New advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will change the way many parents buckle up their children for a drive. The AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2 or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.
The previous policy, from 2002, advised that it is safest for infants and toddlers to ride rear-facing up to the limits of the car seat, but it also cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as a minimum.
“The ‘age 2’ recommendation is not a deadline, but rather a guideline to help parents decide when to make the transition,” Dr. Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP and lead author of the new study, says. Smaller children will benefit from remaining rear facing longer, while other children may reach the maximum height or weight before 2 years of age. “A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Durbin says.
The report also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age. Children should ride in the rear of a vehicle until they are 13 years old.