Extended Rear-Facing: The Benefits and How to Do It Safely

The most important aspect of having a baby car seat is to make sure that it is safe. Recently, more parents seem to be choosing a particular strategy called “extended rear-facing” (ERF). Remember, at first it might seem like the opposite of what is safe. After all, your child, according to current recommendations, should be facing backward for up to two years, and you should not put your child forward-facing until he or she is two years old. However, more and more experts in the field of car seat safety now say that ERF is a good idea.

Why Extend Rear-Facing?

One of the main reasons we keep kids in rear-facing car seats as long as possible is that very young children are built very differently from older children and adults. Their heads are much larger in proportion to their bodies and much heavier, too. As a result, we have a much larger mass in the upper part of the child. They’re not very well balanced, and if you think about that, it makes sense because when babies are their tiniest and first born, they’re not programmed

Benefits of Extended Rear-Facing

There are many good reasons to keep kids facing backward in their car seats. One of the most important is that doing so would reduce serious head injuries among young children. … To improve safety for kids, a potential change in federal regulations could call for keeping them facing rearward until they reach the age of 2.

How to Safely Extend Rear-Facing

• Safe Extension of Rear-Facing Child Car Seat
• Rear-facing child safety seats are required for infants, but the American Academy of Pediatrics used to recommend rear-facing car seats for all children until at least age two. Now, it advises that toddlers ride rear-facing even longer, until they outgrow the rear-facing weight or height limits of their convertible child safety seats, typically around age three or four.
• Here’s what you need to know to safely seat your child rear-facing.
• Start by Choosing the Right Car Seat
• Look for a rear-facing car seat with a high weight limit; they are much easier to find now than they used to be. Car seats with a 30- or 35-pound rear-facing weight limit are accessible and affordable. Try for a weight limit of at least 33 pounds, and for some added peace of mind, with a 40-pound rear-facing weight limit. Fetch a seat with a high rear-facing height limit.

Addressing Common Concerns

• Children have a lot of room for different positions, in which they can be quite content, even if it looks uncomfortable to adults. You can see a tot with a leg just about all the way bent, sitting with a leg bent, or with one leg bent at the knee and the other crossed over the leg with the knee up. These little g-forces can feel fun to a small child and restful to a child who is asleep.
• Most kids whose parents use a car seat consider that to be their “spot” and feel as secure in the car seat as they do just about anywhere. As my little rules lawyer always says, “If you don’t tell me what I can’t do, then I must presume that I can do it.” In the rear-facing position, a kid can see out of a side window, through the rear window, or up in the sky.

Conclusion

Even though it may seem counterintuitive, keeping a child in a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible is a smart way to ensure they’re as safe as can be inside a vehicle. Only 1 in 4 families “get the memo” that the safest setup is for a child to be in a rear-facing seat until at least age 2, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Yet, in terms of time, that 2-year birthday is an artificial barrier for making the rear-facing switch because most convertible seats now pass the higher rear-facing rules that last well past age 2.

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