In the United States, it is the law that babies must sit in a proper car seat in the backseat. They must stay rear facing until they are at least one year old and weigh 20lbs. Babies who don't meet both requirements must stay rear facing until they do. However, current research is showing that extended rear facing, is safest.
Foreign Countries' Laws
In Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, the rear facing laws are much stricter than in the USA. Children stay rear facing in their car seats until about age 5 and 55 pounds. Because of these laws, car seats are made for extended rear facing. Even though the car seats might be safer, importing them and using them in the USA is illegal. Sweden has the one of the best safety records involving car crashes.
The United Kingdom only requires rear facing until reaching a weight of 9 kilograms, which is lower even than the laws in the USA. In 1994 a study was published in the British Medical Journal advising rear facing until age 4. The article quoted a study that found that "rearfacing seats were more effective than forward facing seats in protecting children aged 0 to 23 months for all crash types." However, laws have yet to be changed to reflect these findings.
Convertible Car Seats
Many car seats on the market in the USA have rear facing limits well over 20lbs. For example, popular car seat Britax Marathon allows rear facing until 35lbs. Popular but inexpensive car seat Evenflo Triumph Advance also has a 35lb rear facing limit. There is no reason why parents using these popular car seats should have to turn their children forward facing at the 20lb mark.
Newer car seat models being introduced have higher rear facing limits. A new car seat from Graco, the My Ride 65, can handle rear facing children up to 40lbs. While the 5lb difference between the seats listed above and the My Ride 65 may not seem like much, 5lbs in a toddler or preschooler might be the difference of a year.
While expensive at $300, the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL can handle a rear facing child until 45 pounds. However, since it can handle a child forward facing until 80lbs, it could very well be the only car seat a child needs, making the price more worthwhile
Current AAP Recommendations
Although laws still say rear face until at least 1 year and 20lbs, the American Academy of Pediatrics (APP) now recommends that children stay rear facing until at least age 2, or until they outgrow the rear facing limits of their car seats. If parents are familiar with these recommendations, and buy one of the car seats listed above, it will be easy to keep kids rear facing longer.
Once parents learn about extended rear facing, it makes it easier to select the right car seat, and keep their child rear facing until they outgrow both the height and weight limits on rear facing. However, parents may face criticism from friends and family, who think that older children with longer legs look uncomfortable when rear facing. In addition, many pediatricians might not even be aware of the push for extended rear facing. Parents must educate themselves, and do what is in their child's best interests, and in this case rear facing is much safer.
Allison Russo - Allison Russo holds a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Most recently she ...
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