Keep Kids in Rear-Facing Car Seats Until 2, Experts Say

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I predict an avalanche of proposed state legislation that try's to turn these recommendations into mandates by the end of the year. Who will vote against child safety? My question is, who will stand up for common sense?
These kinds of recommendations and this kind of reporting gets our grandmas all excited and worried. Our state politicians write up all kinds of crazy laws that are nearly impossible to enforce, against a population of parents that have every intention of doing what is best and safest for their own children. We have gone so far down this road of absurdity that our 10 year old sons and daughters can't get a ride to school because Dad forgot to take the booster seat out of the suburban before he went to work.
Of the articles that I found on the wild web this one was the most complete. I would like to see some actual research published in a peer reviewed paper. This article quotes Injury Prevention
A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they're in a rear-facing car seat.
75% less likely than what? Did this study compare rear-facing seats with forward facing seats or did it compare rear-facing seats with regular restraints?
" Yet motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death for children ages 4 and older. Each year, more than 1,500 children under age 16 are killed annually in motor vehicle accidents. And for every death, some 18 children are hospitalized and 400 are hurt seriously enough to require medical attention, according to the article. "
Does this mean our children are not safe? How many miles every single day do our children ride with out incident? This article and the pediatricians don't say. How many vehicle collisions do our children survive with out incident or injury of any kind? No information on this vital statistic is given. How many of our children reach the age of 16 without any major calamity? How do we know how serious a threat this is when these statistics are not given some basic context.
I do recognize that every one of the 1500 cases of death is each a personal tragedy beyond description. That said the vast majority of our children are very safe in our vehicles. I don't need a paper to tell me this. My experience tells me this. Common sense tells me this.
Just one more fun little absurdity with this recommendation. More infants are injured every year because of improper car seat use than the total number of serious vehicle related injuries for children under the age 16.

David Siegel of WA 5:40PM March 21, 2011

I despair at some people, Dee from NY, a preschool childs legs are not too long, in extended use car seats there is more leg room than in rear facing seats for new borns and babies up to approximately 1 year, D from UT has the right idea about leg placement - also Dee what would you prefer, your 2 year old with a broken leg or a spine detached at the neck - this is the reality in a front impact car crash?
Marsha from MI what is the difference between a child facing forwards or a child facing rearwards when you are communicating with them when driving a car? Surely even if the child is facing forwards you are concentrating on the road ahead of you, not talking to them whilst maintaining eye contact in a rear view mirror. Extended use rear facing car seats position the child higher in the car so they can see out the rear screen and the side windows, it is a great game getting them to tell you all about what is happening behind the car.
As D of UT has said - it is about time word got out!

ZY 5:11PM March 21, 2011

Its nuts.. they want kids in car seats until they are 18 now. I already told my husband we will never have children because of this kid paranoia.

Susan of ID 10:38AM March 21, 2011

How far, and at what cost, should you go to eliminate risk? If you eliminate a risk, you alter other factors. Maybe there is a diminished chance of injury in a rear-facing seat in the unlikely event of an accident. But there is also diminished parent-child contact and conversation every day and every trip with rear-facing seats.
Do you really want to delay that engagement for another year, while children stare out the back window, isolated from everyone in the car at the time most children are bursting with new language skills and fascination with what's going on around them?
And sometimes you add new risks. Gene Weingarten's devastating, Pulitzer-Prize-winning article about the 15-25 children a year who die when they've been forgotten in the car makes the point that this number has risen with the change to rear-facing seats. Reducing contact between parent and child adds one more piece to the terrible chain of circumstances that can lead to a parent making a horrible mistake.
When we try to protect our children from every possible risk, we also keep them from experiencing life. We need to always balance protection with opportunity.

Marsha of MI 10:27AM March 21, 2011

I could kiss this author! This is great info on rear facing and harness/booster use. rear facing toddlers and preschoolers put their legs up on the seat, over the side, or sit with legs crossed. There are plenty of reasons and proof that this is safer, why risk a broken spine? Look at you-tube videos on extended rear facing to see crash tests and parent testimonials.

D of UT 9:49AM March 21, 2011

So kids under the age of 2 should go in rear facing seats in the rear aisles, because in the front passenger seat there's the danger of the airbag deploying against the rear facing car seat, correct?

Flicker of AL 9:36AM March 21, 2011

You know what I have no patience for a Professional Writer who does not take the time to PROOFREAD. I'd like to read an article where there is no spelling errors. Hey use spell check all you want but proofread to catch the spelling errors. "Rear-facing seats offer more support to the head, neck and spin of infants and toddlers in a crash, said report" Last time I check spine or the back bone has an E at the end.

Sara of MD 9:32AM March 21, 2011

Although I agree that we should do everything we can to keep our small ones safe the age recommendation of 2 is rediculous. The one year limit is ideal because after that their legs are too long for them to be in rear facing seats. The folks making the recommendations are complete idiots and they should refrain from making recommendations because they're un fit all together; no pun intended. They should try to put themselves in rear facing child seats because they thinking like two year olds with no brains.

Dee of NY 9:27AM March 21, 2011