When the inevitable happens, the kid needs to be carried out of the hospital. Therefore, also a car seat has been added to our possessions.
Just while writing this, I realized that the color we chose for the crib is called Espresso, and the color scheme for the car seat is called French Roast. Now what is going on with all the coffee themes? I can't even drink coffee! Hmm... I wonder if it would be too late to exchange for something with a "beer" color theme..? The crib color could just as well be called Oatmeal Stout, and the seat could be Trappist Dubbel. Or something else entirely.
Speaking of car seats, my dear Belgian (/Australian/British/Swedish/American) friend has enlightened me about research into car seats carried out by Volvo. They show pretty convincingly that a child should definitely ride facing backwards at least until turning 3, preferably still later. There is a huge difference in fatalities in crashes up to a quite an advanced age. The American authorities are quite good in enforcing the fact that there needs to be a child seat (thankfully), and if you get caught without one, the penalties at least in New York state are really harsh. Still, the standard recommendation here seems to be to keep the kid facing rearwards at least until 1 year old - and a lot of websites seem to take a pleading stance with parents to do even that. What the heck is wrong with people who would willingly ignore advice like that? Or with legislators who do not act even more decisively? No, stupidity is not an acceptable excuse.
Some more exciting things ahead for this weekend: I finally got my first issue of The American Baby. I have not yet got around to reading, but I am all worked up by the expectation of "Meeting 3 moms who lost their baby weight" and the fact that "I can do it too"!
1 comment:
Oh yes, in Finland the recommendation is exactly this, until three years old the child should be sitting backwards. We didn't do it. After an age of 1,5 or so the boys knees would be in his mouth. And after a regrettable mistake that he once was sitting rightwards, we didn't fight about that anymore. I think it would have been a bigger risk for an accident if the mom would loose her nerves while driving. On the other hand, we didn't have a car of our own at that time so the boy didn't sit in the car so often. Now, with the second one we won't make the mistake and he'll have company (another monkey) facing him at the back seat. So, until he has his knees in his mouth he'll sit backwards. And the moms nerves have developed to a much higher level 8-)
Post a Comment