Two interesting reports were recently published that both recommend that child car seats face the rear of the vehicle until the child is two years old. The reports, which came from The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, also recommended that older children who’ve outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children’s smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches. Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat, the guidelines from both groups say.
The studies’ showed that one-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a car crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. car crash data.