Tots Should Stay in Rear-Facing Seats Until 2, New Advice Says

  1. Home
  2. Toddler
  3. Health & Safety
  4. Tots Should Stay in Rear-Facing Seats Until 2, New Advice Says

From MSNBC.com

Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued separate but consistent new recommendations Monday.

Both organizations say older children who’ve outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children’s smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches.

Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat, the guidelines from both groups say.

The advice may seem extreme to some parents, who may imagine trouble convincing older elementary school kids — as old as 12 — to use booster seats.

But it’s based on evidence from crashes. For older children, poorly fitting seat belts can cause abdominal and spine injuries in a crash.

One-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. crash data.

Put another way, an estimated 1,000 children injured in forward-facing seats over 15 years might not have been hurt if they had been in a car seat facing the back, said Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the recommendations and a pediatric emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Click here to read more

Previous Post
Birth Control Pill for Men in the Works?
Next Post
Second Death Prompts Re-Announcement of Delta Crib Recall

All Information Found on NewParent.com is Intended for Informational and Educational Purposes Only. The Information Provided on This Website is Not Intended to Be a Replacement or Substitute for Professional Medical Advice

Related posts:

Menu