Forward-Facing Muthuh: I Need a Posting Helmet

The hot-button issue for mothers of toddlers on BabyLoony these days isn’t quite what I would have expected. It’s not extended breastfeeding, discipline, daycare, bottles, vaccinations, nannies, pacifiers, junk food, or even spanking. It’s whether to rear-face or front-face a convertible car seat. This topic was introduced a year or so ago, when the portliest of fall 2010 babies were approaching 20 pounds, the weight minimum for front-facing in an appropriately designed seat. (CYA alert: The age minimum to forward-face is one year, even if junior hits 20 pounds at five months.) I remember the first thread I saw about this, posted by a true BabyLoony ingenue: “Now that my big boy is 20 pounds, I’m ready to have him face forward! I can’t wait to be able to see him in the rear-view mirror!” Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the replies were cataclysmic. I’ll just say that almost no one simply said, “Hold your horses, mamabear_cheddarhead. You need to wait until your big boy is a year old to turn him around.” I suspect that a few people tried to pinpoint her exact location so they could show up at her door and slap her around like the hysterical lady in Airplane!

Even now, with our kiddos* nearing two, the tenor of these discussions, which are a regular occurrence, continues to be shrill in the extreme. For better or for worse, I can't say I've seen any any cum guzzlers emerge from this controversial topic, but it's certainly not too late. Every few days, someone will post, “Am I the only one still rear-facing my LO?” or “Who’s still rear-facing?” or “Why are people endangering their children? Just to let you all know, I’m not” or “MOM'S WHO FORWADR FACE: U NEED TO WATCH THSI VIDEO!!!!!!!!!” I think I’ve seen about 50 polls on the subject, and approximately 95% of the respondents proudly declare that they’re still rear-facing, and if you’re forward-facing your kid, you obviously don’t give a shit about his safety and you may as well set up a meth lab next to his crib. (“What? Your kid is in a bed already? Are you out of your fucking mind?!”)

There’s certainly a self-selection bias among thread participants because surely no one in her right mind would admit to front-facing her 20-month-old and subject herself to the holy wrath of mommy_to_three_little_darlings_1987 and her biggest fan, omg_babiesbabiesbabies7112. One of the worst offenders in all of BabyLoony claims that her 8-year-old is still rear-facing “and totally loves it.”

Before I go any further, I would like to state that I am not a reckless person. I wear seatbelts, lock doors, and always look at the expiration dates of perishable food items. My insurance agent teases me about my sky-high underinsured motorist and liability coverage levels. I try to avoid confrontations with unkempt gruff guys with multicolored beards and t-shirts indicating a deep affinity for firearms. I drive really slowly around my condo complex, but mainly because I have asshole neighbors who are convinced that no one else could possibly be coming the other way around a corner. But I find the strong feelings on the subject of car seat placement, and the extent to which people get their panties in a wad about it, mystifying.

I don’t know at what point people became so judgmental about this sort of thing. When I was a kid, and even into high school, bicycle helmets for adults and kids weren’t that commonly used, at least in my ‘hood in a Boston suburb. In fact, helmets were considered dorky. Of course, the bike helmets of yesteryear (i.e., the 80s) were a lot heavier and more cumbersome than they are now, and the classic Bell bike helmet looked like a European hard hat from the 70s and was probably twice the weight. Now they’re sleek and lightweight with cool designs, and you barely notice you’re wearing one. Anyhoo, I get that people really should wear bike helmets, especially kids. Their acceptance is a big step forward safety-wise. I also take issue with those stupid posts you see on Facebook, formerly on various message boards and in forwarded e-mails: “When I was a kid, we didn't wear bike helmets, we roller-skated without knee and elbow pads, skinned knees meant it was summertime, we didn’t have play dates, we just played outside with our friends, and we drank from rusty garden hoses and sewers, we gleefully swam in polluted lakes and rivers, and we were beaten with belts, which developed character, we said please and thank you and didn’t tell our CCD teacher to fuck off like today’s kids do, and our school nurse could give us a Quaalude, SHARE if you remember playing Red Rover and going home with a spinal injury and blurry vision, and your mom said, ‘Eat your damn peas!’” I hate that shit. Bike helmets are a good thing! As are seatbelts, motorcycle helmets, and avoiding smoking in bed (and checking your fire alarm periodically). But calling someone who positions a convertible seat front-facing a child abuser? I can’t help but think that some of these extended rear-facing (that’s a term they use, and with pride) muthuhs are the same giant-SUV-driving bitches I see “multitasking” on the road. And one of these tasks is drifting in and out of the HOV lane at 80 mph. 

*Notice that I say “our” like I’m one of these loonies. See? They suck you in, and next thing you know, you’re one of them, looking for carseats at WalMart.com because you’re too much of a scaredy-cat to set foot in your local store, and you use terms like LO and kiddo and DD and DH.

Note: Screen names have been changed to protect the innocent...and idiotic.