Oh I know you are right. If following the diet preg can make me only gain 4 lbs I know it would be a great way to lose weight not preg. After this baby(and even during this pregnancy) Im getting really serious about loseing weight. This is the heaviest Ive ever been and its just too much. I need to be able to keep up with all these boys!! haha. I will probably try to follow the diet after this pregnancy too. Id rather just work out more and not diet but its just not realistic to be able to have time to exercise on a regular basis. Another baby wont give me more free time!

90% of the convertibles on the market are too big for my car or they block the door opening so much I can't get RJ in. I'm at a bit of a dilemma right now though. RJ is getting too tall for the RF straps on his convertible as he's 33-ish inches tall. However, he's only 19 lb so he's below the weight limit to flip forward. I'm not sure if it's safer to flip him forward being a little underweight of leave him RF with the straps too low. I was originally planning to flip him at 18 months but he's not going to make it that long in his seat. I had asked in my May DD group on another forum and they all told me to go buy a bigger car seat, which I told them would not fit (I tried out a ton of models at BRU when pregnant with RJ to know what would fit or not). I was called a bad mother for putting my child at risk and selfish for not selling off my car to buy a new bigger one to fit a new $300-plus car seat. Really not very helpful. I'm going to flip him soon as the carseat manufacturer told me it was safer to have correct strap positions for height than the higher weight. I'm going to see if we can make it until Brighton is born before flipping, but I don't think we can as he's pretty much outgrown it now.

WA, it's important to be checked for GD. I was diagnosed with it with no symptoms at all and fortunately the dietary changes were the way I already ate so minimal modifications for me. I had no risk factors at all and still had it.

On my carseat, in rear-facing mode, the straps are supposed to come out of the seat at a level lower than his shoulders (if that makes sense). In forward-facing mode, they are supposed to be level or slightly above the shoulders. So maybe it's not terrible if his shoulders are a little higher than where the straps come out?

RF height on my seat is 34 inches and can't remember if it's 30 or 35 pounds. I just know it's 40 pounds FF limit. RJ is loke 10th percentile for weight and 97th or more (their chart doesn't go over 97) for height so that creates the fit problem. If he were "normal" he'd fit just fine RF until 2. LOL

Well if he ends up being too tall for it forward facing, the TrueFit carseats have the tallest shells. They're not super expensive, I think list price for mine was $180, and I was able to get it for under $100 at Fred Meyer by combining a rewards coupon with my dad's senior discount.

I love the Recaro ProRide SO has in his car and he got another one for Brighton. They are a snug fit FF in my car but would work and go to 70 pounds. That's always an option for when he gets too tall if they still make them in 2-3 years (Cocorro seems to work to about 4). Due to tall kids and limited car space I just can't ERF. I'm totally fine with it, but don't like all the judgment I get from others, like anyone who dares to FF their children before they are 4-5 is a horrible parent. With all these safety rules and requirements now it makes you wonder how we all managed to survive without them. LOL! When we were babies she put pillows and/or blankets on the floor boards to pad things. When we got to be toddlers we were seatbelted into the regular belts or two of us belted into the same seat if there wasn't enough room otherwise.

to be honest I'd flip it forwards, baby is still being protected by the seat, its not like you have just dumped them in the backseat or have them on your lap! (which to my disgust I have seen, as well as toddlers in front passenger seats with no booster!) How are you a bad mum for worrying about the comfort&safety of your child?? Its not your fault you aren't a millionaire! Some people take safety to an insane level. to the point where it is unsafe... For example I have heard of people using stairgates to stop baby/toddler from falling down the stairs (fine, that's good if you don't have the time to watch your child 24/7 or you want some peace of mind) but I have heard of people blocking off their kids rooms with stairgates so they don't wake them up in the morning?! What if baby is very poorly?? Or pukes and starts to choke or has a nosebleed and starts to choke? Safety equipment is a last resort, the most important thing is to try and avoid the danger in the first place, surely? Obviously with cars its a little trickier, as traffic accidents can happen to any safe driver, it only takes one idiot or a failure on the part of the car to have an issue. But using a forward facing care seat as opposed to rear facing shouldn't affect the safety of your child THAT much tbh. They are still protected on almost all sides by the car seat/roll bar etc etc.

Not to be all car seat crazy, but rear-facing is significantly safer. http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx does a decent job of summing it up. You can argue it a hundred different ways and have a 101 reasons why it doesn't work out for various situations, but no matter what, rear facing is more safe for the first couple of years. It's just another one of those parenting decisions we make, for better or worse, all the dang time. It gets exhausting, really. For once, I'd like to hand P some fruit and not stress over the fact that it's not organic and maude knows what kind of toxin levels are building up in her little body.

And ya, in a sweet second I'd gate in P's room if that meant I could sleep in longer while she played in her room. Sounds like bliss.

WA - it is significantly safer for a small child to be rear facing instead of forward facing. Here is a link with video and pictures that give a good visual example. It's not so much about the protection on the sides, it's about what the child's body does when the car is impacted.

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

I'm not saying BG is a bad mom for not buying a $300 carseat or a bigger car! Just that it is important people be fully educated about the difference it makes. I certainly hope that none of us are ever in a serious car accident and that we never put it to the test!

