Why Keeping Kids Rear Facing Is Best

Washington State has one of the most progressive car seat laws in the country, requiring that all children remain rear facing until at least 2 years of age. But why would we want to keep kids rear facing longer than that?

Rear facing car seats are specifically designed to protect the most vulnerable parts of a child's body: their head, neck, and spine. When we keep children in rear facing car seats, the crash forces are spread over the shell of the seat and the risk of injury is reduced.

Think about any time you have stopped suddenly in a car - even when the car stops, your body keeps moving forward. Your arms, legs, and head fly forward until they are slowed down by a seat belt or airbag. Since young children have disproportionately larger heads and weaker necks, their bodies are not able to withstand these types of forward facing crash forces.

We want to give children's bodies as much time as possible to mature and strengthen before we turn them forward facing. If possible, caregivers should keep children rear facing until they max out the height or weight of their rear facing car seat. Often times, this means children can be 4 years old (or older) before they are turned forward facing. Many rear facing convertible car seats have 45lb rear facing limits and some car seats have rear facing limits of up to 50lbs!

Many caregivers will see their child's feet bunched up against the seat in front of them and assume they should turn their child around. I can understand why adults would think this - it looks uncomfortable to have your legs crossed in front of you in the car. However, children are much more flexible than adults and they are not uncomfortable in this position. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) determined that this leg position does not mean an increase in leg injuries.

Not every child will be able to make it to 4 or 5 years old rear facing. Some kids are in the 90th percentile and they will outgrow their car seat’s height or weight limit much faster than more petite kids. That’s okay! This is all about good, better, best. Not everyone has a car seat with a 50lb rear facing weight limit and not every 50lb child is over 4 years old. Do the best you can with what you have!