Child car seat advice questioned

Key safety period before age 2
Over the last few years U.S. car seats manufacturers have drastically improved the car seats. Besides making the seats much easier to use in general, they are making the seats safe to use rear-facing with older children.

“Unlike previously, now the majority of seats offered in the U.S. accommodate children up to 30 pounds rear-facing,” says Klinich. (In Scandinavian countries most seats accommodate even heavier and taller children.) “That means that most children can remain rear facing until at least around age 2 and some even beyond.” This 1- to 2-year-old gap is the most crucial time, according to Klinich.

“A comparison study of Scandinavian to German crash data seems to indicate that the safety benefit is particularly strong for kids from 1 year to 2 years,” she says.

Still, Klinich understands that some parents will resist keeping their children rear-facing. Forward-facing means parents are able to see their child. But also many parents claim their children are more content facing forward.

“I think there’s a notion out there that kids are somehow happier when they go forward-facing,” says Klinich. “But we haven’t found this to be true. Besides, safety shouldn’t be a choice. If your child cried and screamed because you wouldn’t let him play in middle of road, you still wouldn’t let him play in a the middle of the road.”

Parents also express concern that an older child’s longer legs will hit the back seat when rear-facing.

“When I talk to parents some feel that the bigger children are more at risk for leg injuries because their legs are bunched up. But that concern has never been borne out in the data,” says Arbogast. “Besides, remember, the risks you’re trying to prevent by keeping a child rear-facing are head and spinal injuries.” Broken legs are easy fixes compared to the other injuries, she notes.

The biggest obstacle to longer rear-facing rides, though, is simply changing a parent’s perception, says Miriam Manary, also a senior research associate at the University of Michigan.

Manary says parents need to realize that as a child moves through various car seat stages — from an infant seat, to a convertible to a booster seat to regular seat belts — each one offers less protection than the prior phase.

“Parents should be looking to prolong these stages rather than rushing through them,” advises Manary. “Remember, graduation to the next level isn’t progress. It’s a decrease in safety.”

Victoria Clayton is a freelance writer based in California and co-author of "Fearless Pregnancy: Wisdom and Reassurance from a Doctor, a Midwife and a Mom," published by Fair Winds Press.

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