Earlier this year the American Academy of Pediatrics debuted a new safety campaign, which recommended that young children should ride rear-facing in a car safety seat up to their second birthday.
Five months later, parents with toddlers and babies are still upset with the AAP for issuing what some call, “unnecessary” recommendations.
Huh?
Why get mad at an organization that’s trying to preserve the health and well being of your child?
New research indicates that toddlers are more than five times safer riding rear-facing in a car safety seat until they have reached the maximum height and weight recommended for the model, or at least the age of 2.
What’s so bad about that?
Listen, I have a kid who still rides in a car seat. I can relate to parents, who are anxious for their child to hit the 20-pound mark, so they can turn her car seat around, especially if her legs look like they’re being squished up against the back seat or she’s growing crankier by the day because she can’t see the driver.
However, as the AAP points out, rear-facing toddlers are 75 percent less likely to be killed or seriously injured in an accident than their front-facing counterparts.
And to parents who argue that sitting backwards increases the likelihood of leg injury to their tot, experts retort by saying, “It is far better to send children to orthopedic specialists to have lower extremities treated, than to send them to neurological specialists to have cervical spine injuries treated.”
Bottom line: If your child is using an infant car seat, she should be switched to a rear-facing convertible car seat once the maximum height (when your child’s head is within 1 inch of the top of the seat) and weight (usually 22 pounds to 32 pounds) have been reached for that infant seat as suggested by the car seat manufacturer. Kids should then remain in a rear-facing convertible car seat until at least the age of 2.
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