More car seat safety

Quick reminders to keep your kiddo safe in the car

A month ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics released new car seat recommendations. Have you read up on those? Some are quite different than the old guidelines, including keeping your child in a rear facing car seat for as long as possible. I came across additional information on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Child Safety page about car seat safety. It offers an easy and quick overview for the age groups. I encourage you to click over and take a look. I've outlines the main points below. Birth to 12 months

• Always rear facing. Always!
• Types of car seats: infant only, convertible and three-in-one

One to three years old

• Rear facing for as long as possible - until child exceeds max allowable height or weight for rear facing in his particular car seat
• Once your child is too big to rear face, he should forward face with a five point harness

Four to seven years old

• Forward facing with a harness until child exceeds max allowable height or weight for his particular car seat
• Once your child is too big for his car seat, he should ride in a booster (always in the back seat, though)

Eight to 12 years old

• Booster seat
• Back seat of car

The main point for readers here is that babies should remain rear facing until they are too large to do so, according to the manufacturer guidelines on your car seat. It is so tempting to turn them around once they hit the 12 month or 20 pound mark, but the research (and disturbing crash test videos) indicate how much safer your child is rear facing. More on car seat safety

• Car seat safety
• Consumer reports car seat guide