Why do people give me a hard time about rear facing

Question

I'm wondering if any other moms have this problem.  My car seat rear faces up to 40lbs and my 5 year old is in the very small side for height and weight and he is like 33 lbs and not even 40 inches tall yet so we rear face. My friends have 3 year olds bigger than him. He's healthy just on the low end. Anyway I rear face with him in the center seat, based on what's safest for him. I've never been in a rush to turn his carseat and I don't really know why anyone would be if it's the option that is safest. I have had friends family even teachers comment about it. One of my sons school friends made fun of him for it. I don't really get what the big deal is unless I'm living under a rock? His pediatrician is very happy about it and said I'm doing great. I don't really understand why people get to mad about it or get on me about changing it forward. He's in kindergarten and I'm noticing the other kids seem to be in just a booster seat but that's not even really safe according to guidelines especially since some are very small like my son and nobody gives them a hard time so why is it me who is getting all the grief about this ? And it's not something I ever bring up or talk about it's always people bringing it up to me. 
What's the deal ? Does anyone else deal with this ?

Answer

I get a lot of comments too and my oldest JUST turned 3. I got so many comments on it I made a post on Facebook with pictures showing what is safest and why. I'm about to print and laminate the same pictures to make a safety pamphlet to make people read when they open their mouths.

Answer

My soon 4 year old says "im rear facing and therfore safer than you in the car" when someone asks him. Oddly that tend to shut people up quite fast.

Answer

Saying “sorry safety is my priority” usually shuts them up 🤷🏻‍♀️

Answer

Tell them to speak with a CPST. Say. “ I’m sorry for keeping my child safe in the car, I’m sorry for having my child’s safety as my #1 priority, I’m sorry your child’s safety isn’t at the up most.” Say that every step “up” you do within the car is 2 steps down in safety. And the acts true. Say that rear facing is 500x safer than forward and that my child is no where near the max rear facing limits. As for the kids in the booster if one of them say something about it, then reply back as well your child’s safety isn’t your priority as he/she shouldn’t even be in a booster at all and it’s very very unsafe. 
Just give it right back at them.

Answer

My son is almost 5, but not in kindergarten because of his birthday falling too late in the year for where I live. I also still have him rear facing as he is small and still very much within the height and weight limit. I have gotten lots of questioning from family as to why I continue to rear face. I have also gotten looks from other adults when out and about and also at preschool. No one outside of family has commented, but I do feel super judged. Like you I haven’t seen anyone else still rear facing at his preschool and a lot are in booster seats which really surprised me. I guess we are in the minority for rear facing for so long 🤷🏼‍♀️ I just know it is the most safe so I’ll endure the judgment, but it seems odd that everyone wouldn’t want to do what would keep their kids the safest.

Answer

Rear facing is technically safer even for adults. But the reason rare facing is recommended isnt because of their size, it's because as infants and toddlers, their heads are very disproportionally big compared to their bodies, so theres a bigger risk of spinal injury in a serious accident. But that head/body disproportion is mostly resolved by age 4 and considered resolved by age 5/6, regardless of the child's size, their proportional development should be on track.  The size limit of the seat is for effectiveness of the seat vs how long you should keep them. Regarding the 5 point harness vs highbooster vs low booster, I actually had quite a surprising conversation about this with the fire dept certified carseat technician....the main issue is the kid moving the seatbelt off of proper shoulder position. Thats it. If your kid is good about leaving the strap alone, it doesnt make much difference which type of seat theyre in. One of my daughters has been in a booster since around 5 because she's a still rider and doesnt move the strap. Like I said rear facing yes is safer for everyone including adults and some parents have a 'maximum safety' mentality and thats great, but Ive personally never seen a kindergartener still in a rear facing seat, so they likely see it as overprotective and unnecessary.

Why do people give me a hard time about rear facing

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