101 James Doolittle Blvd
Uniondale, NY 11553
USA
One in 88 children may have autism. Has your practice setting done a good job in identifying those children at a very early age? Pediatric surveys still show that developmental screening and early diagnosis is a problem area for many
primary care providers.
The NYSDOH Bureau of Early Intervention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, District II (NYS) cordially invite you to join us for a free two-part training session to discuss a simple, sound approach to this important area of caring for children.
EVENT: Workshop & Dinner
DATES: Part 1: May 21, 2012 • Part 2: June 12, 2012
FOR MORE INFO (click to view full invitation):
http://www2.aap.org/attachments/LearntheSignsInvitationLongIsland-04-26-20-35-08.pdf
TO REGISTER (click for registration form – space is limited):
http://www2.aap.org/attachments/LearntheSignsRegistrationLongIsland-04-26-20-35-23.pdf
You can get a high weight limit CR seat for $35. Cosco seencra is a really highly rated seat and its super cheap. So I’m not sure why cost should even be mentioned. You can get a booster for $12. If you want suggestions on good seats, check out the car seat board on BBC. As far as kid’s feeling embarrassed, my son is almost 9 in a back booster. My neighbor’s kid is not. When he asked why, I sat down and showed him the research and explained why. I didn’t scare him with videos, just explained why. He was perfectly OK with it after. Talk to your kids and explain why. Plus, I’m not sure giving in to peer pressure is a good example. “You want out of your seat because Timmy is out of his? Sure!” It’s a good chance to explain to your kid’s that we are all people with our own opinions and just because Timmy does it, doesn’t mean we have to. My husband is a Doctor and seen crashes first hand. Kid’s in proper car seats walk away skipping. Sadly not the case for 3 yr old in backless booster just because they weigh enough. It’s age AND Weight. A regular lap belt hits your body at all your major organs, that is where the impact goes in a crash. That is what kills kids, internal bleeding and damage. In a 5 point harness, the crash impact hits their shoulders and thighs, no major organs feel the impact. That is why it’s so much safer to be in a 5 point.
I think it is wonderful that they are placing more emphasis on height rather than age for the booster seat. I wish they did the same for the car seats, though maybe that is because the car seats have such a range in min and max requirements. I know too many parents focus on age rather than size. In Kansas, many parents stop using the booster seats at age 8, as soon as the law allows, but a child isn’t any safer at age 8 years than they were at 7 years 364 days. There is such a range in size in children, there is no reason why an 8 year old in the 95th percentile should be treated the same as a child like mine, who barely made it onto the chart. How many parents actually have that rare average size child? Both my kids were over a year before they reached the minimum weight to turn them forward facing. My daughter was almost 2 years, but even then, that focused on weight, rather than height. Surely height is the more important variable. And that was the minimum weight for FF, not maximum weight for RF. She still had plenty of pounds to go before she reached the maximum for RF, but she was long and seemed uncomfortable and I had no better information to go on. The car seat only gave the min and max in pounds, not inches. Will the car seat manufacturers be changing the information to help parents make that choice of when to turn them FF?
Thank you to the author of this article for posting this. I had planned to turn my daughter around to front-facing when she turns 1 (she is 8 months old now) but after reading the AAP recommendations and watching the YouTube videos that someone here posted I will now be keeping her rear-facing for as long as possible. Every parent wants what’s best for their child and wants to keep them safe. I’m sure many people believe that we have become an overly cautious society and in a way I agree with that. But this is one instance where you just can’t deny the facts. The difference between RF and FF can literally be the difference between life or death to a child. Our babies are so small and helpless. How can we not do absolutely everything in our power to protect them? As far as booster seats until middle school, thankfully that’s a long way off for me. My husband and I will do the research and make a decision when the time comes. Sounds ridiculous when you first hear it, but if the research is as compelling as RF vs FF, then my child will be in a booster seat for a long time as well!!
Rebecca, the reason for RF as long as possible is because the most dangerous wreck is a head on collision, and if little ones are facing forward there will be more trauma to their necks from the whip lash. Children can get an internal decapitation because their necks aren’t strong enough to withstand the force of the crash. If the baby/toddler/preschooler is rear facing in a head on collision the back of the carseat takes the force and not the child’s neck. Also, when forward facing, 5-point harness car seats are designed for small bodies, the vehicles seat belts are designed for adults. Children’s bodies aren’t strong enough for those and can end up with more trauma from them than they would a 5-point harness.I agree that there are a lot of industries that find ways to get as much money as possible by playing with parents emotions, but when it comes to safety like this, I think better safe than sorry is the way to go. There are plenty of websites with loads of carseat information and testimonies of parents whose carseat choices either saved or injured/killed their children. I don’t recommend reading them unless you have tissue near by, but if anyone needs proof or opinions, they’re out there!!
I am 6 months pregnant and when making out my registry, my husband and I decided that we didn’t have to have THE BEST of everything, but that we were not willing to compromise when it came to the car seat. My mother raised 4 kids in the 70’s & 80’s. Everyone knows what that means for car seats and seat belts and told me “There is no way you will get a child to sit in a car seat until they weigh 70lbs.” My reply was that if my child never knows any other way, he or she will sit where I tell them to and just accept it. I’m SO glad that we chose and received the Britax car seat. Between the steel frame and the maximum weight limits of 70 lbs, I will not need to worry about finding an appropriate car seat or booster seat to transition to later on. I’m so new (at 40!?) for all this baby stuff, but I’m glad that at my age, I’m able to logically look at this and know that I’m making the right choice. We all just want our children to be safe – as safe as we can make them, and so I am glad that there are guidelines out there to help us!
Yesterday I saw a woman driving her mini van and her child who was around 6 years old was playing around the van, crawling on her, going forward and backwards around the car. At the red light my husband told her that was not safe and she answer: “He is an older kid.” I couldn’t believe it, as if because you are over 6 year old are immune to death. Crazy people!