Car crashers are the #2 killer of babies under 1 year of age and the #1 killer of kids 1-14.
If you are like me you turned your baby around at one year of age. I will even admit we turned Harrison around before that because he was 20 lbs, really long and his pediatrician said his neck was strong enough to forward face. Bottom line is the absolute bare minimum is 1 year and 20 lbs. The best thing to do is to keep your baby rear facing as long as possible. The AAP recomends keeping them rear facing until the weight limits of the car seat (between 30-35 lbs depending on the model). Most states have laws in place that say your baby has to be rear facing until 1 year and 20 lbs so if you doctor gives it the okay before age one, your doctor is wrong!
Why is it a big deal? Young children, no matter how strong, advanced, developed are still growing and developing. Forward facing can cause broken cervical vertebrae. Christopher Reeves is an example of someone with a C-spine injury.
Quoting source from cafemom carseat group:
"When a child is in a frontal, head on 35mph crash and their car seat is NOT tethered and they are using a 5 point harness, they will go forward 32". When their seat is tethered, a child will be thrown forward 28". It is imperative that families recognize the NEED to keep their children rear facing for as long as possible."
Here are several links to support keeping your child rear facing for as long as possible.
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/c...trics;109/3/550
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/re...cing_seats.html
http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html
http://momtoaliandshae.tripod.com/keepingkidssafeinthecar/
http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm
http://www.aap.org/family/1to2yrs.htm
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/travelsafetytips.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868
http://www.carseatsite.com/rear-face_article.htm
Here's an article reinforcing WHY Rear facing is BEST
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4144421a10.html
Here are a few crash test links to show you the difference in rear facing vs forward facing:
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/...icosipriori.mpg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rsqE-uOtMM4&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62Ea8Fs4ng...related&search=
Here is a crash test of a 12 month old RFing
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view¤t=video06A_MGA_213_RearFace-Convertib.flv
Then, here is the SAME 12 month old FFing
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view¤t=video06B_MGA_213_ForwardFace-Conver.flv
So you may be reading this and thinking - my baby is uncomfortable rear facing. We can't see them or they can't see anything. If your baby is still rearfacing, he/she doesn't know any different! And kids that are extended rear facing are comfortable and do not complain about bending their legs. It is only uncomfortable for any adult. In fact most kids are more uncomfortable with their legs dangling over the edge of a forward facing seat. A child is too tall to rear face when their head is 1" below the top of the shell of the seat in most seats. Research also shows no documented cases of a child's legs being broken in a crash where he/she was extended rearfacing but their is a ton of documentation showing spinal injuries in kids who were forward facing.
42% of accidents occur in rural settings. 25% of them occur within 5 minutes of your home.
Autopsy reports have shown that children under 2 years old are at 4 times the risk of Internal Decapitation when forward facing. What is Internal Decapitation??
Wikipedia says this:
Internal decapitation, atlantooccipital dislocation, describes the rare process by which the skull separates from the spinal column during severe head injury. This injury is nearly always fatal, since it usually involves nerve damage or severance of the spinal cord. Hanging relies on allowing the subject to break their neck under their own weight.
Here is a lady that actually survived Internal Decapitation http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWmJ1m3Jvhc&mode=related&search=
So, as you can tell, it has ZERO to do with neck STRENGTH.
Did you know that if YOU are in a 30mph, one vehicle accident and your child weighs 20lbs, they turn into 600lbs of force. THAT is a LOT of force for a child.
Consider this: A car going 40mph would hit a tree with the same force as hitting the ground after falling off a 50 foot cliff. A person inside the car would hit the windshield (unrestrained, of course) with the same force as hitting the ground after a fall from a five-story building.
Another thing to know is that when a child is RFing, the BACK of their carseat--the part that goes behind their back and head--take the brunt of the crash force. In a FF car seat, the CHILD takes the brunt of the crash force.
This shows spine development. You can see how the spine doesn't fuse together until they are quite older.
This diagram shows you how "top heavy" children are and how disproportioned they are.
So what does this mean to me? My baby will be extending rear facing. She will NOT be turned around at one year of age. My son is back in a 5 point harness (I had stupidly put him in a lap positioner booster for a few months) and will likely continue harnessing beyond 4 years of age.
Please take a minute to read about Joel if you haven't heard of him
http://www.joelsjourney.org/index.html
I know some people may think...well we haven't had a car accident or haven't had one in a long time so my child will be safe. Or may think nothing like this could happen to you. Maybe you will never be in an accident while your kids are small but isn't it worth the extra precaution to keep them safe?I know for me it is worth it knowing that I'm doing everything in my power to keep my kids safe!
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