Rear-Facing Toddlers

Related Content

• Car Seat Safety Message Board
• Choosing the Right Car Seat
• Car Seat Clinic- The get-it-right guide to car seat safety

The importance of rear-facing beyond the first year

By Cara Miller

Learning to crawl, babble and even walk, are all milestones that parents look forward to as their babies grow into toddlerhood. Switching to a forward-facing car seat is one milestone that parents should delay and not rush. Recent studies have shown it is five-times safer for babies and toddlers to be rear-facing in their car seats, and more and more parents are also choosing to keep their toddlers rear-facing past the minimum standard of age one and 20-22 pounds of most provincial laws.

Why is rear-facing especially important for toddlers?

In a collision a forward-facing toddler has a an immense amount of stress on their neck and spine due to size of their heads in proportion to their bodies. In the forces of a crash this can have grave consequences for a toddler and their still developing neck muscles and spine (a child's spine does not ossify/fuse until they are three to six years of age). The forces of a crash in a forward-facing seat could potentially cause internal decapitation as the child's head is thrust forward taking the brunt of the crash force.

Rear-facing seats do an amazing job of protecting children as there is very little to no force being applied to their head, neck and spine. When a child is in a rear-facing car seat their head, neck and spine are all kept fully aligned while the seat absorbs the bulk of the crash force.

See the differences in these crash test videos. This is a 12-month-old dummy in a rear-facing seat in the first video and then a forward-facing seat.

Sweden leads the world in child passenger safety and has the lowest child injury mortality rate in the world. In Sweden it is very rare to find a child under the age of four in a forward-facing child restraint. Some of Sweden's car seats also have the highest rear-facing weight limit in the world up to 55 pounds.

Rear-facing myths

from Carseat.se

There are quite a few reasons why people don’t keep children rear-facing longer. Many parents don’t know how much safer it is but some also rely on myths to turn their child forward-facing. A few of the common ones:

• My child’s legs are touching the vehicle seat which is dangerous: Research has show this is not the case. It’s not dangerous to have long legs or let them hang over the edge of the seat. Forward-facing children not exempt from lower extremity injuries either. “The lower extremity is among the most frequently injured body regions for children restrained by forward-facing child restraint systems, accounting for 28% of their clinically significant injuries, defined as AIS 2 and greater injuries excluding concussions.”.
• Kids get carsick when rear-facing: Not true. There are cases with children getting carsick while rear facing but it’s extremely rare.
• My child can’t see out the window while rear-facing: Children who have switched from an infant seat can see out the window just fine while rear-facing.
• Children hate to sit rear-facing: Not true.  A child who has been sitting forward-facing for years and is then turned back around might complain. A child who has been sitting rear-facing since the beginning rarely complain.
• I have to turn my child forward facing at 12 months,  it’s the law: There are laws saying how long parents must keep children rear-facing but none which regulate forward-facing.  A child should sit rear-facing for as long as possible. Those are guidelines which more countries are starting to follow.
• My 14 month-old-has a strong neck, I can turn her forward facing: Not a good idea. A rear-facing child is 500 percent safer than forward-facing. It may seem like the neck is strong but a collision with a child who is forward-facing puts tremendous force on the child’s head, neck and spine.
• My seat says I can forward-face at 20 pounds so that’s what I’m going to do: Not a good idea. Research has shown it’s far safer to stay rear-facing. Difference in safety are largest during the first 24 months.
• Rear-facing children are at increased risk for collision from the rear: Research has shown this is not the case. Collisions from the rear are rare, roughly 5% of accidents, and usually also less severe than frontal impacts. The guideline is that rear-facing children are as safe or safer in collisions from the rear.
• Rear-facing is a new thing with research just now becoming available: Not true. Sweden has been rear-facing children since 1965 and the huge benefits were known early on.
• Rear-facing is uncomfortable for my child: Older rear-facing children often sit with bent legs which is not uncomfortable. Notice how children sit when they play, almost never with legs straight out. It’s very rare hearing a child complain about leg problems while rear-facing.