Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Rear-facing Car seats safer for children until they are 2

Children under the age of 12-23 months riding in a rear-facing car seat are more than 5 times safer than children of the same age on a front-facing car seat. According to the first US data riding rear facing up to 2 years of age is safer for children. (Henary N, Inj Prev 2007;13:398-402). This is in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  • All infants should ride rear-facing in an infant car seat
  • the infant should be switched to a rear-facing convertible car seat once the maximum height(within 1 inch from the head to the top of the seat) and weight(usually 22-32 pounds) have been reached.
  • Toddlers should be rear-facing till they reach the maximum height,weight(recommended by the manufacturer), or at least 2 years of age.

In Sweden, children are rear-facing in the car until they are 4 years old. This has been proven to be 90% effective in protecting the children from accidents. However they have seats that are designed to accommodate a 4 year old.

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