Many parents tell me they “had” to turn their child around by 18 months, “because he was just too big.” By this, they meant that his knees were somewhat bent facing the back seat. If this same child is left rear-facing, the brain and skull slow, or decelerate together, into the cushion of the back of the car seat, dramatically reducing the injury. Infants and young toddlers have proportionately much larger heads as the vehicle dramatically slows (deceleration) during the crash, the brain of the forward facing baby is subjected to potentially much greater injury as it slams first into the front of the skull, then rebounds into the back of the skull. Why are rear-facing car seats for young children so important? The simple fact is, a child is five times more likely to die if they are forward facing rather than rear facing in the event of a crash. Despite the AAP recommendation in 2011 that children remain rear-facing until 2 years of age, a 2017 Journal of Pediatrics study found that only 62% of 491 surveyed parents of 17 to 19 month-olds reported using a rear-facing car seat. Motor vehicle accidents remain the first or second most common causes of death in children 1 to 18 years.Īs the AAP updated its recommendations in 2017, and on Oregon’s seat-belt law was strengthened, I would like to emphasize key recommendations.Īll infants and toddlers must, per Oregon Law, be kept in rear-facing car seats until at least 24 months of age further, the AAP strongly recommends children remain rear facing until they exceed the rear-facing weight guideline for your particular car seat. Sadly, despite years of intense educational efforts by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), many children are not adequately protected when they ride in a car. All five children and my parents rode in our Plymouth, not one of us wearing a seatbelt. I distinctly remember traveling blissfully down 2,000 miles of gravel road on the Alcan Highway from my home in Alaska to “the lower 48” in the early 1960s. Tom and The American Academy of Pediatrics for car seat safety.
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