Nearly 25% of parents turn their child forward facing too early, even before the child turns 1.
A University of Michigan survey asked a randomly selected group of parents with children between the ages of 7 months and 4 years about when they transitioned their child to a forward-facing car seat.
Researchers did two surveys. And while the later survey had better numbers, still too many children were turned forward facing too early. Here are the numbers:
- In 2011, 33% of parents of 1-to 4-year-old children who had been turned to face forward had done so at or before 12 months. Just 16% reported turning their child’s seat at 2 years or older.
- In 2013, 24% of parents of 1- to 4-year-old children who had been turned to face forward made the switch at or before 12 months. 23% reported waiting to turn until the child was 2 years old or older.
These surveys are older now and we could not find any updated statistics. The information remains important to note. More states are updating their car seat laws to require children remain rear-facing until age 2. But there are still many that don’t have an age requirement or require it up to age 1.
How long should a child stay rear facing?
The best practice recommendation is to keep children rear facing for as long as possible until the child outgrows the rear-facing limits of the child restraint. Sometimes this may not happen until a child is 3 or 4 — sometimes even older.
The American Academy of Pediatrics guideline — since March 2011 — is to keep the children rear facing until they are a minimum of 2 years old. Using a rear-facing car seat longer reduces the risks of serious injury. Update: AAP now also makes the above recommendation; to keep your child rear facing for as long as possible, to the upper limits of the child restraint.
Why is keeping them rear facing important?
While the child is rear facing their whole back, neck and head are being supported by the seat in the event of a crash. When turned forward facing, the child is restrained by the harness strap and they lose the neck and head support. This increases their risk of spinal and neck injury from the still heavy head being thrown forward in a crash.
“Getting parents to delay the transition to a forward-facing seat still represents an opportunity to improve passenger safety in the U.S.,” says lead author Michelle L. Macy, M.D., M.S., of the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Car crashes are still a leading cause of death among children younger than 4 years old and is the leading cause of death among older children. This is often in part because children are unrestrained or not using the restraint recommended for their age and size.
“There are lots of reasons why parents are eager to change from the rear-facing to forward-facing seat: the perception their children are too large, the desire to see their children when driving, and a greater ease of removing their children from a forward facing seat,” says Macy. “But delaying the switch can make a big difference. In Sweden it is culturally accepted that children up to age 4 are in rear-facing seats and child traffic fatalities are among the lowest in the world.”
Read more about keeping children in a rear-facing seat:
- Keep Your Child Rear Facing As Long As Possible
- Rear Facing Recommendations: Are They Changing?
- Rear-Facing Versus Forward-Facing Car Seats
We want to know, at what age did you turn your child around? Share your comments below.
By Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004
Copyright 2021 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.
My oldest(born in 2013) rearfaced to 5.5yo when he hit 40#(the limit of his seat at the time) he was also 43” at the time. He still asks to be rearfacing at 7.5 48.25” 48# because we now have a 50# limit rearfacing seat but he has only ridden in it twice because he just doesn’t have the occasion to be in the car alone much.
My twins now 5.5yo are only 35&38# and 42&43” and I turned them at 4 due to car space but they still ride rearfacing from time to time and I might have the opportunity to keep them rearfacing longer now since I now have 2 50# limit seats it’s just they complain they are uncomfortable due to the shape of the seats(c shaped).
My youngest is 3.5 31# 38” And of course still rearfacing all the time. But I’m having to fight her dad on keeping her rearfacing.
Why would you have them rear facing when if you were in a reck it could brake there legs or cripple them for life my 11 month old granddaughter is already. 32 inches long and weights 22 lbs. If the car set is a good it should have the right protection she needs.
Actually children who are forward facing are more likely to break their legs in a car crash that rear-facing children. We have written a lot about why it is safer to keep children rear facing for as long as possible. Please read these other posts for more information:
If your grand daughter were in a frontal impact car accident she would be much more likely to be internally decapitated and die.
I’d take a broken leg over death for my children. That said rear facing is no more likely to cause a broken leg in an accident and is 5 times safer.
Please read up on it and turn your grand daughters seat back to rear facing.
That’s a very outdated way of thinking
My daughter is 3.5 yrs old but only 30lbs and 36”. I’d prefer to switch her forward but she’s still rear facing. Hopefully she’s big enough later this year to flip her.
Every accident we have been in was either being hit from the rear, or hit on the side. Doesn’t being hit from the rear cause the same injuries in a rear facing seat that a front hit in a foreward facing seat does?
Hi Diane, You have demonstrated a working knowledge of crash dynamics with this question. :) You are correct. The energy forces experienced by the rear facing child, in a rear end impact, would be comparable to the forces involved with a forward facing child in a forward moving impact.
While you seem to have bad luck personally, statistically, the most common kind of crash is a forward impact, for the main reason, we all drive around town in a forward direction.
Car seat design and the crash testing protocols, as well as “best practice” recommendations, are all based on statistical probabilities versus any individual crash. Car seat manufacturers do take all the types of crash into consideration when they engineer their seats but their primary focus is on the highest energy crashes, which are forward movement events.
The other thing we talk about in car seat tech certification class is the “cocoon” effect of a rear-facing seat being thrust up against the vehicle seat back, to some degree, preventing the over extension of the child’s head/neck. This is not a primary mechanism, but it is a factor built into some designs.
I am sure you already know and practice this, but as a former emergency responder, I always strive to point out that THE #1 best way to prevent injuries in a crash is to learn and practice good defensive driving habits. While there isn’t a lot one can do to prevent being rear-ended, in order for a person to get T-boned, we, the driver, almost always have to drive our vehicle into a position to get T-boned. Statistically, many T-bone crashes could be avoided with good defensive driving habits, even if it means getting honked at every now and then for taking a few extra seconds to wait and make sure oncoming traffic is actually stopping like they are supposed to be. :)
With respect Greg, the most common type of crash is indeed the rear-end collision. So there should be some kind of calculus at play on you as the driver and your car choice. If you’re a very aware driver with excellent braking physics, you’re more likely to be rear-ended than commit the rear-ending. If you’re an uninterested driver with a large SUV and a penchant for FaceTiming family, then I think you’re more likely to do the rear-ending and you should indeed stay in rear-facing as long as possible.
A rear-end collision may be the most common type of car crash. And distracted driving is a common theme at play in many types of crashes. However, in a rear-end collision there is both a rear impact (the car getting hit in front) and a forward impact (the car doing the hitting) — that is unless someone backs into something in a single-vehicle collision. When added with other types of forward-impact crashes, for instance head-on collisions and many single-vehicle collisions (like driving into a tree), there are more incidents of forward impact. We are simply saying because forward impacts are the most common, federal standards are written based on that type of impact and using a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible is safest for the most probable type of impact.