Extended Rear Facing Car Seats Safety
Keeping Children Rear Facing Longer Saves Lives, Decreases Injury
Oct 29, 2009
State laws mandate how long children need to be in car seats, but don’t specify keeping them rear facing after one year. Most parents do keep the car seat turned so the child faces the back of the seat rather than forward until the child hits the age of one year. At that point, many parents get the itch to turn the child around. Some pediatricians still tell parents it’s safe to do so when the child reaches age 12 months and weighs 20 pounds.
The official statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, however, is to keep children extended rear facing for as long as possible, to the weight and height limits of their particular seat, since statistics show children kept rear facing until age 2 are four times less likely to suffer injury in a side crash if they’re rear facing.
Why Keeping a Child Rear Facing is Safer
Compared to adults, children have heads that are disproportionally larger; a child’s head comprises 25 percent of his overall height, compared to just 6 percent for adults. This, combined with the fact that children have vertebrae that haven’t completely fused until age 3-6, makes it much more likely that the weight of their large head snapping forward in a crash can result in serious damage to the spine, or death.
According to documented research, autopsy specimens of infant spines and ligaments allow for spinal column elongation of up to two inches, but the spinal cord ruptures if stretched more than 1/4 inch. Real-world experience has shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash.
Why Parents Don’t Use Extended Rear Facing
There’s a multitude of reasons why parents rush to turn children forward facing in the car:
- It seems like a milestone. Forward facing in the car makes the child look more grown up.
- It’s more convenient for the parent. It’s easier to hand a forward facing child a cookie or toy.
- It’s easier to get the child in and out of the car. No question, it is easier than having to turn a 20 something pound child around to wrestle him into a rear facing car seat.
- They’re worried about the child’s legs being crushed in an accident. There’s no proof that this has ever happened to a rear facing child in an accident. And a broken leg is much easier to fix than a broken neck.
- They think it looks uncomfortable. Children are much more flexible than adults, and sitting with their legs bent doesn’t bother them.
Car Seat Brands Rear Facing Weight Limits
Any convertible car seat can be used either forward or rear facing, but some seats can be used rear facing for a longer time, because they have higher weight limits for rear facing. Some of the most popular convertible car seat brands and their rear facing limits are:
- Britax (all models except Roundabout): 35 pounds, Roundabout 33 pounds
- Safety 1st Complete Air: 40 pounds
- Graco My Ride: 40 pounds
- Radian: 65SL 40 pounds, 80 SL and XTSL: 45 pounds
- The First Years True Fit: 35 pounds
Keep a Child Rear Facing As long As Possible
In some countries, such as Sweden, children rear face up to age three or four. These countries have very few child deaths from car accidents. In fact, "From 1992 through June 1997, only 9 children properly restrained rear-facing died in motor vehicle crashes in Sweden, and all of these involved catastrophic crashes with severe intrusion and few other survivors". Extended rear facing until age 2 and beyond if the child meets the weight requirements is proven to be the safest way to ride.
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