An important new recommendation by the British Medical Journal makes the case that it’s far safer to keep children in rear-facing carseats well up to the age of four. If you’re an American, you’re used to being told that it’s okay to turn kids around as early as two years of age and/or over twenty pounds of weight.
The current thinking is based on simple physics. With a forward-facing carseat, any violent forward motion will pull on the child’s body in such a way that can cause injury to a child’s spine, which can be bent unnaturally by the seat’s restraints. In a rear-facing seat, the entire back of the carseat supports and cushion’s the child’s body, preventing this misalignment.
Parents should be warned that complying with this new recommendation is not as simple as turning an existing carseat around and trying to make it work. A rear-facing carseat is specifically structured to allow for safe installation; trying to use a regular forward-facing seat by reversing its orientation is asking for trouble.
Parents may have issues with a rear-facing carseat, notably being unable to easily monitor what their child is doing. They might favor being able to communicate face-to-face with their child. However, with the history of injuries sustained by children during accidents while inhabiting forward-facing carseats, it seems clear that the safest — if not always the most affordable — route lies in purchasing a rear-facing seat.
Keep in mind that while this isn’t yet a regulation, and therefore no mandated need for you to follow this recommendation, your child’s safety should always come first.
