How many of you have experienced a screaming child in a rear-facing car seat and longed for the day when you could finally turn the car seat facing forward so you can see the child's face in your rear-view mirror and try to calm him/her, rub his/her leg for a minute to soothe the child, hand the child a bottle or generally see what the child is up to? I know I have on many occasions!
Well, you may need to take a seat for this one...some may have thought that the one year birthday or around 20 lbs was the right time to make the switch to the forward-facing car seat, BUT, it just isn't so according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In a recent article on Parenting.com, it cites that the AAP now advises parents to keep kids in rear-facing car seats until they are two or exceed the height and weight limit for the car seat, found on the back of the seat. "Previously, the AAP advised parents to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible, up to the maximum limit of the car seat, and this has not changed. But it also cited one year and 20 pounds as the minimum for flipping the seat, which many parents and pediatricians interpreted as conventional wisdom on the best time to make the switch. The new policy clarifies the AAP’s recommendation, making age two the new guideline—a real game-changer for parents of toddlers."
“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” said Dennis Durbin, M.D., F.A.A.P., a pediatric emergency physician and co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report.
In addition to the safety factor, you can hold off on the expense of purchasing a forward-facing car seat for a bit longer. How's that for glass half full thinking?
No comments:
Post a Comment