Moving!

As much as I absolutely loathe moving - I mean I hate it, I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns... You get the point right? Organizing, packing, cleaning, heavy lifting, arranging and re-arranging, not to mention the unavoidable inconvenience of discovering that you need your extra warm thermal hoodie, only to realize that it is packed away at the bottom of a gigantic garbage bag. Oh joy. - like I said, as much as I hate it, I am actually looking forward to this move we are about to make.

Don't get me wrong, I still plan on grumbling and pouting for a good majority of the transition, but secretly, deep down inside, I am looking forward to it. (Shhhh, don't tell my husband). The thing is, as hard as it is to move your entire life from one venue to another, who doesn't like NEW? I mean really, new carpet, new paint, new floor plan, all new!

When we moved into our current home about a year and a half ago it was the best thing ever. We had previously lived in a 2 bedroom 3rd floor walk up apartment with a grade schooler and a newborn. Yuck. So moving to a 4 bedroom house in a great neighborhood with a back yard and community amenities was quite a step up. Coupled with the fact that my mother and step-father had just donated an entire house full of brand new furniture to us, well let's just say we were a little more than excited. It was wonderful to have our own bathroom, for our kids to have their own rooms and a room designated specifically to toys, oh the joy! Of course, after living here for awhile and the honeymoon stage came to a close we started noting what we would like to change and improve upon in our next home. For instance, the second floor, in theory it is wonderful to have the children and all of their things on their own floor and leave the downstairs for grown-ups. Unfortunately, a toddler cannot play upstairs unsupervised so all of the rattles, blocks and obnoxious singing toys have to live in the living room. We had also decided to take a smaller bedroom on the main floor in order to further separate ourselves from the "kid zone" upstairs. That meant our King sized bed and giant head board had to fit into an average sized bedroom, plus we had to share a tiny bathroom and oh, don't even get me started on the closet. Tiny.

Well, when we got the call that the home owners had to let the house go due to the less that desirable economic state it was quite bittersweet. The main concern was finding a home that met our needs, in our price range and located in the same neighborhood. Well, thanks to my wonderful friends, we were able to find something that was perfect for us within one day of learning we had to move. Incredible, right? I have to admit that there are some things we have compromised on, for one thing the house is only a 3 bedroom, but what we are gaining in comparison completely outweighs that one small negative. The house is beautiful, oh and did I mention it is BRAND NEW!? Yeah, new. It's a little scary considering we have 2 small children, I envision many arguments with my oldest son about taking his shoes off and eating in the kitchen.

No matter how many little things I can come up with that are considered negatives, i cannot shake this excited feeling that I have to be moving into this beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath 1 story home with vaulted ceilings and a great view. I even have a great spot in my back yard for outdoor photo sessions! How much more can a girl ask for? So, as much as I am NOT looking forward to the next few weeks of moving and settling in, I can't wait until everything is finished and we are in our brand new home.

Don't mind the dead lawn, it is winter, in the spring and summer it is beautiful.

Rear Facing my Son until he's Two. Really, I'm not crazy!

I have had quite a few people asking me why I am rear facing Daiden now, after he has been forward facing in the car since he turned one. Well, the thing about parenting for me, is educating myself. I haven't always looked into things before I made decisions, but when I get new information I feel like it is my duty as a parent to reevaluate my position if it means a safer life for my children. Rear facing in the car is one of those things.

Up until about a year ago, the American Association of Pediatrics recommended that children rear face until they are 22 pounds AND one year old, and the law reflects that. Those infant "bucket" seats that are so popular only hold a child that is 22 pounds or less, so after the child outgrows that, parents automatically assume it's time to face forward. There isn't really much information that is offered to oppose this change either. For me, as well as many other parents, it was a milestone to turn Daiden around. It made me feel like he was a big boy and less of a baby....until I heard the facts.

"New research indicates that toddlers are more than five times safer riding rear-facing in a car safety seat up to their second birthday." States the American Association of Pediatrics. "Rear-facing seats provide better support to the back, head, neck, and pelvis. Many parents worry that a child may have a leg injury if a car accident occurs when he is rear-facing. This is more a perception than a reality, based on actual crash evidence. And, leg injuries are much less serious than one to the head, neck, or spinal cord."

The major risk involved in forward facing before a child's spine is properly developed is known as 'Internal Decapitation'. This happens when, in a collision, a child's head is thrown forward causing the spine to stretch and sever the the spinal cord. Only half an inch of stretching is required to cause internal decapitation, however, in a 48MPH collision a child's spine can stretch up to two inches.

One of the fears of extended rear facing is the child's legs being injured from being pressed against the seat, however there are no documented cases of breaks or dislocations resulting from a child rear facing during a collision. There are documented dislocations from the child forward facing and the force from the impact causes the hips to dislocate.

Car seat manufacturers are now producing convertible seats that allow rear facing up to 65 pounds because of this new found information. The minimum that a convertible seat sets their weight limit at is 35 pounds and all car seat manufacturers recommend that the child remain rear facing until the weight limit is reached. All of the convertible seats that have a limit of 22 pounds for rear facing are out of production and most are already expired. Please check your seat for recalls and expiration dates.

Another common argument against rear facing is a child being "large for their age". A 12 month old child that is 30 pounds is no safer forward facing than a 12 month old that weighs 22 pounds. In fact, the larger child has a greater risk of injury because their spine is no more developed than the smaller child, yet will have to support greater weight shift in the instance of a collision.

If you are curious about finding more information on extended rear facing, please visit the American Association of Pediatrics website at http://aap.org, the Car Seat Safety Organization at http://carseat.org and http://carseatdata.org

Here are some crash test videos documenting rear vs forward facing car seats:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIeExpDLDA&feature=related

If you are interested in purchasing a convertible car seat, but don't know where to start or are concerned about the price you can find a great selection of convertible car seats at Wal-Mart and Target. I purchased my Cosco Scenera at Wal-Mart for $45.