New Guidelines For Car Seats. READ!!!

[Lucy]

New guidelines for car seats. Infant/toddlers should face rear till age TWO. More guidelines:

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/Pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token

If the link takes you to a homepage of that site where it asks you to register, just close the page and come back here and click the link again. Oddly, it works the 2nd time. At least it did for me. If not, read the comments below with other links. Sorry.

[Lucy]

Does that link come up to the right page? When I first posted and tested it, it did. But just now I clicked the link and it came to a homepage that makes you register. Hope I didn't goof!!

[tmcp2001]

Joyce, the link goes to the site's homepage. However, there have been several other links posted on my FB today about this topic - here's one...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-car-seats-20110320,0,5520926.story

Thank you for sharing this info - it's so important!

[SilverSabre25]

And here's another: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/21...ing/index.html

Glad to see that this is showing up so many places! From sources that many parents might actually respect, too.

[DCMomOf3]

New guidelines for car seats. Infant/toddlers should face rear till age TWO. More guidelines:

http://www.healthychildren.org/Engli...No+local+token

Healthy Children > Safety & Prevention > On The Go > Car Safety Seats: Information for Families for 2011
Safety & Prevention-+
Car Safety Seats: Information for Families for 2011


One of the most important jobs you have as a parent is keeping your child safe when riding in a vehicle. Each year thousands of young children are killed or injured in car crashes. Proper use of car safety seats helps keep children safe. But with so many different car safety seats on the market, it’s no wonder many parents find this overwhelming.

The type of seat your child needs depends on several things, including your child’s size and the type of vehicle you have. The following information from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offers guidance on choosing the most appropriate car safety seat for your child.

To see a list of car safety seats and safety seat manufacturers, click here.

Infants and toddlers—rear-facing
The AAP recommends that all infants should ride rear-facing starting with their first ride home from the hospital. All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.

Types of rear-facing car safety seats
There are 3 types of rear-facing car safety seats: infant-only seats, convertible seats, and 3-in-1 seats. When children reach the highest weight or length allowed by the manufacturer of their infant-only seat, they should continue to ride rear-facing in a convertible seat or 3-in-1 seat.

Types of Car Safety Seats at a Glance

Age Group Type Of Seat General Guidelines

Infants/Toddlers Infant seats and rear-facing convertible seats All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.

Toddlers/Preschoolers
Convertible seats and forward-facing seats
with harnesses All children 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their car safety seat, should use a Forward-Facing Car Safety Seat with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer.

School-aged children Booster seats All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car safety seat should use a Belt-Positioning Booster Seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet 9 inches in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

Older children Seat belts
When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt alone, they should always use Lap and Shoulder Seat Belts for optimal protection.

All children younger than 13 years should be restrained in the Rear Seats of vehicles for optimal protection.

[Lucy]

I edited my original post to say that if I click my link once, it takes me to their homepage. But if I close that page and click my link again, it takes me to the actual article. YMMV.

[dEHmom]

OK, Once again for those that don't know, I'm in Canada....


I've been phoning around to get the "correct" and most "up to date" people to speak to regarding car seat safety.

So far the only information is that it is "recommended" that child be in rear facing until they are approx 1 yo AND walking, and are at LEAST 22LBS.

They are not aware of any changing coming through in the near future, but they provided me with a contact for the car seat specialists, and I had to leave a message, so I will update what she says once I hear back from her.

Irritates me a bit that Canada is something behind in stuff like this. Why safety laws don't come into effect same time I have no clue.

But it irritates me to think of dirty muddy/wet boots/shoes on the backs of my seats too. errr. (although I'm not saying I don't think safety is more important)

[SilverSabre25]

But it irritates me to think of dirty muddy/wet boots/shoes on the backs of my seats too. errr. (although I'm not saying I don't think safety is more important)

IME the dirty/muddy/wet boots and shoes STILL get on the backs of the seats when the kid is FF--it's just the back of the seat in front of them One solution is to remove shoes before strapping the child in--but this only works well if the shoes are easy to remove/replace (i.e. not tie, but velcro or slip on)

[dEHmom]

I was taught growing up that it's not a good idea to take off shoes. I stop that quickly when they take them off. Now you are looking for shoes when you stop, and if it's raining out, i'm not standing in the rain to get their shoes back on! .