I agree. Even though I turned my daughter forward facing at 1 year, I do agree that rear facing is much much safer than forward facing. But I have seen this topic get very ugly on forums, so like DG said, its just another one of those parenting choices. Everyone is always going to judge anothers choices when it comes to parenting.

The main reason rear facing is safer is due to neck control in young children. Think of sudden impact and what happens to a little infants neck when rear facing as oppose to forward facing??

I have seen the whole car seat debate get pretty ugly too. We turned Olivia as soon as she hit the weight for forward facing on our car seat because I could just not take the screaming. She HATED the car seat, and flipping her forward improved it quite a bit. She just hates going backwards. She even hates sitting in shopping carts because she goes backwards which is why I hate shopping with her because she's a wanderer if not in the cart. In my opinion, it was safer for us to have her forward facing where she wasn't screaming as much and therefore we could concentrate more as drivers, as I figure there was a higher risk of an accident being all frazzled from her screams. Caitlin, on the other hand, doesn't mind the car seat and going backwards at all, so I plan to keep her rear facing as long as I can.

I turned my kids forward at one as well. They are sooo much happier that way. I personally feel like parents are getting paranoid about safety(and parenting in general). Of course its great we have advances adn can make better decisions, but if your child is going to get hurt(sick etc) its going to happen. You just cant protect them from everything. We all want safe healthy kids and we have to decide how to best make that happen. It is a funny trend that everyone wants small eco friendly cars, and yet carseats that are gigantic. If you think about it, the smaller the car the bigger the need for a huge rear carseat because smaller cars offer way way less crash protection, but then they dont fit! Kids were safer back in the day even without carseats because everyone drove huge heavy cars. lol. It does really bother me to see kids not even buckled up tho. I see young toddlers standing in back or even front seats way too often. Scary! Or the foster baby I kept for a few days..her birth mom had been driving all over the state with a preemie not even in a carseat, just laying on the seat!!!!

UGH. I could handle 10 kids, but being preg with 3(or even 1) sucks. I really really really hate it. All 3 of them require soo much attention and I dont feel good and am so exhausted I dont want to get up and pee, but I have to push on. I feel like pukeing when I talk or move but have to do both ALL damn day. DFs been working late so I get zero breaks and Im totally haveing a break down today. I wish he could be preg and deal with these 3 and I could go to work. lol. Every time df comes near me all I think is VASECTOMY!!!!!!!!! :S

yeah but look at that little boy in the photo his legs are all crunched up and his lung capacity must be somewhat diminished by being squished in a car seat that is too small! I know they are significantly safer, but in honesty you just have to decide what is best for your child, they are still really well protected in a carseat even if its forward facing. did you notice how the straps in the baby lent out in the photo are clearly loose/allowing him to move that way? In our car seats (forwards facing) the straps are snug fitting and padded, meaning baby would be held in better, not perfectly, but better.

There's no diminished lung capacity with a child who is extended rear facing, as long as they are in a seat designed for a child that size. Their legs are bent, but it's not as uncomfortable as we imagine and they're certainly not up against their rib cage. Babies and young children are much more flexible than we are. Imagine all the weird positions babies fall asleep in that would make us sore, but don't bother them.

Here's a better crash video, the straps don't look loose to me on this one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIeExpDLDA

My parents are happy for us!!! I am so surprised! yay

That's great!

Wow, they called you a bad mom for not buying a bigger car? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Ask them for a loan so that you can buy a bigger car. Geez! And also offset the extra gas that that'll use.

We turned M around at about 19 months when she hit the height limit. We already have a full size car. If someone tells me that I have to buy a bigger car and bigger car seat, I'll sit on them and squash them. And I have all the momma poundage now, baby, so don't mess with me (ok I don't so much although the fat to muscle ratio is all off, but they don't have to know that). She is 10th in weight and 50th in height percentile. Makes for some funny clothing situations too. Too short or too loose. Hmmmm, which to pick, which one to pick! But the cloth diapers help her go into 2 year old clothing without the pants pooling at her feet. Another one FOR cloth, yayy :-).

'course, we very rarely drive. About once in 1-2 months. Which reminds me that I should go down and run the car for a bit.

LOL! We buy RJ's clothes for the length and they are loose on him. He walks or crawls around and they slide off his butt. Next thing you know they around his knees or ankles......assuming he hasn't just taken them the rest of the way off himself at this point! My mom said he was built just like me when I was little, tall and skinny.

Lol, Ethan was always in the 90th or above for height, weight and head circumference, he was just plain big! He is now in age 11 clothing at age 7, and makes most of his classmates look small&slender. He isn't overweight, but he isn't skinny, and he has very broad shoulders, I'm thinking we should train him up to play Rugby and make a fortune

LOL WA--We say the same thing about Evan all the time! Hes a thick 100% muscle kid who would make a mean rugby player!

The exhaustion during this pregnancy is INSANE. Yesterday was the best day ever. Df stayed home because he was planning to work today..I slept ALL day long. From 1am thurs night until 8pm last night. Yeah..8 P M! How crazy is that! I seriously could have kept sleeping but ppl kept calling my cell. I think I could have slept right on thru until this morning! The kids slept in until 9 this morning which was a rare treat..and Im counting down the mins until naptime! haha.