It seems parents are sometimes too anxious to turn their kiddos around to forward facing in their car seats.  With a requirement of 12 months of age AND 20 pounds in the United States to many parents it feels like just another mile stone that must be reached, but this is definitely not a mile stone that needs to be rushed and there are many reasons for this.  Both Alleigh and Kaelyn didn’t even weigh 20 pounds on the first birthday, so they were not turned forward facing until they had will surpassed the 20 pound mark, but I still wish I had kept them rear facing for a while longer.  Willow will be rear facing for much longer.

10 REAR FACING FACTS:

1.)  Rear facing is 5 times safer than forward facing.
2.)  The British Medical Journal published a report in June 2009 stating that rear facing seats are safer than forward facing seats for children under 4.
3.)  Two thirds of child fatalities in the under four age group occur in cars.
4.)  The British Medical Journal have published an alert on their website advising parents to keep young children in rear facing seats for as long as possible.
5.)  A US study involving 870 children aged under 2 years concluded that rear facing seats were more effective than forward facing seats in protecting children aged 0-23 months for all crash types.
6.)  In Sweden between July 2006 and November 2007 not one child under the age of six was killed in a car crash. Children in Sweden sit rear facing until the age of four.
7.)  205 children under 5 are seriously injured in the UK every year and a further 21 are killed, while in cars.
8.)  Frontal and frontal offset car-to-car crashes are by far the most common sort of accident. They are also the most dangerous.
9.)  A child’s neck only needs to stretch more than a quarter of an inch before snapping.
10.)  There are no reported incidents of rear facing children hurting their legs.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you…. perhaps watching this video will.

My favorite car seat for extended rear facing is the Diono Radian RXT because you can keep your child rear facing up to 45 pounds!  And guess what?  Very soon there will be a review and GIVEAWAY here at Happenings of the Harper Household for one of these awesome car seats.

For even more information on the importance of extended rear facing be sure to visit the Rear Facing Car Seats: Facing the Facts website!