Is it just me.....

momto2princes

New member
or do others feel like they are the only one who ERF's or EH's their LO's?

I have talked to DH's cousin (actually she asked for some advice about her kids carseats - apparently I have been titled the 'carseat nazi') was happy to provide the info and help her select some great seats. It makes me happy to know that her 4.5 year old is still harnessed and her 15 mth old is still rear facing!

Otherwise I think everyone else (minus my DH, IL's and Mom) secretly think I am nuts....

I also have never seen anyone strangers or anything with there kids RF or EH'd around here.

I notice so many ad's on ______ (I am sure you know the list!LOL) for seats that state they are being sold because my child turned 9 (we are in BC, Canada that is the law 9 and 4'9 required) and doesn't need the booster anymore, or my child is 4 and graduated to a booster type reasoning.

Why is flipping a carseat from RF to FF and going from a harnessed seat to a booster such and important milestone that parents can't wait to reach?

I sure am on a rant tonight!
 
ADS

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
The word is getting out around me. I just talked to a mom yesterday whose 18 month old will rear face until the limits.
 

kathysr98

Active member
it's all about information dissemination.

Not always. I know a couple who have a daughter about 3 months older than my dd. Mom is an RN, dad is a lawyer. Everything with that child is done to the best of their abilities. No BPA in the bottles, organic food, breastfed, Robeez shoes, etc. They know about ERF. I've talked to the dad about it plenty of times. As soon as they bought a convertible at about 14mos, it was FF. Dad said 'oh, mom's tired of looking at the back of a carseat'. So, while information being available would help the situation, it would not fix it.
 
I only know of one kid who is practicing extended rear facing other than my own. It's my nephew. I kinda bombarded the mom with info and stuck papers into her gift back with her gift at the baby shower. haha. He is like 15 months now and she has told me he will be rear facing as long as possible. yah! hmm.. come to think of it, I may have a friend who has her 5 year old harnessed. Last I heard she was in a Marathon, but haven't seen or talked to the mom about it in a long time. Most people think I am overbearing or something.
 

jenbob31905

New member
My DD isn't technically ERF yet, but I've already got "the looks" from people because of DD's size and the fact that she's in a convertible... I have a cousin and a friend who both "can't wait" to turn the baby FF and another friend who turned her baby FF on the first birthday... At least I know my DD will be safe and sound for hopefully years to come by staying RF. :love:

I'm not the confrontation type but I do my best to get the word out on ERF as far as posting videos, articles, etc. on other sites. :)
 

mlbmom

New member
Sigh. Yes, I had one of these conversations last week.

SIL (a doctor) came to town. She asked if my DD (6y9m) was still in a booster, because she was so happy that her sixth and final child (6 mo. older than my DD) "didn't have to be in a booster anymore."

(Mind you, each time she has visited in the past two years, the booster I left at the in-laws' for her DS didn't get used.)

I replied that DD rides in a HWH car seat in one car and a high-back booster in the other. DH and MIL actually chimed in that her DS should probably still be in a booster. They're learning, at least.

Again, sigh.

Mel in MKE
 

ks1978

New member
I dont feel like that. I don't run into it a whole lot, but I know six others who ERF now! I would like to take the credit for five of them. :D Maybe because of that, I am confident that the word is spreading and that it will one day be the norm :)
 

MJHY27

New member
I definatly feel the same way. I only know one other person who's toddler is ERF but I do know 2 others who plan to ERF so I guess that counts. these people are all friends who I guess maybe I influenced with my ERFing almost 3 yo but I think they found the information themsleves in the first place.
Other than that every where i look around here there are 1 yos ff 3 yo in boosters and 5 yos with no carseat at all.
My rfing oldest was stared at the other day in a parking lot as she sat happily in her tf with her feet up on the back of the seat and then someone (not to my face) actually called me a bad mother for letting my daughter be "so uncomfortable" in the car with her legs "all squished up".
So if the car seat safety word is getting around, it isn't around here!
 

southpawboston

New member
So, while information being available would help the situation, it would not fix it.

i wasn't referring to information from informed individuals-- people rarely listen to people they know ;). i'm talking about information dissemination from "authoritative" sources-- like the instruction manuals of carseats, carseat laws, and other sources that people tend to actually listen to. these have more powerful influence on people than neighbors or friends telling people what's good and what's bad. it's just like cell phone use. polls on this forum have proven that carseat safety conscious people use cell phones while driving, despite that it is dangerous. why? because it's not against the law (in some states).
 

soccer_widow

New member
Now that I am expecting #3 and have to fit 3 across in our car, numerous people have said "oh, you can just put Andrew(3 yo) in a booster." They then proceed to freak out when I laugh and tell them that is not an option since he is still rear-facing. :)
 

menfusse

New member
I don't know anyone who ERF's and only one child in my ODD's class was EH in kindergarten. In fact, law or not, most kids here are not even seatbelted, let alone RF'd, or harnessed. Boosters are few and far between, and a good portion of them are 15 years old and look rat eaten. But here's the thing, it's always the worse car seats in the most expensive/newest vehicles around here. A brand new F250 Ford pick up, with ALL the fixin's dropped their 3 year old off at pre-k today. Got him out of one of those cosco combos...back when they were blue and had the belt guide through fabric loops on the cover. The cover was in mere threads, not even really on the seat, and of course the shoulder belt was behind him. What's the point?
 

momto2princes

New member
In DS's kindergarten class there was one other little girl harnessed (her Mom is from Sweden) everyone else was in boosters and all of them low back at that none high back ones.

Anyone I talk to about ERF knows about it and understands the safety aspect but always has some excuse as to why they couldn't continue to RF their LO any longer. The reason I like the best is "he wants to be part of the family or like his older sibling etc, he can't stand not seeing the DVD player or what have you".

