FINALLY:Car Seat Recommendations Changed

This actually really irritates me. This is why I NEVER say government organizations are always right. When they discover a rule or guideline needs to be changed, it take a RIDICULOUSLY long time to actually change anything. It is really frustrating. There is a supposedly "new" recommendation released today that kids need to stay rear facing in a car seat until 2 years old.
Duh-we've been talking about this on my blog for a very long time. When did experts first realize this? Check out this article on my blog dated May 18, 2009! If this is such a huge safety issue, why did it take them almost two years to release an official recommendation? When there's that much red tape, there's a problem in my opinion. (Ok, off my soap box now..)

I am actually abiding by this rule. It's probably more out of laziness than anything else! But seriously, I just never took the time to change the car seat around because I knew it was safer to keep my 18 month old rear facing(and because it's filthy dirty and I didn't want to touch it). I just reclined the seat so his big ol's feet would fit. I also have my four-year-old in a five point harness and my seven-year-old in a booster seat. He will continue to use the booster until the seat belt hits his shoulder instead of his neck. How about you?

Here's the story that ran on NBC today: There's new advice this morning for parents of young children -- about when you should turn your babies' car seats around to face the front. Many parents mark their children's first birthday by turning their infants' car seats from rear-racing to looking forward. It's been the general rule of thumb.. until now.

Dr. Dennis Durbin - The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:"All infants and toddlers should remain in a rear-facing car seat until they are 2 years of age or until they outgrow the weight and height limits of their car seat." Dr. Dennis Durbin is the lead author of a new American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement. He says keeping young children in the rear-facing position for as long as possible will help protect their head and neck in the event of an accident.

Dr. Dennis Durbin/ The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "We've seen many cases where children suffer serious injuries to their neck or their head when they've been turned forward facing and those injuries probably could have been prevented had that child been in a rear-facing direction." And even though they're older, and bigger, kids up until age 2 should be able to fit in most car seats.

Dr. Dennis Durbin/The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "The childhood obesity epidemic has already spurred car seat manufacturers to make design changes to their seats to accommodate heavier children." State child safety seat laws will not automatically reflect the recommended change. But the hope is that parents will take it upon themselves to create new rules for their own families.

The new recommendations say older children should be in a booster seat until they're 4-feet, 9-inches tall and are between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. Kids should remain in the back seat until age 13.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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