Why rear facing til 2 can save your child's life

Hello friends! 

I have an extremely important issue to talk to you about today. It's pretty literally life and death, actually. Did you know that motor vehicle accidents are the #1 cause of death for children in the US? For kids under the age of 16, proper restraint is the best prevention.

The old recommendation for forward facing babies was 1 year and 20 lbs. Newer research has said this is insufficient, but unfortunately a lot of people still think it's fine to forward face a baby at 1 year.


Please understand that I'm not posting this to scare people. I'm posting this to inform people. My daughter's safety is of the utmost importance to me. I would be lost without her. I have done a lot of research and have come to the conclusion that she will be rear facing until she's at least 35 lbs. I realize that if she continues on her current growth curve, she'll be rear facing til she's four, but I'm ok with that! 

Here are my top 5 reasons why baby should rear face as long as possible:


1 - Babies and toddlers have really flexible spines. Unfortunately, the spinal cord is not very flexible. As a result of the spine stretching out, in a forward facing carseat, small children can sever their spinal cord at least partially, which can result in paralysis or death. Yikes!

2 - Children under the age of two are 5 times safer in a rear facing seat in general than they are in a forward facing seat. Huzzah!

3 - In 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics stated: "All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat (CSS) until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of their CSS." Typically, the AAP doesn't make statements without a good reason.

4 - Their legs are not going to be too squished and aren't likely to break in a crash as a result of rear facing. Even if that were a concern, I'm much rather have a toddler with a broken leg than a toddler with a broken neck. 

5 - While the neck injuries are a huge concern in a frontal crash, rear facing seats also make kids a lot safer in side-impact crashes. If in a rear facing seat, a child's head stays within the confines of the shell when in a side impact crash. When in a forward facing seat, a child's head is thrown around a lot more and can get tossed around outside of the shell. Children are 4 times safer in side impact crashes when rear facing vs forward facing.

More information is available from The Car Seat Lady, a facebook group called Carseats for the Littles, and this article from the National Institute of Health. 

It's important to find a good car seat for extended rear facing for your child! Parenting.com put together a list of 17 rear facing convertible car seats. About.com has their own list of good convertible car seats. There are a lot of threads discussing this topic in parenting forums as well!

I hope everyone finds this information useful and that it helps you to choose a good car seat for extended rear facing! 

Molasses Peanut Butter Dog treats from Food.com

My dog has been having some...uhm...behavioral issues as of late. I decided to make some doggy treats to help incentivize good behavior! I know puppies love molasses and peanut butter so I looked for something containing those things to tempt my dog, Artemis. She LOVES molasses and peanut butter!!!

So Artie has been barking as soon as she gets put into her kennel lately and she won't stop. I've decided to reward her if she stays quiet the first time I say No. She seems to be doing a lot better now! I used treats to potty train her, too!

Here's the actual recipe:

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp molasses
1/2 C peanut butter
1 C water
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
2 C whole wheat flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Whisk together molasses, peanut butter, water, and vegetable oil.
Combine oats & flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients.
Mix thoroughly, drop tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet, and press down.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until firm.
Treats will keep well in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

Here's nutrition information on the treats. Special thanks to TheDaycareLady for sharing this recipe!!!

Let me know what your fur babies think of these :)
PS kitties can have all the ingredients in here, but too much peanut butter can give them diarrhea so don't let kitty overindulge!

Welcome to my brand new blog!

My name is Simone and I'm a work at home mom!
I live in Colorado and raise my 13 month old baby girl. She's amazing and hilarious and I love being her mommy! This little monkey loves to climb and gives me heart attacks almost daily! I'm sure other mommies and daddies can relate to that ;)
I am a Mary Kay beauty consultant and I run an Etsy shop! This blog's primary focus is the Etsy shop :) I plan on posting about my projects, tutorials, general parenting and pet information, recipes, and more! I sincerely hope you enjoy what you find here! I have plenty of recipes and tutorials in mind, from makeup and artistic techniques to pet treats and kids snacks! I'm really into crock pot recipes right now so there'll probably a crock pot greatest hits coming soon.

Today I'm just posting this little introduction, but tomorrow I'll be adding a recipe for dog treats! Stay tuned for that and more!

Please comment with suggestions of topics!