I also see so many children riding in the front seat in vehicles that I know you can't turn off the air bag and the back seat is vacant. Why??? Children as young as 4 and 5 years old in no carseat or booster in the front seat when there is a perfectly good back seat in the car and nobody in it.
 

Pixels

New member
The only kid I know locally who ERFs is the son of Pastrygirl. And my DD, of course (I'm pretty sure she's 20 pounds now).

I look at others FFing at 1 and 20 and think, they're so small, how could they be FFing? But I realize that a lot of it is a question of not knowing better. Even if you have a parent who cares, who reads the manual cover to cover, how many manuals give any indication that RFing is preferred if the child fits RFing? Not many. Most look like if your child fits either way by age, height, and weight, you can do either way, with no preference. As a caregiver, what reason is there to choose RFing?

Many parents do see FFing or moving to a booster as a milestone. Without information about the safety benefits of going beyond the minimums, why shouldn't they?

When working carseat checks, I give the parent the choice if there is more than one legal option. I also explain which is safer, and the reasons why it's safer. I have never had a parent choose the less-safe option. I don't know how many go home and turn the convertible seat FFing, I suspect a few do, which is part of why I teach parents how to install it both FFing and RFing. But maybe since I'm an "authority figure" as a carseat tech, I have some sway. I always make a point to explain the whys behind my recommendations, because I think people are more likely to listen if they understand why.
 

rochelle

New member
Around my area, the kids in infant car seats tend to be FF at 1yrs old as parents move them to a convertible and just install it FF. Its pretty rare to see a parent install a new convertible RF after the child outgrew the infant seat.

The kids who were in convertible from newborn tend to be RF until the limit of the car seat. The RF convertibles from newborn that I commonly see in my neighbourhood cars are the sceneras, marathons and roundabout.
Have not seen a truefit or myride near me yet.
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
I also feel that way. I have seen maybe 2 RF convertible around here. Most of the FF seats are for kids way little that should not even be FF. Most of the littler kids also ride in boosters, mostly backless, & in the front seat. I work in a grocery store as a cashier & sometimes I bag. I cringe when I have to bag b/c we do carryout & I want to cry sometimes at the car seat usage I see, or lack thereof. I do see some good usage, but not much.

However I do talk to one lady that adopted a little girl from China. I finally got up the nerve to mention ERF to her after talking to her for awhile &seeing her little girl FF. The little girl is tiny & could be RF for awhile now. She is 18 months & as cute as can be. She said she seen a comercial on TV about ERF & now that I mentioned it was going to go home & look it up. I hope to see her soon so I can ask her. I think if she looks it up she will turn her DD back RF. I hope she does.

Other than that I am the only one I see with a RF convertible.
 

southpawboston

New member
i pretty much notice the same thing. but it doesn't bother me the way it bothers many here. the entire world is filled with people doing things in a way considered inferior or less safe than *i* would do them, and i don't feel it's my responsibility to change the world. if i got so worked up over all the misuse i see with bike riding, helmet usage, boating misuse, pool misuse, running misuse, driving misuse, eating misuse, exercise misuse... and so on, i would die tomorrow of a heart attack. so i just let it roll right off me. i just don't get worked up over it. i know that *my* kids are safe and are being raised in the way that *i* want them to be raised. that's all i need to feel secure about myself as a parent.
 

momto2princes

New member
i pretty much notice the same thing. but it doesn't bother me the way it bothers many here. the entire world is filled with people doing things in a way considered inferior or less safe than *i* would do them, and i don't feel it's my responsibility to change the world. if i got so worked up over all the misuse i see with bike riding, helmet usage, boating misuse, pool misuse, running misuse, driving misuse, eating misuse, exercise misuse... and so on, i would die tomorrow of a heart attack. so i just let it roll right off me. i just don't get worked up over it. i know that *my* kids are safe and are being raised in the way that *i* want them to be raised. that's all i need to feel secure about myself as a parent.

I feel the same way. I don't loose sleep over it but I think it is just that protective nature as a parent that makes me question why other parents don't think outside the box or want to educate themselves. Nobody I knew ERF or EH'd I was doing research about new seats for my first DS when I stumbled across some info. I am sure I am not the only parent that has researched seats, or strollers or something looking to find the best for their child. Finding the info about ERF wasn't hard nor was finding this forum.
 

2BunniesMommy

Well-known member
I know of one person ERFing and that is my great neice at 14 mo old and only because I starting talking to my niece about it before she was born and reminded her when gn was 11 mo old. I know of one other family that might have their son ERFing after I told them it was better back in May because at 22 mo he was only 21 lbs, but now that he is over 2, I am not sure if they still have him RFing.

But there is no one I have seen at random or anyone else I know.
 

April

Well-known member
To the OP, at least there's comfort in knowing that there are several of us techs and advocates on this board from BC who ERF our kids. There's quite a few of us actually. I think all of us locally encourage ERF'ing, but it just takes a very long time to see those recommendations turn into visible change.

I know that at the check we did yesterday, I had 7/8 of the cars I worked on with infant seats in them, I talked about ERF with all of them, none of them had even heard of it, but all seemed receptive to the idea. I explain that the law is 1 and 20, but that the law hasn't caught up with the research that says children between 1 and 2 are 500% safer, and so a great goal to shoot for is 2 and 30 lbs.

I was just thinking today, that here I am recommending 2 and 30, and maybe 10 years from now, that's what people will be doing, but then we could have 40, 50+lb RF'ing seats, and we'll all be complaining that people turn their kids at 2 and 30lbs!
 
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