5 New Car Seat Safety Guidelines from Pediatricians
AAP offers these five suggestions
The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommendations on car safety seats in the hopes of protecting kids from the leading cause of death for children 4 years and older: motor vehicle crashes.
The policy statement from the AAP “provides 5 evidence-based recommendations for best practices to optimize safety in passenger vehicles for all children, from birth through adolescence.”
The policy statement from the AAP gives these five recommendations:
- All infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat (CSS) as long as possible, until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their CSS’s manufacturer. Most convertible seats have limits that will permit children to ride rear-facing for 2 years or more.
- All children who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their CSS should use a forward-facing CSS with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by their CSS’s manufacturer.
- All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their CSS should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle lap and shoulder seat belt fits properly, typically when they have reached 4 feet, 9 inches in height and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
- When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt alone, they should always use lap and shoulder seat belts for optimal protection.
- All children younger than 13 years should be restrained in the rear seats of vehicles for optimal protection.
Resources For Parents
- Child Passenger Safety Guidelines from AAP
- Vehicle/Car Safety
- The Ultimate Car Seat Guide
- Road Rules for Little Passengers
- Child Passenger Safety Considerations For Organizations Transporting Children