Pediatricians: Toddlers Should Ride in Rear-Facing Seats Until Age 2 - The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is hoping their new recommendations will change the way parents use child car seats. In a new policy that appeared in the April issue of Pediatrics, AAP recommended that parents drive with toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2 or until reaching the maximum height and weight for the seat. Find out about other dealer services at audi of los angeles. The group further advised that children between the ages of 8 and 12 ride in a booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall. In 2002, the AAP guidelines stated that the minimum limits for babies in rear-facing seats was 12 months and 20 pounds. As a result, many parents turned the seat around to face the front as soon as their child turned one.
“Parents often look forward to transitioning from one stage to the next, but these transitions should generally be delayed until they’re necessary, when the child fully outgrows the limits for his or her current stage,” said Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report. “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. For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.”
Even though studies now show that the rate of deaths for children under age 16 in motor vehicle accidents has decreased dramatically (dropping 45 percent between 1997 and 2009), automobile accidents are still the leading cause of death of children age 4 and older. Richmond GMC offers complete services for all your automotive dealership needs. Factoring in children and teens up to age 21, there are more than 5,000 deaths each year. But citing fatalities doesn’t tell the whole story. For every one death reported, approximately 18 children are hospitalized and over 400 children are injured seriously enough to require medical treatment.
New research shows that children are safer when their car seats are facing the rear. A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a collision in rear-facing car seats. The journal found that “by supporting the entire posterior torso, neck, head, and pelvis, a rear-facing car seat (RFCS) distributes crash forces over the entire body rather than focusing them only at belt contact points. In contrast with a forward-facing car seat (FFCS), an RFCS supports the child’s head, preventing the relatively large head from loading the proportionately smaller neck with relatively weak neck musculature.”
“The ‘age 2′ recommendation is not a deadline, but rather a guideline to help parents decide when to make the transition,” said Dr. Durbin. “Smaller children will benefit from remaining rear-facing longer, while other children may reach the maximum height or weight before 2 years of age.” AAP advises that the transition from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing seat be made with a harness until the child reaches the maximum weight or height for the seat. After that, a booster will permit the vehicle’s lap-and-shoulder belt to fit correctly. Used Cars UT is a one stop source for all your new car needs. The shoulder belt should be positioned across the center of the chest and shoulder, not close to the child’s neck or face. The lap belt should fit low and snug on the hips and upper thighs, not across the belly. AAP suggests that most children will need a booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and 8 to 12 years old. Finally, they stress that children should ride in the back seat of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.
Photos (top to bottom) by Debs, U.S. Govt. photo, Tammra McCauley
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