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Our 4 year old daughter uses a Swedish rear-facing car seat, and she seems fine with it. I'm sure she would prefer a front facing one because she'd be able to s

Our 4 year old daughter uses a Swedish rear-facing car seat, and she seems fine with it. I'm sure she would prefer a front facing one because she'd be able to see more, but since she was 3 she's been able to see pretty well. It's definitely not uncomfortably small for her. A woman asked a friend of ours "how do you get your kid to eat brown bread?" and our friend replied "she doesn't know there's any other kind". I think the same applies here - we've never had a problem with the seat because she almost never goes in a front-facing one. Even when she has used a friend's seat for whatever reason, it's never been an issue getting her back into hers. And she's a pretty argumentative kid.

foreigner 9y ago
My kids are a little older, but I've used the same strategy with bicycle helmets. There's never any argument about using them, because they've simply never been in a bicycle without a helmet, not seen me ride without one.
- JetSetWilly 9y ago
  It is a bit worrying, there's no real evidence that rear facing seats improve outcomes for children, and similarly there's no real evidence that bicycle helmets improve outcomes for people in bicycle accidents. But somehow, the "safety industry" has leapt on these things and now everybody has a ludicrously fearful attitude to cycling and you get looked at funny (or even harassed by strangers) if you dare to let your kid ride about without body armour on.
  - aesclepius 9y ago
    While I don't know about rear-facing seats for outcomes, having cycled recreationally and for commute for the last 10 years, wearing a helmet has on multiple occasions saved me (yes I understand anecdata of 1) from mild lacerations to letting me walk away from a 40 mile downhill crash with road rash. Cycling without a helmet is a personal decision, but I don't understand how you can argue that increased head protection does not improve overall morbidity and mortality.
    - bryanlarsen 9y ago
      There are three major factors: - Cycling accidents under 20mph are highly unlikely to cause head injuries, and most cycling is done under 20mph so there's little room for improvement. - Helmets are not designed to protect against the kind of injuries received in an accident with a car. - Perhaps most importantly, the phenomenon called risk normalization. Cyclists wearing helmets take more risks than cyclists who don't, and cars interacting with cyclists give more space to cyclists who aren't wearing helmets.
      - analog31 9y ago
        >>> Cyclists wearing helmets take more risks than cyclists who don't, and cars interacting with cyclists give more space to cyclists who aren't wearing helmets. Is this supported by evidence (aside from the oft cited but unscientific University of Bath study)?
    - eesmith 9y ago
      There's a section in the Wikipedia page for bike helmets about this topic, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Opinions_for_and_against_the_compulsion_or_strong_promotion_of_helmets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Opinions_for_an... .
  - lemming 9y ago
    I wrote about my personal experience with bike helmets a few years ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1749644#1750459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1749644#1750459): When I was with my ex-girlfriend her little sister was knocked off her bike, also by a totally reckless driver doing over 80km/h in a 50km/h zone. She suffered serious head trauma, they didn't actually think she'd make it through the night. She did survive but had pretty serious behavioural problems after that, and died a few years later of a cerebral tumour which was almost certainly related. I'll never forget the surgeon when he first came out of the operating room. He said: "If she had been wearing a helmet, none of this would have been necessary and she'd be fine." You could see clearly in his face that he'd seen this way too many times. I have another more recent anecdote since having kids myself. A friend of a friend here has a son the same age as our daughter. When he was 3 he was out on his scooter without a helmet, and fell off - nothing out of the ordinary, except he happened to hit his head on the concrete corner of a ramp. We live in a small town, he had to be choppered out to the nearest city, spent significant time in ICU, multiple brain surgeries, and the kid is now epileptic. I've also had the experience of falling when snowboarding not wearing a helmet, and not even going very fast. I woke up inside an MRI machine several hours later after a serious concussion. You can do what you want for yourself and your kids. Mine are going to wear helmets. There is no learning curve for head injuries.
checkyoursudo 9y ago
That's how my kids eat brown bread (whole wheat bread). I don't know whether they know about white bread, but they certainly don't have access to it at home. They either eat whole wheat bread or they don't eat bread, and I don't care either way. I make really good sandwiches. If they want one, then they can have one. :)
- thatfrenchguy 9y ago
  You should probably buy bread without sugar in it though for you and your kids.
  - checkyoursudo 9y ago
    I usually make the bread. Water, flour, salt, yeast. Sometimes sugar depending on the type, but pretty rarely. Maybe an egg wash every once in a while. Sometimes olive oil. Etc etc.

foreigner 9y ago

My kids are a little older, but I've used the same strategy with bicycle helmets. There's never any argument about using them, because they've simply never been in a bicycle without a helmet, not seen me ride without one.