My dad always told us "What if there was an accident, or the engine caught on fire? You'll be standing outside with no boots on!"

[SilverSabre25]

I was taught growing up that it's not a good idea to take off shoes. I stop that quickly when they take them off. Now you are looking for shoes when you stop, and if it's raining out, i'm not standing in the rain to get their shoes back on! .

My dad always told us "What if there was an accident, or the engine caught on fire? You'll be standing outside with no boots on!"

Touche.

[Miss Lindsey]

Ok, I am also a huge car seat safety momma, but one of my dcg is 18 months and seriously cant fit her legs in if she is rear facing. She is a chunky girl, and wears cloth diapers which make it tough for her to bend her legs that far. She seriously cried like I was hurting her the whole drive to my son's preschool this morning. She never does that. I promptly turned her seat back around for the drive home, and she stretched her legs out and didnt cry a bit on the way home.
I agree its safer...but what do I do when she wont fit?

[SilverSabre25]

Ok, I am also a huge car seat safety momma, but one of my dcg is 18 months and seriously cant fit her legs in if she is rear facing. She is a chunky girl, and wears cloth diapers which make it tough for her to bend her legs that far. She seriously cried like I was hurting her the whole drive to my son's preschool this morning. She never does that. I promptly turned her seat back around for the drive home, and she stretched her legs out and didnt cry a bit on the way home.
I agree its safer...but what do I do when she wont fit?

Does she FF in her parents' car? She might not know how to adjust her legs so that they do fit. My DD would drape her legs on either side of the seat, stick them straight up the back of the seat, cross them, bend her knees and put her feet flat on the car seat, etc. She was tall (90th %ile) and wore cloth diapers until she was mostly potty trained at 2. We did the bulky prefolds, too, not these trim newfangled cloth diapers!

[dEHmom]

Ok, I am also a huge car seat safety momma, but one of my dcg is 18 months and seriously cant fit her legs in if she is rear facing. She is a chunky girl, and wears cloth diapers which make it tough for her to bend her legs that far. She seriously cried like I was hurting her the whole drive to my son's preschool this morning. She never does that. I promptly turned her seat back around for the drive home, and she stretched her legs out and didnt cry a bit on the way home.
I agree its safer...but what do I do when she wont fit?

It is a matter of them fitting though. If they are of a certain height/weight, then they should be forward facing.

I think this is where the confusion is when it comes to parents not using carseats properly. Is it's not specific enough for them to know where they child fits in. They hear until age 2, so they think it is ok at age 2 to turn them around. Or 22LBS to forward face, but if your baby is a fat baby, and is only 6 months old and 22 lbs (yes I know not likely but possibly) then they will switch the child into a car seat that is far too big for them.

I think the most important factors for everyone to look into is the safety of the child. If the child all crouched out into an unnatural position rear facing, if you get into an accident, is it going to put them in a more dangerous position? Some kids are smaller, and might need to forward face until they are 3 or 4?

[countrymom]

I think the problem is that they label all the children the same. I think its acually very dangerous to have a child rear facing till the age of 2, their legs are all squished against them and if there was an accident imagine the damage that would cause, its common sense. Also, this booster seat for older kids, they don't make them large enough, not only that my ds was complaining that his legs were hurting because they were dangling and the booster seat is only so long (I did alot of research and they are basically the same length) who wants to drive 12 hours in pain.

[SilverSabre25]

I think the problem is that they label all the children the same. I think its acually very dangerous to have a child rear facing till the age of 2, their legs are all squished against them and if there was an accident imagine the damage that would cause, its common sense. Also, this booster seat for older kids, they don't make them large enough, not only that my ds was complaining that his legs were hurting because they were dangling and the booster seat is only so long (I did alot of research and they are basically the same length) who wants to drive 12 hours in pain.

I'm sorry, but a pair of broken legs is NOTHING compared to the damage that can occur to a child who is forward facing too early. Those children can and do end up with major, major injuries such as internal decapitation, broken necks, broken backs, and more. Furthermore, there are very few instances of children who are extended rear-facing ending up with broken legs from a collision while their legs are squished up. The way the seat is designed to "ride down" the collision helps prevent that from actually happening.

I'd rather have a pair of broken legs than a dead child, or a child with life-long problems stemming from a broken neck.

Joel's Journey