Car Seat Quip: 7 Reasons Why Rear Facing is Safer

I do not want to instill fear or guilt with this post.  When I first learned this information, I panicked a bit.  I became hyper sensitive.  I found myself becoming judgmental of other moms who were not rear facing.

I don't want to be judgmental.

I want to protect children.

What about the guilt?  Well, my goal is to present facts, not fluff.  If American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines or extensive research cause a mom to feel guilty, well, I'm ok with that. Should I withold facts to prevent guilt? What if a child is injured or killed because I didn't share facts?  That's guilt I can't live with.

Check the research behind each point.  Do better because you know better.

This information was taken directly from CarSeatBlog.com - your one-stop shop for great information on car seat safety (some items just copied and pasted because, well, they just rock).  There are some awesome videos (animated and with dummies) that demonstrate the difference between forward and rear facing in the case of an accident. Please click through and watch.

7 Reasons Rear Facing is Safer

1. Children under age 2 are 5 times safer riding rear facing than forward facing (research link ).  Forward facing children under the age of 2 are 75% more likely to be injured in a crash.   In a rear facing seat, the child is cradled in a crash. The child will ride up the back of their seat rather than flail forward like in a forward facing seat.
2. Infants and young toddlers have spines made of soft bone and cartilage that doesn’t begin to harden until around age 3.  As a result, the spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches; however, the spinal cord will rupture after being stretched after only ¼ inch.  This damage cannot be repaired.
3. A tightly installed rear-facing carseat allows the vehicle and carseat to absorb crash forces and increases “ride down,” the amount of time it takes a body to come to a stop in a crash.  The longer the ride down time, the less chance of injury.  (http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html) 
4. Child passenger safety is very much based on statistics.  It’s more likely that a frontal or side impact will occur than a rear impact.  Rear-facing carseats provide the best protection against those types of impacts.  (http://www.crashtest.com/imgserver/angle468.gif ) 
5. Approximately 75% of kids in Sweden rear-face until at least age 4.  From 1999-2006, only 4 rear-facing children under age 4 were killed in crashes and their deaths were due to circumstances unrelated to the direction the carseat was facing (fire, drowning, excessive intrusion).  During that same timeframe, 6 kids under age 4 facing forward in booster seats were killed; 3 of these crashes were potentially survivable crashes had the children been in rear-facing carseats.  (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/338/jun11_2/b1994)
6. Many children seem to want to switch to forward facing between 12 and 18 months because they fight being put in their car seat.  This is just a phase where they do not want to be restrained at all. Check the forums at www.car-seat.org to learn coping tips.
7. Rear facing is actually more comfortable for children.  Contrary to how adults sit comfortably, children are comfortable sitting in a variety of positions. By sitting rear facing, they have somewhere to rest their feet rather than having them dangle (being under 5 feet tall myself and having my feet dangle in regular chairs quite often, I can attest to how uncomfortable dangling is!).  Rear facing also allows them to recline.

In case that information was overwhelming, check out this video that covers these points and more!

Please pass along this information to parents you know - let's keep our kids safe!  Let's make rear facing past one year the norm!

One more link - MSNBC's article about rear facing safety.