Keep kids in rear-facing car seats until age 2--pediatricians

The American Academy of Pediatrics had previously advised parents to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible.

AAP revises guidelines
Now updating its previous guidelines, the Elk Grove Village-based organization advises parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing child safety seats until their second birthday, or until they grow too big for seat specifications.

In a new policy statement published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the AAP says after 2 years the kids should ride in booster seats until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and age 8 up to 12-years -old.

More than 5,000 children and teenagers die in vehicle crashes every year, but research shows the chance of babies younger than 2 dying or being seriously injured in an accident decreases by 75 percent if they are in rear-facing seats.

"The best possible thing you can do is keep your child rear-facing as long as possible," said Dr. Benjamin Hoffman of the AAP in the policy statement. "We hope we will be able to convince parents to keep their children rear-facing longer."

“New studies show that the rear-facing position offers significant increased safety for babies,” added pediatrician Garry Gardner, who practices in DuPage County and is chairman of the AAP’s Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention.

“Our most important message is that children should be restrained every time they ride in the car. The type of restraint depends on their age and size,” Gardner said.

Rear-facing seats better in supporting baby’s head, neck
The latest recommendations, making age 2 the new guideline, is an update to 2002 statement which had advised parents to follow car seat manufacturer limits and cited one year and 20 pounds as minimum for flipping the seat.

"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.

Rear-facing seats proved safe for toddlers
More than 5,000 children and teenagers die in vehicle crashes every year, but research shows the chance of babies younger than 2 dying or being seriously injured in an accident decreases by 75 percent if they are in rear-facing seats.

"I think one of the main messages that's coming out of these recommendations is that those transitions should be delayed for as long as possible, because with each transition you make you give up a little safety in the event of a crash," Durbin said.