Is Your Child Safe in the Car?

Special to the Tampa Bay ParentGuide

By Ashley Marchese, Public Education Specialist
Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor
Pinellas Park Fire Department

Toddlers are more than five times safer riding rear-facing in a car safety seat up to their second birthday, according to the American Academy of
Pediatrics News, April 2009.   This new recommendation is the safest choice for your child for many reasons.  It provides the best protection for the head and neck as rear-facing car seats help to spread the crash forces throughout the baby’s body.  If your child is forward facing, his body is held back but his head is not.  A baby’s neck bones can separate during a crash which can allow spinal cord injury.  In other countries such as Sweden, children ride rear facing until age five, which has lowered traffic death and injury rates substantially. 

The April edition of AAP News suggests:

• All infants should ride rear-facing in either an infant car seat or
  convertible seat.

• If an infant seat is used, the infant should be switched to a rear-facing convertible car seat once the maximum height (when the infant’s head is within one inch of the top of the seat) and weight (usually 22 pounds to 32 pounds) have been reached for that infant seat as suggested by the car seat manufacturer.
  
• Toddlers should remain rear facing in a convertible car seat until they have reached the maximum height and weight recommended for the model or at least the age of two.

• To see if your car seat is installed properly and to find a certified child passenger safety technician in your area, visit www.seatcheck.org or www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cpsfitting/index.cfm.

The most common question I get from parents after sharing these recommendations is “where are the feet going to go?”  In a convertible seat they have a lot more room to sit cross legged or with their legs over the edge.  It is also OK for their legs and feet to touch the seat.  There has been no research to show that a child has had leg injuries from being rear-facing longer, but there is plenty of research to show that turning your child forward facing prematurely can result in devastating injuries in a crash.

Not only is it important to have your child facing the correct direction, but it is also important to make sure your seat is installed correctly.  Here in Pinellas County we check over 2,000 car seats per year and find that most car seats are installed incorrectly.  To find out if your car seat is installed correctly, please call 892-KIDS in Pinellas or 800-756-7233 outside of Pinellas County.