The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released new recommendations regarding child safety seats. According to the new guidelines, children should be kept in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they have reached the height and weight maximums set by the car seat manufacturer. This is a significant departure from the current recommendation for children to be kept in rear-facing seats until at least one year of age and at least 20 pounds in weight. The new guidelines are published in the April 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics.
“We are excited that the AAP is endorsing rear-facing child safety seats until age 2. We have been educating parents to keep their child rear-facing longer, and to have pediatricians also relaying this message to parents will be helpful,” said Maureen Donnelly, RN, MSN, NPC, Coordinator, Safe Kids Southern New Jersey, led by the Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper.
One of the most important jobs you have as a parent is keeping your children safe when riding in a vehicle. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children between the ages of two and 14. Each year, thousands of young children are killed or injured in car crashes because they weren’t wearing their seat belt or were not positioned properly in a car-safety seat. It’s important to know the correct way to use a car-safety seat in order to keep your children protected.
