Carseat Safety Guidelines For 2011-NEW!

by Alice Shaffer
Regarding Nannies Development Team Member

Ruthie age 19 months rear facing courtesy of CarSeat Nanny

Over the past several years there have been many advocates of rear facing in car seats beyond 1 year and 20 pounds. As professional nannies, we find ourself driving our charges and perhaps our own children in cars frequently throughout the day for work, so we want to make sure the children are as safe as can be. Yesterday the Academy of American Pediatrics changed their official recommendations on rear facing infants and toddlers as well as booster seat use.

…the AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Durbin said. “For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.

to read the rest of the press release visit here

Helpful links:

• The AAP’s  official  position AAP UPDATES RECOMMENDATION ON CAR SEATS
• They also shared a links  to their  Car Seats Policy and Car Seat Technical Report
• The policy is appearing in the April issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• Car Safety Seats: Information for Families for 2011 This is a great guideline with a lot of information and photos.
• Car-Seat.org discussion forum for car seat use, questions about anchoring etc
• Child Passenger Safety Laws NHTSA released an article on the seat belt and car seat laws in the United States.  Remember when traveling to obey that state’s child passenger safety laws. You can and will get a ticket if stopped.

photo courtesy of www.healthychildren.org

Regarding Nannies has in the past shared links to videos on proper car seat buckling and car safety while wearing coats.  I am going to be sharing them again as I know several nannies received snow fall yesterday and today on the first few days of Spring!  If you have found any helpful links or videos please share them in the comment section so others can benefit.

Keeping Kids Warm in Carseats

Thursday Table Talk: Why did Kat become a Car Seat Technician? Is an interview with Kat, who is a mom, professional nanny and a Car Seat Technician. She runs the blog CarSeat Nanny .

How do you feel this new position from the APA will influence those who want their child to be forward facing when they hit that 1 year and 20 pound marker?