Why Do Baby Car Seats Have To Face Backwards
632020 Over the years car seat manufacturers have increased the weight and height limits on their rear-facing seats. 30122019 Rear-facing safety seats give the best support to your childs head neck and spine and will help prevent your childs head from being thrown violently forward in the event of a car crash.
This means that more children can ride rear-facing as they grow well into the toddler and preschool years.
Why do baby car seats have to face backwards. It also limits the motion of. Up to six months. 872008 By facing them backwards in a car seat the seat will cradle their head in an accident all the motion will be directed into the car sear instead of letting their little necks take the brunt of it.
She can hold her head up well her shoulders are above the maximum shoulder height marker on her seat. There are laws in each Australian state and territory that regulate which car seat you need for your child from birth to 16 years CREP nda NRA and Kidsafe Australia 2013. To ensure the safest travel experience possible you should keep your child in.
Australias car seat laws only require your baby sits in a rearward-facing seat until shes six months old. At that point the seat can be converted into a forward-facing. Traditionally theyve happened around the same time Babys first birthday but on Monday the American Academy of Pediatrics AAP officially revised its recommendations regarding buckling up babies.
Deciding when your baby can face forward in the car is a big step and you should do it carefully. Contrary to popular belief this does not mean that the child is too big for the seat. Babies under six months must use a rearward facing seat with a minimum five-point in-built harness.
Legally your gorgeous wonderful baby must be kept in an approved rear-facing seat until he or she is six months old and from that point you can put them in a forward-facing seat but you dont have to and they can stay facing backwards if you prefer. 2092013 According to Thomas Turbell of the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute A nine-month-old babys head comprises 25 of its total body weight while in an adult the head weighs 6 accident research has shown that rearward facing childrens car seats reduce serious injuries by 92. Odds are that when a serious crash occurs your rear-facing child wont snap forward into a harness and will instead experience crash forces that are about equally diffused along the car seat.
Thats because a rear-facing seat spreads the crash force more evenly across the back of the car seat and the childs body. This helps protect the babys head and neck in the event of a crash. 842021 This will provide extra protection as that is the safest spot in the vehicle.
3062020 While riding in a rear-facing car seat it is common for a baby or toddlers legs to touch the vehicle seat or to hang over the end of the car seat. Sweden where children are kept in rear-facing seats until the age of 4 has the lowest highway death. 2132011 In the pantheon of child development many parents consider the act of turning the car seat from rear-facing to forward-facing right up there with the first step.
When children ride forward-facing their heads - which for toddlers are disproportionately large and heavy - are thrown forward possibly resulting in. Since most crashes occur this way keeping your kid in a rear-facing car seat stacks the deck in your favor. No matter which direction your child faces in the car though it is important to read and follow the instructions from your car seat manufacturer.
The question really is not just about car seat laws its whether babies should. What car seat does my child need. 2332011 A rear-facing seat better protects the head neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash.
Research suggests that toddlers and preschoolers as. 3042019 A rear-facing car seat will absorb most of the crash forces and supports the head neck and spine. 2912020 Most convertible car seats can be used in the rear-facing position until a child reaches the weight limit typically 40 to 50 pounds.
But road safety and medical experts recommend you dont move your child to a forward-facing seat until. Your baby must be restrained in an approved rearward-facing child car seat such as an infant capsule or a convertible car seat specially designed for babies. Road safety experts tend to migrate towards a single purpose capsule option both for comfort and function but a seat that can be both rear and forward-facing will also work well.
