Rear-facing car seat alert - 2 yr old & under

[e-Maternity]

I was recently forwarded this article which recommends babies who are under 2 yrs old to be in rear-facing car seats.
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us...seats_children

I have a 16 month old baby and is already in a front facing car seat. A little concerned.

What are your views?
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[BLWC]

My son has been in a front-facing car seat since he was 6 months old, based on the Australian standards, and he is now also 16 months. We have a really good quality car seat and I'm happy that he's as safe as he can be. We were having a hard time keeping him happy in the rear facing seat up to 6 months so I can't imagine what it would be like now. It might sound selfish but I don't want him to be miserable every time we get in the car on the off chance we might have an accident. Until the Aussie standards/legal requirements change, I'll keep him facing forward.

http://typhoonsandtantrums.blogspot.com

[pipinhk]

The recommendation for rear facing seats is mostly for children in cars with airbags. If you are in an accident and the child is directly in front of an airbag that goes off it can cause serious injury or worse. If the child is in the back it's a lot safer

[MommyTo3]

The fact that rear facing is safer has nothing to do with airbags. It has been proved over and over again that children under the age of 1 are much safer in rear facing seats than front facing. In the US, they now try to extend that to 2 years. With my first I didn't know much so at age 1 (and 20lbs, the legal limit in the US) I turned my oldest forward (she was 20lbs at 6-7 months). With the twins I started to do more research and I turned them forward at 18 months or so. I decided to turn them because I got a much better fit with 3 seats, and since the majority of the seats are installed incorrectly, I preferred the best installation which was forward facing.

I'd advise you watch this video, especially the difference in the crash tests.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVf...elated&search=.

It's beyond me that in the EU, Australia, Asia and other (developed) countries the laws are not being changed. In that respect I can be grateful that my children were born in the US. At least I know.

Same goes for boosters, in the US they advise all children up to 4yo and 40lbs to stay in harnassed seats. My 2 4yo are still in harnassed seats, my oldest is almost 7 and has just moved into a booster a few months ago. Again, there is so much research pointing into this direction ... why wouldn't you do what is safest for your children.

So please do your research.

[MommyTo3]

My son has been in a front-facing car seat since he was 6 months old, based on the Australian standards, and he is now also 16 months. We have a really good quality car seat and I'm happy that he's as safe as he can be. We were having a hard time keeping him happy in the rear facing seat up to 6 months so I can't imagine what it would be like now. It might sound selfish but I don't want him to be miserable every time we get in the car on the off chance we might have an accident. Until the Aussie standards/legal requirements change, I'll keep him facing forward.

http://typhoonsandtantrums.blogspot.com

The quality of your car seat has nothing to do with the fact that rear facing is safer. You can have the best tested car seat in the world (if it existed, but agree plenty great ones out there) ... but once you turn your 6 mo forward it doesn't necessarily matter anymore.

[MommyTo3]

The recommendation for rear facing seats is mostly for children in cars with airbags. If you are in an accident and the child is directly in front of an airbag that goes off it can cause serious injury or worse. If the child is in the back it's a lot safer

The safest place in a car for an infant, is in indeed in the back row, in the middle seat, in a rear facing car seat.

[tenten]

MommyTo3 is absolutely right. See another article fm NYTimes that offers compelling arguments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/he...20seats&st=cse

Note Swedan mandates that all children sit rear facing till 4!! and they have the lowest fatality rates of children under 6 in car accidents to prove it.

I intend to keep my child rear facing till at least 2 but agree that as the kids grow taller, it's going to be difficult.

[Shenzhennifer]

They've changed the laws because they've done more studies about the impact on the Childs head and apparently it's less when rear facing.
In Canada they are also extending the booster law until 12 years old, a bit funny.
Interesting about Sweden.
Personally, I'm all for progressive safety policy revisions. Anything to protect the safety of your children. The road is a very dangerous place.