Hello friends!
I have an extremely important issue to talk to you about today. It's pretty literally life and death, actually. Did you know that motor vehicle accidents are the #1 cause of death for children in the US? For kids under the age of 16, proper restraint is the best prevention.
The old recommendation for forward facing babies was 1 year and 20 lbs. Newer research has said this is insufficient, but unfortunately a lot of people still think it's fine to forward face a baby at 1 year.
Please understand that I'm not posting this to scare people. I'm posting this to inform people. My daughter's safety is of the utmost importance to me. I would be lost without her. I have done a lot of research and have come to the conclusion that she will be rear facing until she's at least 35 lbs. I realize that if she continues on her current growth curve, she'll be rear facing til she's four, but I'm ok with that!
Here are my top 5 reasons why baby should rear face as long as possible:
1 - Babies and toddlers have really flexible spines. Unfortunately, the spinal cord is not very flexible. As a result of the spine stretching out, in a forward facing carseat, small children can sever their spinal cord at least partially, which can result in paralysis or death. Yikes!
2 - Children under the age of two are 5 times safer in a rear facing seat in general than they are in a forward facing seat. Huzzah!
3 - In 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics stated: "All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat (CSS) until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of their CSS." Typically, the AAP doesn't make statements without a good reason.
4 - Their legs are not going to be too squished and aren't likely to break in a crash as a result of rear facing. Even if that were a concern, I'm much rather have a toddler with a broken leg than a toddler with a broken neck.
5 - While the neck injuries are a huge concern in a frontal crash, rear facing seats also make kids a lot safer in side-impact crashes. If in a rear facing seat, a child's head stays within the confines of the shell when in a side impact crash. When in a forward facing seat, a child's head is thrown around a lot more and can get tossed around outside of the shell. Children are 4 times safer in side impact crashes when rear facing vs forward facing.
More information is available from The Car Seat Lady, a facebook group called Carseats for the Littles, and this article from the National Institute of Health.
It's important to find a good car seat for extended rear facing for your child! Parenting.com put together a list of 17 rear facing convertible car seats. About.com has their own list of good convertible car seats. There are a lot of threads discussing this topic in parenting forums as well!
I hope everyone finds this information useful and that it helps you to choose a good car seat for extended rear facing!
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