Child safety seats

[rootofnewt]

I'm glad to see that the AAP has revised their carseat recommendations. They now recommend that children rear-face to the maximum height/weight restrictions of their converstible car seat or a *minimum* age of two.
http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

Ronan is still rearfacing, of course. It's something like 5x safer. He's only 22lbs and wee, so he has a ways to go and will likely outgrow rearfacing in his Boulevard by height before weight (33lbs, it's an '07 model).

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Comments

[krasota.livejournal.com]

No, really, this is what is advised. I'm not talking about boosters, I'm talking about rearfacing in convertible seats within the weight limits (these go to 33 or 35 pounds, generally) and within the torso height limits (at least one inch of hard shell above the child's head.

It's not about what I feel, it's about what crash test videos show. Go ahead and check out some of the videos on forward facing for toddlers.

Once a child is too big for a seat, it is no longer safe. We need seats that fit children for *longer* periods in rearfacing positions and in harnessed positions. Sadly, the law is for a paltry 12mo and 20 or 22lb minimum in most states, which means that many people turn around skull-heavy infants FAR too early.

Many people think a child has outgrown rearfacing just because their legs hit the seat or just because they hit the legal minimum. If the child is not too tall in the torso and not too heavy, the seat still fits. As I said, broken legs are far less serious than severing the spinal cord.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

It is okay for you to disagree. I don't doubt that for normal size toddlers who fit the seats that they protect them best. I also figure that the regulations are to keep people whose children fit said seats using them. Both those things are okay, if they were specific to said scenarios. I haven't seen video of crash tests showing average accident scenarios with children who don't fit the car seats. And if the kid's legs are draped up the back seat (not just crumpled in front), and the scrunching up caused by the pressure of the kid's legs against the back seat means the shoulder and waist strap doesn't fit right - I don't think they're fitting them. Average to small size children don't have these issues until the regulations' age quotas get reached.