Posted on 03/21/2011 12:07:48 PM PDT by Immerito
CHICAGO — Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued separate but consistent new recommendations Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
They seem unaware of the fact that a two year old might just POSSIBLY want to see where the car is going and what’s coming up the road.
It’s not much fun looking out the rear window all the time. And how are the kids going to play various “spot the car” games?
Other than wasting money, these studies would be okay if they were just used to guide parents in their choices. But of course it will become a law.
Like with the front airbag thing - an awareness of the damage they can do is good to know. But when my 11 year old was almost as big as mom.....
I recall passing the time away with my buddy playing with hotwheels in the back end of the station wagon on long trips! Although my kids were always content in their car seats not knowing anything else.
File this under “duh”. Regardless of any legal requirements, standard advice has long been “continue to keep them rear-facing as long as you can get away with it, then use a full-back front-facing seat with a 5-point harness as long as you can get away with that.”
The simple truth is that by the time most kids are 1 year old, they become practically impossible to ride in a car with if they’re not front-facing due to sheer boredom.
"You're dead?
b>Yes!
You can't withhold information because some lawmaker might misuse it at some point in the future.
Then keep them in booster seats until they are 21!
Gotta love how the Leftists are infantilizing our culture.
How long should they really wear that diaper? Maybe we should ask Al Franken!
“... most children barely fit in rear-facing car seats at age 1”
My first two didn’t. We took them out of the rear facing around eight months because their little legs were all scrunched up. Plus, they reached the age where they wanted to see Mommy or Daddy. For years, my position in the passenger seat was my head/neck turned to the left and talking to the back seat area.
Not a good idea, but I survived. Just for the record I _do_ encourage folks to be as safe as they can be with their children when driving. But you have to decide for yourself how to do that rather than letting the government stuff one-size-fits-all laws down your throat.
I had a very, very bad accident in Dec. 2009 that resulted in severe spinal trauma to my (then 4-year old) daughter. Her older sister and younger brother walked away from it; she spent a month in ICU and was fortunate to live, and was completely paralyzed in her right side for 53 days. She's healed to a marvelous degree, but still can't eat or potty-train and using her right side takes concentration on her part.
Being in a child seat likely saved her life, but being asleep with her head leaning way over is probably what led to the neck trauma when it was hyper-extended. So should I insist them everyone strap their kids in with headbands to keep their heads up? That would be the logic of the socialistic control crowd.
I remember a few years back they wanted a child seat law which would require one for a child up to 5’ tall.
At the time I screamed in my head: ‘FIVE FEET TALL!!! SOME OF MY LONG DEAD AUNTS NEVER REACHED 5 FEET TALL!!!
My first high school girlfriend was 4’11” at 16 years old. She didn’t make the height limit to be without a car seat.
Heck, my 10 month old grand son is in the 97th percentile for height and weight, down from the 98th percentile. I don’t think he is going to be able to stay back-facing much longer.
In my opion the child is ‘safest’ when the driver can see them as needed and is not worried they might have found something to choke on. A distracted driver is a poor driver and kids scream a lot more when they can see mommy and daddy.
When will the government get out of our lives?
Wait, my wife is 4' 11" tall ...in a car seat, facing backwards in the back seat. Co-pilot nagging a thing of the past. Hmmmm, maybe I was hasty in rejecting this regulation. LOL!!
Dang! That’s a big boy Wayne!
I’m sure he’d be quiet on an hour long trip facing the back of his seat with his knees in his face. NOT!
Most intelligent reply in this thread, well done.
People act like anyone who troubles themselves over safety are automatically liberal, somehow, like it's a conservative value to eat glass. You survived your youth, unbelted in the back or front of your mom's country squire in spite of their ignorance or stupidity.
We know better nowadays.
I don't know how I survived! In my day, kids just stood up on the back seat while riding (occasionally peeing on the upholstery), when older, laying on the back seat with feet out the window to feel the breeze. I'm amazed I'm alive!
Good luck to those nanny-staters telling my 4'10", 84-year-old mother -- who packs heat and takes sh*t from no one -- to use a booster seat.
Wow, I am surprised about all of the negative comments on this post. Scoffing at safety precautions is easy to do when you and your loved ones have been lucky enough to have a long, healthy, accident-free life.
I understand the aversion to government “getting in people’s business.” But an aversion to general safety tips that can keep your child safe? That I don’t understand. What is the big deal about strapping your child in a car seat properly? I am not one to want to wrap my kids in bubble wrap, but sheesh! If positioning the car seat properly has been shown to be safer, why would I scoff at that?
As for their legs being squished, a poster over at cnn put it like this: broken legs = cast; broken neck = casket.
And a mirror for $15 at Target solves the problem of not being able to see your child while you are in the car.
With all the maniacs texting while driving and fiddling with their GPSs, I’m making sure my kids are as safe as they can be when we go in the car and I, for one, appreciate this kind of research.
When we adopted him at one year of age he was 30” tall and weighed 30 lbs (a right stout little lad). Needless to say we NEVER made him sit in a rear facing seat.
He’s nine years old now and is 4’-9” tall and a little under 90 lbs. He has not used a ‘child’ seat of any kind since he was 7.
There is no way I’m waiting until my babies are two. We made it to 11 months with the last one before we turned him around. He was way too long to stay backwards. He was eating his knees. It was ridiculous. One size does not fit all.
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