I remember that moment of relief when we could turn our babies’ rear-facing car seats forward. We could finally see their faces while traveling and it did seem like a milestone: our babies (and us) were moving out of the infant cloud into babyland. As advised by the American Academy of Pediatrics, we turned their seats when they “reached at least 1 year of age and weigh(ed) at least 20 pounds.”
Well, it turns out that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) was wrong. Dead wrong.
This week the AAP issued a new policy statement that car seats shouldn’t be turned forward- facing until babies are at least 2 years old. Why did it take the AAP so long to recognize this when our own safety experts, Baby Bodyguards, unearthed an article over a year ago that pointed out that the AAP’s original advice was wrong?
In a nutshell, the article reports on Volvo’s independent crash tests. Volvo argues that:
1-Young children are much safer facing the rear of the car and should ride that way until age three or four (as they commonly do in Sweden), rather than facing forward starting at six months or one year.
2-“[C]hildren should be in booster seats until at least age 10 to ensure seatbelts are positioned correctly across their chests without riding up to their necks.”
3-“Current child seats require feeding the seatbelt and attaching a top tether, something that takes time and is often not performed properly. An RACV report in 2004 estimated that child seats were incorrectly fitted as much as 70 per cent of the time.”
How is that Volvo had more current advice than the AAP?
From a New York Times article on Monday, “The advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, issued Monday, is based primarily on a 2007 University of Virginia study finding that children under 2 are 75 percent less likely to suffer severe or fatal injuries in a crash if they are facing the rear.”
In addition, “the new policy statement also advises that older children should ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall, and 8 to 12 years old. A booster seat allows the vehicle’s lap and shoulder seat belt to fit properly, meaning the lap portion of the belt fits low across the hips and pelvis, and the shoulder portion fits across the middle of the shoulder and chest.”
This all makes me nervous as I have been debating how to move out of a forward-facing convertible car seat for our 46″ tall son. His shoulder height has made his current seat unbearably uncomfortable. I ordered the Britax Frontier yesterday based on the recommendation of Baby Bodyguards. I’m a bit nervous to move from a convertible to a booster seat because it seems like less protection, but based on the Baby Bodyguards‘ review of it, I am going for it.
What have you all done or how will you change your car seat practices?