Rear facing as long as possible?

[daisymommy]

DS is currently 10 months old and 24lbs. He is rear facing in his Evenflo Triump (which we love). It goes up to 30lbs. rear facing, and we had planned on keeping him rear facing even past his 1 year old birthday, because I thought I remembered reading that it's safest to keep them RF as long as possible. But yesterday the Ped. said this is just an opinion, and that their neck muscles are strong enough by now 1 year that it really doesn't do any good to keep them RF any longer. Is he wrong? I would love to have DS front facing so I can see his cute face and talk to him, but I want him to be as safe as possible.

[gravymommy3]

Well, this is just my opinion, but I still have my 19 mo DD rear facing and she will remain that way until she hits the weight limited of her carseat. I don't want to risk it and if rf is best for little ones, it must be safer overall. If you can leave him rear facing, why not? What benefits are there to forward facing? I have heard that the AAP (or some such organization) is currently working on revising the recommendation to 18 months rear facing. Good luck to you.

[CPSDarren]

Unfortunately, your ped is a little out of date on the latest recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. In fact, neck muscles have little to do with the issue- it is the strength of the skeleton and connective tissue that is important to prevent spinal cord injuries. Those continue to develop throughout childhood. You can find more information here, and please forward it to your ped!

http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html

Darren
www.Car-Safety.Org

[daisymommy]

Thanks so much for the info! I'll print it out and bring it to share with the Ped. on our next visit.