Hot or Not: Keeping Your Child Rear-Facing Until Age 2
Jul 26 2010 by Jennifer Newman
It’s been drilled into parents to keep their infants rear-facing in the car until they’re 1 year old and at least 20 pounds. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends keeping young children in rear-facing car seats until they’re 2 years old or have reached the upper weight limit for their rear-facing convertible seats.
Children kept in a rear-facing car seat are five times safer than toddlers in forward-facing car seats, according to AAP. A rear-facing car seat increases crash protection for a child by absorbing crash forces through the seat’s hard plastic shell and supporting the child’s head, neck and back.
Some parents may worry about toddlers riding with their legs folded up against the seatback during a crash, but a study published in the journal Pediatrics found that injuries to a child’s lower body are rare.
Parents who have already turned their child’s car seat around should know it’s OK to have your child in a forward-facing position – as long as the child is older than 1 and meets the weight requirement for the forward-facing convertible. However, it’s best to keep a child in a rear-facing position as long as possible because of the additional crash protection a rear-facing car seat provides. However, we live in the real world and know it’s not always possible to keep a child rear-facing for a long time.
When my boys, who are now 3 and 7, were infants, I practically counted down the days until their first birthdays. I couldn’t wait to turn their child-safety seats into the forward-facing position because it would be more convenient for me and my husband. Knowing what I now know, I’d keep them rear-facing for as long as possible.
While inconvenient for parents, keeping your toddler in a rear-facing car seat until age 2 is Hot. After all, it’s really about keeping children safe in the car, which is something everyone can support. Will you keep your child in a rear-facing car seat for a longer period of time? Tell us in the comment section below.
User Comments
NW,
That quote comes from the article, New Advice: Rear-Facing Cars Seats Safer for Children Until They are 2. I’m including the link, but you’ll need a subscription to read the article. http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12
I’m also including a link to the AAP’s car-seat selection guidelines. It also states that rear-facing is best for children under age 2 as long as they’re within the height and weight limits of the car seat. Here’s that link: http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;109/3/550
During my recent car-seat technician certification course, I learned that frontal collisions are the most frequent type of crash. A rear-facing car seat might not be as effective in a rear collision, but frontal crashes happen more often and rear-facing car seats provide the most effective protection in a crash.
Hope this helps!
Hello, thank you for writing this article. I have a little boy who is one year old & 25lbs- still within the seat limits for rear facing with room to grow BUT the issue we are having is that we have a convertible carseat that would get caught on the roof of the car (in the rear facing position) and would be unable to act as a pod protecting him. Would it still be better to have him rear facing? Thank yoU!
“Children kept in a rear-facing car seat are five times safer than toddlers in forward-facing car seats, according to AAP”
I looked all over the AAP website and couldn’t find the above mentioned info. Could you provide a link? Also, the rear facing car seat is better in both front or rear collisions?
Can you please provide more info on this.
Thanks