New Recommendations for Child Car Seats from the AAP
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has just released new advice for child safety seats. In a new policy statement to be released in April, the AAP recommends that parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age two, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.
It also recommends that children remain in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
While the death rate in motor vehicle crashes in children under age 16 has decreased in the last decade, it is still the leading cause of death for children ages 4 and older. Counting children and teens up to age 21, there are more than 5,000 deaths each year. And for every death in a motor vehicle accident, about 18 children are hospitalized and more than 400 are injured seriously enough to require medical treatment.
Newer research has shown that children under age two are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a car accident if they are rear facing.
The new statement also reiterated the message that children should continue to ride in the rear seat of a car until they are 13.
You can read the entire AAP statement by using this link.
To read the AAP's car seat policy, click here. (You will need Adobe Reader to read the policy statement.)
To read the AAP's technical report on child passenger safety, click here:
To read a car seat guide for parents, click here.
