Proud to be Backwards

We had a really long day today. Neither baby was sick nor teething, but both were ultra cranky. I hate days like today. The girls are extremely challenging on days like this and both want me to themselves. The entire day was filled with screaming and crying. There were very few quiet moments.

One of our few quiet moments was in the car. I love this picture because it shows that A&E are still rear facing at 19 months. Within the last month or so, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed it's recommendation for rear facing. They used to say a child could be changed to forward facing at one year as long as that child was 20 lbs. Now, they recommend that children are rear facing until they are two. We never switched A&E to forward facing. Neither was 20 lbs at 1 year, but we would not have turned them around even if they had been. The rate of infant death in serious car accidents is so much lower with extended rear facing. If you look at pictures of a 1 year old vs a 5 year olds spine, the difference is amazing. So many parents are sad about how fast their babies grow up. I don't understand why they can be sad about seeing their child grow, yet look forward to doing something like switching them to ride forward as soon as the baby reaches a year. Of all the milestones to push, this is not one of them. Keep your babies safe and keep them rear facing.