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Jen from Buried with Children is back today as part of our Ask the Expert series. She’s reporting on the latest on car seat safety and how it could have an immediate impact on your family. Read on to understand how the guidelines have changed…
When my husband was an infant, his parents placed him in a box in the back seat of their family car to travel with them from Indiana to Kentucky. Why? He was too little to be buckled into a seat belt. In order to keep him safe, a box was the next best thing.
When I was a kid, my parents placed a mattress in the back of our van during a road-trip from Michigan to Florida for a family vacation to Disneyland. Me and my two siblings slept on that mattress, played back there, and watched movies on a rigged up TV and VCR to pass the hours of travel.
None of us wore a seat belt.
How times have changed since those days! As parents today, we would never consider letting our kids in a moving vehicle without a seat belt on. But its not just a seat belt anymore. Nowadays, its putting an infant in an infant carrier, a toddler in a car seat and a young child in a booster seat.
According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Centers for Disease, the number one killer of children in the US is a car accident.
This is a startling fact considering all the time that we spend in our cars. I don’t know about you but much of my day as a parent is spent getting my kids to and from places. One kid needs to be picked up from school and another has swimming lessons and another has play date with a friend. And playing ‘mom taxi’ is going to get worse as the kids get older.
Child transportation has to be done but it is really sobering to know that just being in a car puts my kids at a serious health risk. This is probably one of the reasons the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new guidelines for children and car seats.
- Children should now stay rear facing in their car seats until the age of two or until they reach the maximum weight and height recommended by the car seat manufacturer.
- Children should use a booster seat until they are 4 feet, 9 inches tall, which usually occurs between the ages of 8 and 12.
- Children should not be allowed to ride in the front seat of a car until they reach age 13.
The previous guideline for turning a child forward facing was 1 year of age or 20 pounds, but the guideline changed because research showed that in an accident a child’s head, neck and back were better supported in the rear facing position therefore causing less injury and death.
The AAP recommends a booster seat for children under 4 feet, 9 inches because, without a booster seat, the seat belt actually doesn’t fit the child properly. It is too high on the child’s body and cuts across the neck. In an accident, the very thing meant to keep a child safe could actually cause more harm due to strangulation or poor fit.
Children older than 13 can ride in the front seat because they are thought to be big enough in size to withstand the force of an air bag without fear of suffocation or other serious injury.
For many families, these guidelines will mean big changes. Children that were out of booster seats, i.e., tweens, should continue utilizing them, and toddlers who now are forward facing should be turned back to rear facing.
As of now, these are just guidelines, the laws have not changed. If you want to know what the requirements are in your state, check out DVM.org and research car seat laws.
So, the choice is yours. Will you follow these new guidelines? Perhaps a discussion with your child’s pediatrician is in order?
If you have a question you’d like Jen to answer, head over to the forum and ask!
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IMO, the reason it’s the #1 cause of death is because there are more irresponsible drivers on the road. I think driver and written tests should be taken every few years. Some people need a reminder of what safe driving is, and others need a wake-up call.
Thanks for the information! I appreciate it.
When I was finally able to get out of a booster seat, I barely made the height, and age. I was five. I was thrilled to be out of one. I still can remember finally getting to be a big girl. I have a few co-workers that, according to the new guidelines, they themselves should be in booster seats. They are mothers of children. I am barely big enough to not have to be in one. The guidelines are too high. 8 year olds should no longer be in car seats.
i think this is just getting out of hand. the law right now is 1 year AND 20 pounds before they can be in a front facing. For the booster seat it is 8 years AND (I think it is 65 pounds) or until their feet can touch the ground without slouching. I agree with some of you what 12 year old would want to be in a booster seat? I know that if they keep raising the limits I will have to be in a booster (I am only 5’2 and weigh 108) I think this is just stupid.
Definitely overkill IMO as well. I totally believe in ERF’ing (plan to RF with Jess as long as we can swing it, but with this TX weather who knows?!) but from what I have observed most 8-9-10-11(?!) year-olds are big enough to use a seat belt properly. It’s all in the individual, though, and if one has doubts they should definitely check with their pedi.
I am trying to get my son to adjust to rear facing again after being front facing. There are just way too many benefits to not try!
I just told my 9 year old about this. She was BUMMED. Then I read her your blog with all the details and she’s ok with it.
Thanks sharing with all of us.
As a parent, it’s my job to keep my kid safe even if she doesn’t like the choices I make to keep her safe. Which is why she’s still rear-facing at 26 months and is going to stay that way until she reaches the rf limit of our car seat. (Not that she’s ever really complained about it – she cries in the car sometimes, but not because she wishes she could face forward – how would she even know, she’s never faced forward).
When my daughter was little she HATED the car! She cried and screamed nearly every time we were in the car. When she was one we turned her around and she no longer cried and screamed about being in the seat. I vote she was safer being front facing and not distracting the river by crying.
But to each there own. As parents we are all just doing the best we can.
best,
elena
Soooo much has changed in just a few short years since I was a child safety seat tech. Whatever it takes to make our kids safer!!
I heard these new guidelines earlier this week. As the mother and grandmother of extremely tall kids, I think they’re kind of crazy. A rear-facing car seat until the age of 2 is going to present a challenge.
And, I’ve just got to say, at 5’1″ tall myself, I just missed that booster seat until 4’9″ provision.
Kids can comfortably sit in different positions from adults because their ligaments and things are much more flexible at a young age, so it’s not uncommon for kids to sit cross legged or with knees up for a long time.
