Last time we went to the pediatrician, I almost had a shouting match with her. Granted, it wasn't our 'main' ped, it was the new doc to the practice. She's an older doc and apparently not well-read on modern carseats (though she knew the newest guidelines around heart murmurs and dental work so silly me, I thought she knew about carseats too). So when I said that Val would be rear-facing for quite a while yet she promptly told me to flip her seat around since seats 'can't hold a kid over 20 lbs rear-facing.'

Yo, doc. The middle ages called. They want their carseats back.

Today's convertible carseats rear-face to at least 30 lbs (save this god-awful thing by Combi that nobody should spend good money on). There's a reason for this and it's easy.

Rear-facing is safer. Period. Kids in Sweden rear-face up until they're 5 or so and you know what? They have almost no child fatalities in car accidents. How about that.

So I was shocked and pissed to hear Dr. Dark Ages tell me that I should absolutely flip Val around even though at the time she weighed just 1 lb over the minimum. Thanks for the crap advice but hell no, lady, we won't be listening to you.

Rather than just bailing on the practice, I called months in advance to get an appointment with the Real Doctor and today, I came prepared. I had a stack of handouts about extended rear-facing and what do you know, she listened to everything I had to say and thanked me for the info. I really do think she'll read it all and pass it along to other parents.

My work here is done. For now.

Here are those links again: Car-Safety.org - Why Rear-Facing is Safest
CPS Safety article - Rear-facing - Unmatched Safety
About.com - Rear-Facing Car Seat Rules - Why You Should Consider Extended Rear-Facing
Rear-facing crash test, compare this to:
Forward-facing crash test and you'll see why it makes total sense to leave your kids rear-facing as long as possible.
Longer video about why this is important

Val weighed in at 25 pounds with clothes on so she's got 8 more pounds to go before she rides forward-facing. FYI, it's how much a kid weighs fully clothed that's the measure for car seat weight. Why? Because that's the amount of weight the seat will need to restrain in a crash. Unless your kid rides naked.

I had no idea about any of this until Val was turning one and weighed less than that magical 20 lb MINIMUM for forward-facing. Then I started checking out our options and I saw two videos on YouTube showing how carseats work. Rear-facing seats absorb the impact. Kids in forward-facing seats absorb that impact with their neck and shoulders.

Seat? Your kid's neck. You decide. For us it's a no-brainer. I'll let our seats do the work. When people give me shit about it, saying Val should be turned I have but one answer, a very firm 'It's Just Safer.' Doesn't everyone want what's safest for their kids?

Or is it better to let junior see out the window?

Anyway, I'm pleased as hell that Real Doctor was so receptive even if I did have to give her the AAP's carseat guideline (something she should've had herself in the first place).

Tune in next time as I share with you all the benefits of extended harnessing. Listen as I laugh maniacally at the notion of Val ever riding in a booster seat. If you want to read ahead on that, go to

www.kyledavidmiller.org.

Other future plans include spending part of my sabbatical next year getting certified as a carseat tech so I can wave a fancypants laminated card around when I talk about these things.