JetSetWilly 9y ago
It is a bit worrying, there's no real evidence that rear facing seats improve outcomes for children, and similarly there's no real evidence that bicycle helmets improve outcomes for people in bicycle accidents. But somehow, the "safety industry" has leapt on these things and now everybody has a ludicrously fearful attitude to cycling and you get looked at funny (or even harassed by strangers) if you dare to let your kid ride about without body armour on.
- aesclepius 9y ago
  While I don't know about rear-facing seats for outcomes, having cycled recreationally and for commute for the last 10 years, wearing a helmet has on multiple occasions saved me (yes I understand anecdata of 1) from mild lacerations to letting me walk away from a 40 mile downhill crash with road rash. Cycling without a helmet is a personal decision, but I don't understand how you can argue that increased head protection does not improve overall morbidity and mortality.
  - bryanlarsen 9y ago
    There are three major factors: - Cycling accidents under 20mph are highly unlikely to cause head injuries, and most cycling is done under 20mph so there's little room for improvement. - Helmets are not designed to protect against the kind of injuries received in an accident with a car. - Perhaps most importantly, the phenomenon called risk normalization. Cyclists wearing helmets take more risks than cyclists who don't, and cars interacting with cyclists give more space to cyclists who aren't wearing helmets.
    - analog31 9y ago
      >>> Cyclists wearing helmets take more risks than cyclists who don't, and cars interacting with cyclists give more space to cyclists who aren't wearing helmets. Is this supported by evidence (aside from the oft cited but unscientific University of Bath study)?
  - eesmith 9y ago
    There's a section in the Wikipedia page for bike helmets about this topic, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Opinions_for_and_against_the_compulsion_or_strong_promotion_of_helmets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Opinions_for_an... .
- lemming 9y ago
  I wrote about my personal experience with bike helmets a few years ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1749644#1750459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1749644#1750459): When I was with my ex-girlfriend her little sister was knocked off her bike, also by a totally reckless driver doing over 80km/h in a 50km/h zone. She suffered serious head trauma, they didn't actually think she'd make it through the night. She did survive but had pretty serious behavioural problems after that, and died a few years later of a cerebral tumour which was almost certainly related. I'll never forget the surgeon when he first came out of the operating room. He said: "If she had been wearing a helmet, none of this would have been necessary and she'd be fine." You could see clearly in his face that he'd seen this way too many times. I have another more recent anecdote since having kids myself. A friend of a friend here has a son the same age as our daughter. When he was 3 he was out on his scooter without a helmet, and fell off - nothing out of the ordinary, except he happened to hit his head on the concrete corner of a ramp. We live in a small town, he had to be choppered out to the nearest city, spent significant time in ICU, multiple brain surgeries, and the kid is now epileptic. I've also had the experience of falling when snowboarding not wearing a helmet, and not even going very fast. I woke up inside an MRI machine several hours later after a serious concussion. You can do what you want for yourself and your kids. Mine are going to wear helmets. There is no learning curve for head injuries.

checkyoursudo 9y ago

That's how my kids eat brown bread (whole wheat bread). I don't know whether they know about white bread, but they certainly don't have access to it at home. They either eat whole wheat bread or they don't eat bread, and I don't care either way. I make really good sandwiches. If they want one, then they can have one. :)

thatfrenchguy 9y ago
You should probably buy bread without sugar in it though for you and your kids.
- checkyoursudo 9y ago
  I usually make the bread. Water, flour, salt, yeast. Sometimes sugar depending on the type, but pretty rarely. Maybe an egg wash every once in a while. Sometimes olive oil. Etc etc.