Rear-Facing!

Poor Chloe has to be turned to face the rear of the car again. I thought I was doing good since the American Academy of Pediatrics only recently updated their recommendation to keep infants rear-facing from 1 year to 2 years. I know some people who balked or complained about this but...gosh darnit...I was going to wait until Chloe (almost) turned 2! But my sister-in-law recently sent me a link to a video that made me think twice. I did a little bit of reading and am convinced that it's safer to leave Chloe facing the rear for now...maybe another year or two.

This webpage shows a computer animated video of the difference between what happens in a collision when a child is rear-facing vs. forward facing. The first thing I noticed was how loosely the straps and car seat seemed to be attached but the point is still well taken. The force of the collision is more spread out on the child's body when they're rear-facing making them less likely to have a head, neck, or spinal injury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U&feature=email

This video shows lots of kids a lot older than Chloe facing rear and they talk about the practices in Sweden - children stay rear-facing until age 4!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWKm7SenDHU&feature=related

This Swedish website discusses the "Swedish approach" and states that, "Traffic accidents in USA are for example the number one cause of death among young children....We [Swedes] follow our own advice and our fatality rate for children age 0-6 years in traffic accidents is basically zero each year."
http://www.carseat.se/the-swedish-rear-facing-car-seat-approach/

From the AAP :"All infants and toddlers should ride in aRear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer." I wasn't aware of the part about " or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed..."

http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/carseatsafety.cfm

More test and scientific data why rear-facing is safer.
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

I rescind my initial comment. Not 'poor Chloe.' 'Lucky Chloe.'