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I don't think there is a way to do something like that in a way that will ensure that the other person wont be offended 100% of the time.

What I mean by that is if you're that passionate about the right way to face a car seat, then you can say it as nicely as possible to your friends, but let the chips fall where they way. You can't control people's reactions. You can only control whether you say something or not.

One other thing I will mention is that while your big issue may be car seats, another friend's may be those other topics you mentioned, and as a pregnant mama, I have gotten comments, messages, and e-mails on every. single. one. of them by chest-poundingly passionate mama friends and honestly, it gets old. I know everyone means well so I'm not offended per se, but its easy to just roll your eyes and dismiss yet another comment from social media simply because you get it from so many directions.

@Vegmama: Well, I think whether something is opinion or not really depends on the person. I have a friend who straight up believes formula is rat poison for babies, or another who thinks anyone who doesn't attachment parent is setting their kid up to be a menace to society and have massive mental health disorders. I'm not saying that car seats don't seem different to me personally - but its possible to those friends, these issues are just as urgent and important.

If you want to be more passive about it, you can just post a ton of stuff on your personal feed and let people take the information as they like. You can just say "Great recent safety info for friends with kids in carseats!! Can't be too safe!" and just post, post, post.

@Vegmama: I struggle with this too because I feel the same as you. At least rf to 2! After that I feel like it's more "debatable". But 2 should be the minimum! I do think it's really hard to say this to someone on social media though. If anything I'd say it as a "so I just learned this and wanted to pass it along to you" kind of a thing? I don't know, it's so hard, especially through messaging!

Eta: your other option could be to tell them you just learned a lot about car seat safety and want to make sure everyone's kids are safe and invite them to the csftl page? I don't know, that page can be intense sometimes though!

I'm going to be very honest with you. I would be seriously annoyed if someone brought up something like this to me if I didn't ask for it. While I understand your passion for safety, it's basically you telling someone how to be a parent.

I agree with PPs that feel free to post whatever safety stuff you want on your own feed, but don't approach anyone in particular. Remember how you felt when other people were commenting on the choices that you made for childbirth and otherwise?

@babycanuck: agreed, 100%. And I wouldn't hesitate to tell someone to mind their own damn business.

It's one thing to post info on your own feed, and let people do with it what they will, but approaching them directly is really pushing it, in my opinion.

@Vegmama: I think there's a difference between sitting a car seat on a shopping cart versus seat facing in a car.

I honestly think there's a higher chance of a seat tipping on a shopping cart. I know that accidents with children and children die from these accidents every day, don't get me wrong. That's just how I feel.

Sorry if I'm not explaining this very well.

@Vegmama: we aren't talking about dangerous things in general, we are talking about RF vs FF car seats. In this case, no, I would not appreciate someone calling me out on my choices because they disagree with them.

@Vegmama: The information truly is valid and useful, which does make it frustrating... but like I said I'd just make the assumption that they have seen this information and have just come to different conclusions than I have. Like you said, parents do whatever they think will keep their babies safe, the trouble is there are differing opinions on what that means.

Luckily, information like this is easier to obtain than ever before. I would hope that they have either researched this already or someone closer to them will mention something.

I'm one of those terrible parents that forward faces my less than 2-year olds, and yes, I would be offended if someone said something to me. You're assuming that they haven't read the statistics, laws, and many articles. You're assuming they are not making an informed choice that legislatures all over the country have deemed legal. Here's the thing: forward-facing is not the devil. It is infinitely safer than not being properly restrained in any car-seat. Yes, extended rear-facing is statistically safer, but there are valid reasons that people choose to forward face before two. For instance, kids that get car sick all the time rear facing or, in our case, kids that scream (and I mean scream for hours and hours without ceasing until they make themselves sick) when rear-facing. It's very easy to say that a parent should be able to drive through a baby crying, but for us, it got to the point that we were legitimately so distracted on trips that we determined it was more hazardous to drive like that than to forward-face our kids. Did I feel guilty still? Yes, but knowing his much better I can pay attention to the road makes me confident that we made the right and safest choice for our children. It's 100% percent okay for you to never make that same choice, but it's also 100% okay for me to make an informed, legal choice about my children. I think it's great that you post information about. At-seat safety, and I'm pro rear-facing. I would never have thought that I would turn them around before two, but I am I confident in our decision.

I'm not going to get into a debate beyond this about it because it know it's a hot-button topic, but I wanted to share with you the perspective of someone who chose to not follow the recommendation and did it after much thought and research.

I just want to second what @Mrs. Blue: said. I turned my son to FF well before 2, after a lot of research and consideration.

Especially if you have shared information on FB about car seat safety, I think you should assume that they've seen it and are aware of the AAP recommendation, statistics, etc. Every parent worth their salt will have carefully considered issues like feeding, childcare, parenting styles, and safety measures. So I don't think it's my place to say anything to anyone about any of those topics. If someone is asking for advice, yes. If not, no. Unless they are my best best friend or my child, I would just let it go.

I definitely think your heart is in the right place, but I think you should continue to share car seat safety information on your own wall.

@vegmama: You're welcome. I think it's ridiculous that there are no nationwide standards. For example, in my state (MD), I can place my infant in the front seat, facing forward, as long as he is in a carseat and the airbag is off. How is that safe? But the AAP and DS's pedi recommend RFing until age 2, so I'm going with them.

It's not out of line to pass it on to friends who ask for your advice or to post it on your social media sites. Outside of that, I don't think there's anyway to share this without sounding holier than thou. I'd be upset if someone sent me a personal message or PSA like this. I disagree with friends about spankings.

I share on my FB articles and research about this once in a while. I know I have friends who spank and I would never ever in a million years send them a private message with links to research about how bad spanking and physical discipline is for children. I know that they have the best interests of their child in mind.