Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency.<\/p>\n
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued separate but consistent new recommendations Monday.<\/p>\n
Both organizations say older children who’ve outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children’s smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches.<\/p>\n
Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat, the guidelines from both groups say.<\/p>\n
The advice may seem extreme to some parents, who may imagine trouble convincing older elementary school kids \u2014 as old as 12 \u2014 to use booster seats.<\/p>\n
But it’s based on evidence from crashes. For older children, poorly fitting seat belts can cause abdominal and spine injuries in a crash.<\/p>\n
One-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. crash data.<\/p>\n
Put another way, an estimated 1,000 children injured in forward-facing seats over 15 years might not have been hurt if they had been in a car seat facing the back, said Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the recommendations and a pediatric emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Toddlers have relatively large heads and small necks. In a front-facing car seat, the force of a crash can jerk the child’s head causing spinal cord injuries.<\/p>\n
Car seats have recommended weights printed on them. If a 1-year-old outweighs the recommendation of an infant seat, parents should switch to a different rear-facing car seat that accommodates the heavier weight until they turn 2, the pediatricians group says.<\/p>\n
Luckily for parents, most car seat makers have increased the amount of weight the seats can hold. This year, about half of infant rear-facing seats accommodate up to 30 pounds, Durbin said. Ten years ago, rear-facing car seats topped out at children weighing 22 pounds.<\/p>\n
“The good news is it’s likely parents currently have a car seat that will accommodate the change,” Durbin said.<\/p>\n
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations appear Monday in the journal Pediatrics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety … Continue reading