Did you know 4 out of 5 car seats are installed or used incorrectly? Keeping up with the changes and recommendations for child passenger safety can be a challenge. Here are a few current recommendations and resources for keeping your child safe when traveling around Minnesota.
Rear-facing versus forward-facing positioning
This fall the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their recommendations to promote keeping children in the rear-facing position for as long as possible. As infants and young children are at increased risk for head and spinal cord injury due to their relatively large head and developing musculoskeletal system, a rear-facing position reduces this risk by providing more head and back support in the event of a crash.2 Therefore, instead of an age limit, the AAP now recommends children be rear-facing until they meet the highest rear-facing weight or height limit allowed by the manufacturer of their car seat.1 (more…)