Rear-facing car seats till 2???

Just read this on the Baby 411 blog. I HATE this idea! I can't imagine still having Adeline rear-facing. Where is she supposed to put her feet?? I suppose if the guidelines change we'll all have to conform, but is this really necessary??

When is the right time for your child to go from rear-facing to forward-facing in his convertible car seat? The current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (which dates back to 2002) is after your child weighs 20 lbs and after his first birthday.

However, newer studies suggest that kids are actually safer to be rear-facing until TWO years of age. Rear-facing seats provide better support to the back, head, neck, and pelvis. Many parents worry that a child may have a leg injury if a car accident occurs when he is rear-facing. This is more a perception than a reality, based on actual crash evidence. And, leg injuries are much less serious than one to the head, neck, or spinal cord.

While the official AAP recommendations have not changed (revised policy statements take quite some time), the President of the AAP, Dr Dave Tayloe, comments that pediatricians should, “encourage parents to keep their children in rear-facing car seats as long as they do not exceed the size limits of the car seats.”

FYI: We review the latest convertible car seats in our book, BABY BARGAINS (http://www.babybargains.com). If you want to keep your baby rear-facing to age 2, be sure to pick a seat with a higher rear-facing limit (35 pounds is a good). Unfortunately, not all seats work to 35 pounds rear-facing!

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