There’s no research that says a rf’ing toddler is more likely to get broken legs in an accident, but personally, I’d still prefer injured legs to a back or neck injury.
It is amazing how things change. I have a friend (in her thirties) who is 4’7″. Based on the height she should have a booster, and the DMV has told her that though it is not illegal, it is not exactly safe for her to be in the front seat. Of course, she has to drive so she must be in the front seat.
I’m so torn on this. My son is 2 1/2 now, so it’s not an issue for me, but he HATED being rear facing. I turned him right at 1 because he would scream his way through most car rides…which was very stressful and made me feel unsafe as a driver! Once I turned him around he loved it. He’s always had long legs and at 1 was pretty scrunched up.
Thanks for posting this. I just read the new guidelines to my honey. With a 3 month old and a 3 year old, we aren’t going to be doing anything different yet. But when it comes to carting around kids, looks like there will be a lot of booster swapping when it comes to carpooling with other moms.
My daughter is 17 months old and we turned her around once she hit all three height, weight, and age requirements. We have another baby girl due in 7 DAYS and I’m sure we will keep her rear-facing until age 2. My question is What about my 17 month old?? Do I turn her back around until she’s two?? She would be so mad! She’s small for age too which makes me worry even more…
My understanding from the new guidelines is that if your 17 month old out grew the weight requirement for the rear facing car seat then, its alright she be front facing.
These are just guidelines and not a law change so in the end, you have to do what is right for your family. You could always try to turn her back to rear facing and see how she tolerates it.
Thanks for this! My boys are still rear facing in my car, but I had to turn my oldest (20 months) forward in hubby’s car because he couldn’t fit the convertible seat rear facing behind the drivers seat (the infant carrier doesn’t fit there at all and has to go on the passenger side). I guess we’re going to need bigger cars to be able to keep them rear facing until they reach the size limit.
Now what about kids on the school bus. That always makes me nervous because I see little kids standing up all the time!
What a great post! Thanks for including the link for the state guidelines for car seat use. It varies so much from state to state. I wish there were a national guideline (consistent with the AAP) so that we could all be on the same page about this important issue. My blog post last night was also on the change in the guideline, clearly a hot topic this week!
I have two kiddos 10 and 8 who now are both out of boosters. Both kids are on the short side and need to be back in one by these guidelines. I cringe not knowing what I should do. My youngest still wears ones for longer trips but still…ugh!
I love that SITS addresses these issues in real life. Personally, my son will be rear facing until he no longer is able to meet the weight and height for our car seat and will be in a booster until he reaches the height requirement.
I LOVE the new guidelines. Sure – it requires a bit of a change but TOTALLY worth it. I’d rather have the peace of mind that they are a bit safer than the convenience of no seats. I hope they do make them a law.
Weight and Height matter way more than age. Something many people I am close to struggle with.
Read facing until they are two? Yikes. So hard for a very alert and curious two year old to still look at the back of a seat. Not to mention as they grow taller, to have a place to put their feet.
What about out the window (which is where my very alert and curious 26 month old spends most rides looking)? Is it really that much more interesting to stare at the back of the front seat than it is to stare at the front of the back seat?
Thanks for passing along the changes!
Great post! Of course most 10-12 year olds aren’t going to be sitting in booster seats- that’d be embarrassing for them and would make field trips difficult. I wonder at what point most parents stop…
I see so many people out in their cars without their car seats fitted correctly which worries me slightly – maybe I should stop them and point them in the direction of this post!! 😉
always good to be informed
very important. thanks for the info.
I was just saying to my husband yesterday how glad I am that our boys are years past this stage!
It just seems overkill to me. I guess kids don’t call “shotgun” anymore huh?!
I do think a lot of this depends on the size of the kid. For instance some 13 year olds look like adults while others still look 10. Same goes for the booster seat rule. And if you think about it some adults are not even 4’9″. I guess that is why they are guidelines.
I Tweeted & shared this on Facebook. This is SO important. It breaks my heart to see kids not buckled up or buckled up incorrectly. I don’t mind offending my parents if my kids aren’t safe in their cars. It’s worth it to save my kids’ lives.
My 2 1/2 year old twins are still rear facing, there carseat goes up to 35 lbs rear facing and they only weight 25 on a good day. My 7 years old still rides in booster around town to and from school and 5 point harness Britax carseat on trips over 30 minutes where we are on highways and freeways, he is not tall enough to use just a seatbelt and he doesn’t weight enough for out states laws to go without a booster. He doesn’t mind, he can see better.
I would add that toddlers and young children should stay in 5-point restraints until they reach 40lbs. Many parents switch to a booster much too soon. 5-point harness seats are much, much safer.
Both of my kids, 5 and 9, are still in booster seats. My daughter, the 9 year old, isn’t happy about it, but I think she’ll sit in it for a while.
My eleven year old (almost 12) is 5 feet 6 inches tall and one hundred eighteen pounds. I wonder if she shouldn’t ride in the front seat yet – she’s bigger than a lot of grown women. I’ll ask Jen in the forum.
Thanks for helping get the word out about this!
When I was a kid, we had a volkswagen van that dad put the mattress in as well. We got to lay out and sleep and play! Very different now!
Bernice
Jen-
I have a 10 year old and a 9 year old who have been riding without booster seats for awhile now…. and they have made their opinions known that they have no plans to get back into one! My 10 year old especially is passionate about this- he is the shortest kid in his grade, and he wants no part of anything that makes him feel “like a little kid”.
I plan to try to keep my two 7 year olds in their booster seats for as long as I can…… we’ll have to see how that goes!
Sharon
Great reporting Jen!