Many children too heavy for their car seats.....

Sad, isn't it? Hopefully more manufacturers will make higher weight limit seats. Here is the article from another place, I think it has more to it. I noticed some places are cutting parts of it out.. Crazy..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040300182.html
BTW, Jenny Riggs, who is in the article, is a friend of mine(and uccomamas) from a car seat forum we are members of. Coo, huh?

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I think it is disappointing that car seat manufacturer's are just now stepping up to the plate and manufacturing seats with larger children in mind. This is why they are in business, no? To make car seats that are suppose to protect our kids in a wreck? (prior comments are rhetorical Boongirl....not directed at you). Not to mention as a CPS instructor part of my job is to help parents find the best and safest way to restrain their kids. And I teach that keeping your kids in a 5 point restraint for as long as possible is the SAFEST way to restrain them. And then I lower the boom. But you have to spend $ 100-250.00 for the seat to do that....
I am also saddened to read your comments regarding obese kids. Why should there not be products made that accomodate obese kids? Are these "concessions" or compassion? Common sense or patronizing? I got a pit in my stomach when I read your post and I don't know why. Your post came off to me as if obese kids aren't worthy of the same things other kids are. Kids cannot control what is given to them to eat. They are hungry...they eat. They cannot control many things...their PARENTS are responsible to them to help them make the right choices. When was the last time you saw a child with money in a grocery store, shopping? I just...I don't know. I'll just leave it at that for now. Maybe this isn't what you meant.

Dallaschildren
CPS tech/instructor and momma to 2 sons in seats

I can totally understand where boongirl is coming from. It is sad that we've come to a point of just accepting that children will be obese now days. It's sad that because the obesity rates in children in the US are so high that there are new growth charts to accomodate and those with slender children are now being told that their babies are malnurished and underweight.

I have 2 Britax carseats. I bought them both for the higher weight limit because I wanted to not have to put my children in booster seats until it was absolutely necessary, around 6-8ish.

It's really sad that the news piece that I heard said something like "experts say getting heavier children in better fitting seats will be easier than attacking the broader problem of overweight kids." Yes, lets ignore that problem.

Of course all children deserve the same level of safety and there should be options available that fit all children. However, I think that we need to quit covering our eyes to the problem that these children are overweight and need help before it becomes a lifelong health issue.

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A little OT but your sig is cute. My oldest son told me the other day..."Mommy, why are you going 45 and the speed limit is 40? You're speeding...slow the heck down." I complied.

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That is a lot like here. Sadly, the current statistic is only 50-60% of people here actually use carseats, the other 40% go unrestrained at all ages. Of the 60% that use seats, 90+% are using them incorrectly! We checked o ver 120 seats on Satuday and while I don't have the total #s, my partner and I did 14 I think and the only correct one was an infant carseat base, she dind't bring the actual seat so we couldn't check it, but I'm sure it would've been wrong too. We were able to take one seat and have it destroyed though. There's a lot of scary things out there!

The thing is though don't they make these higher weight seats already in places like Sweden? It's been my understanding that they keep their kids rear facing until around age 4 over there. I know Britax makes extended rfing seats (as in way more than just the 33 lbs we get here in the US) overseas. I think until now there hasn't been any demand. Let's face it: most of the mainstream parenting magazines never mention extended rfing; most ped's don't know anything about it, etc, etc. Parents just never learn about it and therefore never even get a chance to make a decision about it kwim? To most parents hitting 1 yr and 20 lbs is a celebrated milestone. So my point is that although these seats already exist there has been no demand for them here in the US. Now that kids are getting too big for the US seats maybe we'll at least get our higher weight limit seats! And I totally agree that obese kids is a parenting issue, not an issue with the child. But I don't think the pp was saying it was the child's fault.

Rachel, Yes, Sweden has great seats, rfing till 55# etc. There's just no demand here so the US won't test them and certify them. I know several people who would get them, including me!

BusyMommy-Yes, Roundabouts only go to 40#, but AJ is perfectly even w/ the top slots at not even 3, so he's almost outgrown it already (we've just sat in it, we don't have one) w/out being 40#.

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I'm curious: how can a 2 1/2 - 4 y.o. child be rear-facing in a standard car? Where do their legs go? : My kids are both tall, and thus heavy, though not overweight. They were out of their infant car seats by 6 months (over 20 lbs and heads reaching the top of the seats.) I had them in convertable rear-facing seats until they were a full year, but by then their legs were getting pretty cramped. I don't see how they could have stayed rear-facing much longer even with a seat that was rated for it. If they were smaller they could have stayed rear-facing longer than they did, but I can't imagine even a small 3 or 4 year old having room for her legs. Maybe I'm not understanding how they work?

Besides the cost factor of the seats themselves, there is the cost factor of the vehicle. If you have a mid-size or smaller sedan, you probably can't fit 3 full-size carseats in it correctly. So if a lower income family has a third child, the oldest one has to go into a booster to make room for the youngest one's car seat. This is the main reservation I have about laws requiring car seat use up to 80 lbs. or whatever. I understand the importance of protecting children, but what about large low-income families? They might be forced to buy an older (less safe) but larger vehicle, or not drive at all. It's a tough issue.

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Most kids just fold up their legs, usually sort of indian style. Jake is fairly tall as well (he's almost 2) and he just props his feet up on the seat. You have to remember how much more flexible children are then adults. Also most people do sit with their legs folded up in some manner. I'm sure a large portion of people reading this right now have at least one leg folded under them while sitting in their office chair. Here's a good link with pics of older kids rfing, that will probably help you get an idea of how it works http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFalbum.aspx

If you can't afford to transport your children safely, you probably should limit the # of children you have till you can afford to do so. It's a tragedy that the kids are the ones that are suffering b/c people can't control their family size or choose not to. We're on our 3rd and will hopefully have a van before the baby comes, but if not, I know that I can safely fit 3 harnessed seats in my backseat.

Everyone be sure to look at that cute kid, AJ, in the extended rfing album like that was posted!

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I don't think safe car seats can be called a "concession." It is a right of every child to be safe. And I don't know where you have been- "Husky" clothes have existed since I was little, from at least the late 70's on... It is not a new thing. The thing that makes me sad is your attitude that "fat" kids are to be pitied, & are somehow less deserving of basic human rights.

Yes, I might feel sad for the kid who is overweight because his diet consists solely of fast food & soda, but NOT because of his weight- because his parents don't know enough to feed him the proper diet.

Some kids are just meant to be heavier than others. When I was little, I wore "slim" clothes. My youngest sister wore "regular" & our middle sis wore "pretty plus." (That is the girl's version of "husky," btw! ) We were all EBF & all ate the same meals, so...