Just some information I thought I'd pass along to all you Mothers out there. We had a class at church taught by a car seat safety professional from Phoenix Children's Hospital. She made us aware of the following information given by the American Academy of Pediatrics as of April 2009. As you can read in the "update" at the bottom of the article, it is not yet an official "recommendation". I'd rather Emma be cranky and frustrated than paralyzed or worse. Food for thought.
AAP Changing Rear-Facing Car Seat Recommendations?
Thursday April 2, 2009
Although the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and most other car seat safety advocates already recommend keeping baby rear-facing until he or she reaches the limits of the car seat, AAP may soon upgrade their minimum "1 year and 20 pounds" recommendation to two full years of rear-facing if possible. A recent AAP News release preps parents for the potential change, which is based on new research that shows toddlers are more than five times safer if they remain rear-facing until age two.
With rear-facing weight limits on convertible car seats up to 35 pounds, most toddlers should be able to stay rear-facing until at least age two. If the toddler is larger, the best option is to keep your little one rear-facing to the limits of the car seat. Rear-facing car seats are outgrown by the weight limit, or when there is less than an inch of shell above baby's head. A toddler's legs hanging over the car seat edge do not play into outgrowing the car seat at all.
Update: It appears that, though the new information about improved safety with extended rear-facing was made available in an AAP publication, and the information was directed at parents, the group is not updating their official recommendation right now. In an email to child passenger safety advocates, an AAP representative said, "A Parent Plus box in the April 2009 issue of AAP News appears to contain a revised AAP recommendation on how long babies and young children should ride rear-facing. However, Parent Plus boxes and AAP News articles do not constitute AAP policy." The email also says "AAP's recommendation has not changed at this time."
You can find the offical AAP press release here: http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a
7 comments:
Such good info to have. I can picture keeping Kylene rear facing long than I did Connor (1 year) b/c she has him in the backseat to talk with, ect. LOVED you're "we're expecting post". Read all the way through and laughed at the end. Wish we could hang out...:)
UH, that post just makes my skin crawl and gives me the urge to run out into an oncoming car screaming! Seriously, until they're two. NO FREAKING THANK YOU! I can barely lug my 7 month old around in his carrier these days, as he is exceeding that 20 lb. limit. Call me radical, but I think all the car seat rules and limitations are ridiculous! I mean, I'm all for babies and toddlers being in proper seats, I get it, but You know, we all survived JUST FINE riding in cars with no carseats, much less sitting in them until we are freaking 8 years old. UGH! When will the extremism of EVERYTHING just stop? Sorry, but that just touched a nerve tonight. Sorry trix, totally love you though!
I agree with Allyson. Their legs are gonna break in half with them hanging over the edge of the car seat facing backwards. It does not sound fun to me, that's all I'm saying.
Yeah, I've been hearing a lot about this lately. Not very exciting, but really if it is that much safer, what are you going to do! Also, I just love reading your blog it is so funny!
I'm with you, Tam. Safety first. Especially when it comes to our incredibly cute squishy little munchkins.
Tammy...I did this with my girls. They were rear faced until age 3! I follow a site that is extremely safety oriented.
My girls did just fine!
Thanks for posting it though...now, I know it's par with the aap!
you did a fabulous job sharing your coupon knowledge that night. Thanks for sharing- now its a matter of actually doing it!
Post a Comment