My soapbox....

Jacob is turning 2 years old in one week and he is still rear-facing. Most of my family and friends believe I have kept him rear-facing because he is on the smaller side. But that is not the main reason why he is still rear-facing.....

Everyone has things that they are passionate about with their kids. Vaccinations. Breastfeeding. Sleeping. Well, mine is car seat safety. More specifically, extended rear-facing. And it's something I find that not many people know about. So let me tell you about it!

Years ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) set guidelines for when it is considered safe to turn a baby from facing the rear of the vehicle to the front of the vehicle. Those guidelines are when a child reaches a minimum of 20 lbs. AND 1 year old. No 20lbs or 1 year old. It's 20lbs AND 1 year old. And that is the minimum. Just because a baby turns 1 and weighs 20lbs doesn't mean you have to turn them around to forward facing in the car. Turning a child forward facing is not mandatory.

Here's some comment reasons people turn their car seats around.

• She needs to look out the window.
• My baby is uncomfortable rear-facing because her legs are too long.
• It's dangerous for their legs to touch the back of the seat because they'll break.

And not one single of these reasons is true.

They don't need to "see" anything and once they are big enough, they can still see out the window while rear-facing. A mirror attached to the back seat allows them to see what is going on in the front of the vehicle anyway.

Children sit very comfortable with their legs folded, so their legs being too long is not an issue. A child is usually more uncomfortable with their legs dangling over the edge or close to the edge of the seat than if they are all "squished" up. All children go through a kicking, screaming and yelling phase regardless of which way they are facing because they are active and would prefer to do something other than harnessed in their seat. In fact, children who have never sat facing forward know nothing different.

And yes, there is a risk of a broken leg in a car accident. However, it's important to remember that in a crash severe enough to break a child's legs, there would also be enough force to cause severe neck injuries if the child was forward facing. But broken legs heal. Broken necks don't. And truthfully, there are no documented cases of a child's legs being broken in crashes. There is lots of documentation of children with spinal injuries.

The AAP now says that it is 5 times safer to rear-face your toddler until at least age 2. When a child is rear-facing, the back of the car seat takes the brunt of the crash force. In a forward-facing seat, the child takes the brunt of the crash force. You can see it for yourself in this video.

In Sweden, it is standard practice to keep children rear-facing up to the age of 5 or 55lbs. In a 5 year period, only 9 children that were properly restrained rear-facing died in crashes. All of these crashes were catastrophic and had few survivors. In the US, motor vehicle accidents are the number 1 cause of death in children.

Some people question accidents from behind and rear-facing seats. Frontal and side impacts account for 96% of all crashes and are the most deadly type of crashes. In a rear impact crash, the force is much different. In a frontal impact, the forces are greater because the vehicles are usually traveling in opposite directions. When you are struck in a rear impact, the vehicles involved are traveling in the same direction and the vehicle that is hit from behind has room to move forward. Furthermore, the majority of rear impacts are at low speeds.

Do you still need some convincing? Check out this video for some inspiration. Or this video about one family's personal experience in a car accident with a toddler. Or research it yourself at these websites:

http://www.carsafety4kids.com/rearfacing.html

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

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

I honestly could go on and on about this. I didn't even get into the issue of how the spine develops in a child and what happens to the spine in an accident. The forces applied to the neck of a child who is forward-facing can cause the spinal cord to stretch up to 2 inches. The spinal cord only needs to stretch 1/4 of an inch to break.

So there you have it.