seat she had now and of course it was an infant seat, she said she kept her son there as long as possible so he could rear face. So I asked the salesperson if they didn't have convertibles and they said yes and told the mom one of the seats they showed her could be installed rf too. The mom had no idea those existed and then decided to buy the convertible and I kept saying how it
was much safer. The mom complained the salesgirl hadn't mentioned that "detail" and all the salespeople were just like, well, it doesn't matter cause for the age of your son you're supposed to use ff. Meanwhile, they never asked how much her child weighed. And the chicco seat was on display with a big tag saying 12m+. The mom thanked me when I left the store but I just kept thinking of all the other people who dont know better and are getting bad advide from sales people to their pediatrician. Even the ones that do know about the 1y 20lb rule assume that's when they are supposed to ff, and have no idea that's the minimum and that it's safer to rf for longer. I know, Brazil is really bad when it comes to that, the stores offer few models (all imports of US and European seats), so there's not much to choose from and nobody gives it much thought. I don't even think you're required by law to use a seat. But in the US a lot of people don't know about the benefits of rf either.
So, I know this is long, but what can we do to spread the word? I don't think emailing everyone I know with a bunch of info will make much difference. Why isn;t there a larger campaing to get pediatricians and authors of baby books to explain this to parents? every baby book I read just mentions 1yo and 20lbs, if I hadn't read it on this site I would never have known either.
Even the safekids website is not clear on this. It does say rf AT LEAST until 1y20lbs but the way they chart the progress from seat to seat it's not clear that after the infant seat you can get a convertible. It just says keep your child rf for longer if "your rear facing seat" has higher weigh limits, but if I knew nothing else about seats and I read this I would look at my infant seat's limits and conclude I can't really keep my child rf any longer. http://www.usa.safekids.org/skbu/cps/index.html
The Brazilian chapter of safekids is even worse as it says "infant seat or convertible - from birth til 9 or 13Kg, according to seat's manual, OR 1 year of age". It's ridiculous! http://www.criancasegura.org.br/guia_cadeirinha.asp

WHAT CAN I/WE DO????
 
ADS

LimePink

Senior Community Member
The best thing I've learned to do is help spread the word one car seat/one parent/one clinic at a time. And then, also realize we have come a LONG way in car seat safety, but we can't change the world.

I'm sorry I can't be much more optimistic than that...I think we've all just had those same feelings as you're feeling now and it's like beating a dead horse sometimes.

Another way you can help though, become a tech! We need more techs who are so passionate:)
 

minismom

Well-known member
The best thing I've learned to do is help spread the word one car seat/one parent/one clinic at a time. And then, also realize we have come a LONG way in car seat safety, but we can't change the world.

I'm sorry I can't be much more optimistic than that...I think we've all just had those same feelings as you're feeling now and it's like beating a dead horse sometimes.

Another way you can help though, become a tech! We need more techs who are so passionate:)

When I found this site, before dd was born, I thought of becoming a tech. I wanted to know all I could to help my family and others. I lived in NYC at the time and the closest classes were really far away, upstate. I move to LA now, if someone could send me the website again where I can look up certification classes I'll certainly look and see if there's a class not too far. Could you tell me more what happens once you are a tech, like what can you do, what are you required to do, do you need insurance etc. I guess spreading the word once at time is a start. I'm also thinking of trying to pull some strings and get someone from a major magazine here in Brazil to write an article about it, they do stuff like that. Maybe can I promise them an interview with a tech??? anyone?
 

dd9736

New member
well, I talked to the public health nurse in my town when DS2 was born and asked her about information extended rearfacing, I told her the facts, about ffing children 2 and under being 4Xs more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rfing child of hte same age. I suggested she look it up, and she did. At our last appointment, I happened to get the same nurse, and mentioned higher weight harnessed seats, knowing she'd already been receptive to the ERFing info.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I'm hoping that with the recent article in injury prevention there will be more pediatricians telling parents to keep their kids rf'ing. While I know peds are medical specialists and that people choose peds (as they should,) on medical credentials and matching approaches to healthcare, peds are still a huge source of info on carseat safety for the average parent... It's part of routine checks to check with a parent about carseats and many offices hand out pamphlets...

So anyways, hopefully this recent article will cause more attention to be placed on keeping kids rf'ing to the limits of their seat. I think if most parents knew that with kids between 12 and 23 months rf'ing carseats prrevent serious injury or death 15% more often than a ff'ing carseat, they'd make the pretty obvious choice.

Word of mouth is very powerful, and every parent who keeps their child rf'ing and gets other parents to keep their kids rf'ing to the limits of the seat eventually creates an exponential growth in the # of kids you'll see erf'ing. I know there's a few dr.'s in the city here who have kids erf'ing, and most parents I see in clinics plan to keep their kids rf'ing once they know the benefits. Prenatal checks I always stress the importance so that parents can basically make that decision before baby ever arrives. The more people who practice erf'ing, the more common place it will become until it will become more the norm. Lead by example type thing...


well, I talked to the public health nurse in my town when DS2 was born and asked her about information extended rearfacing, I told her the facts, about ffing children 2 and under being 4Xs more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rfing child of hte same age. I suggested she look it up, and she did. At our last appointment, I happened to get the same nurse, and mentioned higher weight harnessed seats, knowing she'd already been receptive to the ERFing info.

So what was the health nurse's feedback on her research, just out of curiousity? :thumbsup:
 

dd9736

New member
she seemed interested, I wasn't 100% on how to go about bringing it up again, so I didn't do the best job, I was just happy she'd looked up more info, at the time that is.

It was funny when they did the check list and asked if I had any questions about their carseats, the nurse paused, checked it off, and said, 'you seem to know more about them than us'
 

sb518

New member
We have some "puzzled about seat belts?" flyers in the waiting room of the ER I work in, I checked it out and it says "Keep your infant rear facing until 30 pounds" but then it says booster for 40 lbs *sigh*
 

minismom

Well-known member
I'm hoping that with the recent article in injury prevention there will be more pediatricians telling parents to keep their kids rf'ing.

Can u tell me where to find this article?

THANKS EVERYONE WHO GAVE INPUT. I will keep spreading the word as best I can. I'm just so glad I found this site and met all you wonderful women who are doing such a great job helping others!
 

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