Car Seat Laws

I apologize for not having any new posts lately.  Having three young children can definitely keep you busy.  However, I am going to make an attempt to get back on here more regularly.

When you are having a baby or already have children it is very important to know the most current car seat laws.  Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics and The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration changed their car seat recommendations.  Previously, it was recommended that babies remain rear facing until they reached 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds.  Now it is recommended that babies remain rear facing until the age of 2 or until they have outgrown the height or weight limit for the car seat that they are currently using.  That being said when shopping for an infant seat you really want to make sure that it can accommodate your baby for quite some time.  Another important change was the recommendations for booster seats.  It is now recommended that a child continue to use a booster seat until he/she reaches 4 feet 9 inches tall.  Before this recommendation most states required the use of booster seats until the age of 8 regardless of the child’s actual size.

These changes have brought out a wide variety of opinions with parents and children.  As a parent that turned my 3 children around at the age of 1 I will admit that I was very happy when I was able to turn them around.  They were much happier car riders when they were facing forward, which made for more peaceful car trips.  However, their safety is my number 1 priority.  If I had known how much safer they would have been if they had remained rear facing, I would have kept them that way until their 2nd birthdays.  I am a safety nut though.  I have done my research and my oldest, who just turned 7, is still in a 5 point harness.  I will admit he is not that happy about it, but I feel much safer driving knowing that he is still in the safest seat available.

I did come across a couple of articles talking about the new car seat laws or car seat guidelines that I though I would share in case you would like some more details.  One is on the American Academy of Pediatrics website itself  and the other is from ABC news.

Being the safety nut that I am, I do hope you follow the new car seat guidelines.  I have had my share of arguments with my oldest about his seat, but I would rather argue with him about his seat than have something happen to him in the car and never be able to argue with him again.