4 yr. old in rear facing toddler seat

[Lee-Bee]

Wow that is extremely not safe! Car seats are tested for certain weights in certain positions and there are limits for rear-facing for a reason. I just put my youngest in a forward facing seat and he's 14 mths. It's a tricky situation for sure. You don't want to seem like you're telling the parents what to do, but on the other hand, it's the safety of the child. I think as a provider, we have an obligation to say something if there is something the parents are doing that could endanger their child.

Not true. Our car seat is rated to 45lbs and 43" rear facing. It fits the average child until about 5years rear facing.

It is highly recommended to leave children rear facing until they outgrow the rear facing limits of the seat (now a days a good seat goes until 40,45 or 50lbs rear facing). The new recommended minimum is 2yrs of age, the law still states 1yr.

Children's spinal bones do not fuse until ages 3-4 and they are much more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries when forward facing than rear facing. Google internal decapitation. Children's heads are proportionally large for their bodies and in a crash the weigh of the head and a weak spine can lead to decapitation.

This is a sign of a highly educated and caring family that has done research on their child's safety and has decided to go against the norm and keep their child rear facing.

There is very little evidence that a rear facing child will have injuries to their legs as the force of the crash sends their legs out of the way. There is plenty of research that shows a foreword facing child will suffer serious injury in a crash. The mechanics of how a child moves in a crash are drastically different for a forward facing versus rear facing child and rear facing supports the head, neck and back.

If this were a family in my daycare I'd have gone over and congratulated them for still having their child rear facing.

[Polkaroo]

Not true. Our car seat is rated to 45lbs and 43" rear facing. It fits the average child until about 5years rear facing.

It is highly recommended to leave children rear facing until they outgrow the rear facing limits of the seat (now a days a good seat goes until 40,45 or 50lbs rear facing). The new recommended minimum is 2yrs of age, the law still states 1yr.

Children's spinal bones do not fuse until ages 3-4 and they are much more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries when forward facing than rear facing. Google internal decapitation. Children's heads are proportionally large for their bodies and in a crash the weigh of the head and a weak spine can lead to decapitation.

This is a sign of a highly educated and caring family that has done research on their child's safety and has decided to go against the norm and keep their child rear facing.

There is very little evidence that a rear facing child will have injuries to their legs as the force of the crash sends their legs out of the way. There is plenty of research that shows a foreword facing child will suffer serious injury in a crash. The mechanics of how a child moves in a crash are drastically different for a forward facing versus rear facing child and rear facing supports the head, neck and back.

If this were a family in my daycare I'd have gone over and congratulated them for still having their child rear facing.

I have never heard of this before. Thanks Lee-Bee! My son just turned two and when I checked I was told to keep the child rear facing until the legs are pushing against the back seat. My son was about 13-14 mths. I will definitely look into this.

[AmandaKDT]

I have never heard of this before. Thanks Lee-Bee! My son just turned two and when I checked I was told to keep the child rear facing until the legs are pushing against the back seat. My son was about 13-14 mths. I will definitely look into this.

Yes, my younger daughter is almost two and we just switched her to forward facing on the weekend. I had planned to keep her facing backwards past 2 years old but she was really disliking having her feet touching the back her seat and was getting really upset. I had also read that it didn't matter if their legs were hanging down when rear facing, the possible broken leg is way less damage than what else could happen.