From to , the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics AAP was to keep children rear-facing until they were at least two years old, but ideally longer—until reaching the rear-facing height or weight limit for their convertible seat.
The current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics is to keep children rear-facing until they reach the maximum height or weight for their convertible seat. One-third of states in the U. Some state laws and some convertible car seats say that kids can ride forward facing if they are at least one year old. This can easily fool a parent into thinking that it is safe for a one-year-old to ride forward facing, when the evidence is clear that one-year-olds are safer rear-facing.
Seeing "one-year-old" in print alongside "forward-facing car seat" leads many families to believe it is safe for their little one to switch to forward-facing far too young. New parents also naturally turn to their family and friends with parenting experience when it comes to car seat safety advice. If your family and friends are a few years out from having newborns and toddlers, though, it's possible, and even likely, that their car seat advice is outdated. Age : Any age, so long as the child is within the height and weight limits for their rear-facing car seat.
Weight : Depends on the car seat, but most convertible seats have rear-facing weight limits of 40 to 50 pounds. Height : Depends on the car seat, but most convertible seats have rear-facing height limits that require the child's head to be at least 1 inch below the top the child's legs touching the vehicle seat back is not an indication that they are too tall.
Car seats are designed to absorb some crash forces and spread the remaining crash forces over a larger area of the body. For adults, seat belts distribute force to the strongest parts of the body—the hips, chest bone, and collarbone. When a child is in a forward-facing seat, the head pulls forward, which puts stress on the neck. When rear-facing, the head, neck, and back all move in unison and are cradled by the shell of the rear-facing car seat.
This video helps explain. The bones running down a young child's neck and back are not yet solid bone they still have a lot of stretchy cartilage. A young child's head is also much heavier, in proportion to the body, than that of an older child or adult. So the head pulls forward with proportionately much more force on bones that are stretchier. As the bones stretch, they can force the spinal cord to stretch.
After it is stretched more than one-quarter of an inch, the spinal cord breaks. Riding in a rear-facing car seat helps reduce that risk by supporting the child's head. The incidence of severe head and neck injuries for babies and toddlers is greatly reduced in rear-facing car seats.
The additional support the rear-facing car seat provides to the head and neck reduces your child's chance of being injured or worse in a crash.
With the forward-facing child, the car seat isn't able to absorb as much of the energy, and more of it is transferred to the child—in particular to the head and neck as they pull away from the chest. The difference can be seen in a video comparing rear-facing and forward-facing car seats in a crash test. Even if your child's legs are touching the seat back , or they cry when rear-facing, you should still keep your child rear-facing until they reach the rear-facing weight or height limit of the car seat.
Most convertible car seats have rear-facing weight limits of 35 to 50 pounds, so most kids can ride rear-facing until age three to five. That said, here are some options available to choose from when selecting the best seat for your child. These are generally the bucket-style infant seats that most parents use for their newborns. These seats often come with a base that is installed in the car that couples with a removable seat portion. The seats can often be paired with strollers as part of a travel system.
These seats are designed to be carried outside of the car so they typically feature lower weight and height limits. Most convertible car seats can be used in the rear-facing position until a child reaches the weight limit, typically 40 to 50 pounds. At that point, the seat can be converted into a forward-facing car seat. These seats are larger and designed to stay installed in the vehicle.
They feature 5-point harnesses, which feature straps that have 5 contact points — both shoulders, both hips, and crotch. Taking the convertible car seat one step further, the 3-in-1 car seat can be used as a rear-facing car seat, a forward-facing car seat, and a booster seat. Combination seats work first as forward-facing seats that utilize a 5-point harness, and then as booster seats that can be used with the shoulder and lap belt.
Parents are encouraged to use the harness up to the height or weight maximum for their seat, as the harness helps ensure your child is sitting in the safest position. They should have outgrown their forward-facing car seat with the 5-point harness.
Minus Related Pages. Know the Stages. Use a rear-facing car seat from birth until age 2—4. Infants and toddlers should be buckled in a rear-facing car seat with a harness, in the back seat, until they reach the maximum weight or height limit of their car seat.
This offers the best possible protection. Check the car seat manual and labels on the car seat for weight and height limits. Never place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat. Front passenger air bags can injure or kill young children in a crash.
After outgrowing the rear-facing car seat, use a forward-facing car seat until at least age 5. When children outgrow their rear-facing car seats, they should be buckled in a forward-facing car seat with a harness, in the back seat.
They should stay in the forward-facing car seat until they reach the maximum weight or height limit of this seat. More on:. Thai sex workers call for billion-dollar industry to be recognised.
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