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| Disneyland parking structure after a LONG day. |
The summer travel season is just around the corner and with it come new car seat safety recommendations from the Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Among those new recommendations are guidelines for children under two, use for booster seats, and older age for front seat use.
In the journal Pediatrics, the AAP recently referenced research that shows children under 2 who ride in rear-facing child restraints are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash. In addition, the AAP has also suggested that children remain in a seat with a five-point safety harness until they reach the weight and height limit of that harness. (My kids have seats that go up to somewhere around 100 pounds!) The AAP has suggested that children should use boosters until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall (about 8-12 years old). And finally, the AAP has also set forth the guideline that children should not ride in the front of the car until they are 13 years old.
Struggling with car seats and car travel is a daily task for all parents. For me, I know that it is nothing short of exhausting having to lift my three kids in and out of the car and their seats day after day. Admittedly, we probably moved our oldest son out of his car seat and into a booster seat too early. We did so because we though he was tall enough (…and I was desperate for at least one kid to be able to buckle himself in…), but it turns out that he was likely not heavy enough and should have still been in his car seat. We were ignorant. I will be reevaluating my car seating arrangements and not turning the baby forward in his seat come his birthday next month. When it comes down to it, my kids lives are worth the little extra effort on my part having to lift and unbuckle them.
These new guidelines are not mandatory. That being said, will you follow the new guidelines? Will your child ride rear facing until two years old? Will you move your child from his or her car seat to a booster even though they may meet or almost meet the requirement for the booster? Will your older kids ride upfront before they turn 13? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Torn about the rear-facing seats for under 2. Of course I want my child to be as safe as possible, but how much will that suck to have a fussy 1 year old in a bigger chair, facing backwards so you can’t see them and reach your arm around to hand them stuff…
My daughter turned 2 in January, and we just turned her around to ride forward-facing, in time for our road trip to Disneyland. 🙂
Her height and weight are on the low end of the scale so we had no problem keeping her rear-facing this long. I was never in a rush to face her forward because I read about the increased safety for children rear-facing and seated in the middle.
Some people may complain, but like you said, if it keeps our children safe, then it shouldn’t be given a second thought.
Yes, I will follow the guidelines. My hubby is a police officer and he’ strict about following laws and guidelines about car seats, booster and riding the front seat. In Alabama it’s illegal to have children/ youth under the driving age (15 for a permit license) in the front seat. Now, do they really write tickets for having a 14 or under child in the front seat? Probably not. But it is the law and if you are pulled over for another violation, you could get a second ticket for having that child in the front.
I’ve even called dispatch before to tell them a family didn’t have a child in a car seat. I trailed this family all over town until the cops showed up! Their child was probably 9 months old standing in the moms lap in the front seat! made me mad!