Extended Rear Facing- Isn't Your Baby Worth It?

I'm not a car seat technician, nor am I a pediatrician, but I am a paranoid mother. I've spent countless hours reading up on car seat safety and researching the best seats, and would like to share what I've learned about why turning your child forward facing in his car seat when he reaches one year or twenty pounds may not be in his best interest.

Many experts agree that rear facing is the safest position for your child to ride in in the car. The American Academy of Pediatrics guideline states that, "if a car seat accommodates a child to higher weights than 20 pounds, for optimal protection, the child should remain rear facing until reaching the maximum weight for the car seat, as long as the top of the head is below the seat back." A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that children under two years of age who were forward facing in an accident were four times more likely to be injured than children who were rear facing. This is pretty significant, especially when you consider that more children are killed as passengers in a motor vehicle accident than by any other type of injury.

Despite information like this, many states lag behind in updating car seat laws. In Sweden, it is not uncommon for children to ride rear facing until they are at least three years old or 55 pounds. This may seem strange to us, but bear in mind that Sweden also has the lowest proportion of highway fatalities for children in the entire world. Our highway fatality rate per million children under six is almost three times that of Sweden's.

When an infant is rear-facing in a frontal impact crash, which is statistically the most common and the most severe, his head is cradled and moves in unison with his body. When a child rides forward facing, his body is restrained by the seat straps, while his head and neck are not. The forces in a frontal crash cause the infant's head and neck to snap forward. In adults, this can result in an injury such as whiplash. For an infant who still has soft bones and stretchy ligaments, the effect can be deadly. When the neck stretches, the vertebrae separate, pulling on and possibly even severing the spinal cord. The results: paralysis, or your child's head could literally be ripped from his body. When rear facing, the force of the frontal crash is distributed over the back of the car seat, allowing the shoulders and back to absorb some of the force and preventing the head from snapping.

There is one disadvantage to extended rear facing. In the event of a rear end collision, a forward facing child would be safer. However, rear impact crashes are rarer- according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, front impact crashes account for 72% of collisions, side impact for 24% and the remaining 4% are rear impact. Also, rear impact collisions usually occur at lower speeds than front impact ones. Consider the slow speed experienced in a fender-bender compared to a drunk driver who crosses the highway's yellow line and hits you head on. The benefits for remaining rear facing clearly outweigh the risks.

Eventually, your child must be turned around to face forward. The chief reason for turning him around is that he has met the height or weight requirements for rear-facing in his specific seat. This is why it's important to choose a seat with a high rear facing limit, such as the Graco Safe Seat or Britax Marathon, which allow your child to remain rear facing until he reaches 30 or 33 pounds respectively. The only reasons to switch before that are if your child's head is within one inch of the top of the car seat shell or if his shoulders are taller than the highest shoulder harness opening. It is not necessary to switch your child from rear facing just because his legs and feet can reach the back seat; after all, it is a lot easier to fix an injured hip or broken leg than a severed spinal cord.

Now that you know the facts, I hope you'll consider the incredible safety benefits afforded by extended rear facing. After all, isn't your little one worth it?

Resources:

Bull, Marilyn, et al. "Selecting and Using the Most Appropriate Car Safety Seats for Growing Children." Pediatrics Mar 2002: 550-553

Clayton, Victoria. "Car Seat Advice Questioned." Nov 7, 2005. MSNBC.com.

April 5, 2007. < http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868 >

"Rear-facing- Unmatched Safety." CPSafety. April 5, 2007.

< http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx >

Weber, Kathleen. "Crash Protection for Child Passengers." UMTRI Research

Review July-September 2000.

"Frequently Asked Questions." October 21, 2003. SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. April 5,

2007.