Info needed on "why" RFing is better

[JustJack]

Hi,
I know that RFing is better and on my Mom's group forum posted the new AAP recommendations. A mom posted asking "Why"

I wish the article told the "why" rear facing supported the neck and spine. Wouldn't that be determined by what kind of wreck the baby/toddler was in? A front collision would effect the baby differently than a rear one....would it not? I wonder what kind of wrecks they did most of their study with or if their findings are true across the board.

What is a good link to post?

 

[safeinthecar]

How about a link to this thread.

Hope this info is helpful for those trying to understand the new recommendations.


Everybody knows that there are gaps in an infant's skull so that the brain can grow. What most parents don't realize is that the whole spinal column is set up the same way. Every vertebrae in their neck and back has three gaps covered with connective tissue so that they do not form a complete circle. This allows the pieces of bone to get wider as the spinal cord gets bigger around.

A car seat that is rear facing will move with a child in a crash and his head and neck are supported by the car seat shell. Basically, the car seat acts as a back board/stretcher.

When a child is forward facing and his head whips forward and side to side in a crash, this connective tissue can let the pieces of bone in the neck stretch up to two inches. The spinal cord itself can only stretch about a quarter of an inch before it snaps.

These gaps in the bone BEGIN to close up around age one, and complete the process at around age six. A one year old is safER forward facing than a newborn, because the head is not as large in proportion to his body, but the bone structure itself is no more mature, so the risk to the spine is still really significant.

Years ago the 1 year recommendation for forward facing was decided on because, at the time, that was the size of child the car seats on the market could reasonably accommodate. We had no choice but to take the risk of forward facing before the neck had developed, and there would have been no value in a recommendation that was impossible to buy the equipment to follow.

We have car seats today that can keep a child rear facing for much longer and protect their spines longer, giving us the ability to keep children rear facing to at least age two.

How to tell if your child fits in a rear facing car seat:

*He is below the rear-facing weight limit for the seat

*He has at least one inch of car seat shell above the top of his head

NOTE: feet touching the seat or knees bent DOES NOT indicate fit. Even us adults have to bend our knees while sitting in a car.

 

[BananaBoat]

SafeintheCar posted excellent info.

The following YouTube video provides a good visual to accompany the info she detailed above.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TryggTrafikkNorge#p/a/u/0/737_Fg7sfus

 

[MomToEliEm]

Here is a group of links on why rearfacing is safer.
http://carseatblog.com/5168/why-rear-facing-is-better-your-rf-link-guide/

 

[ketchupqueen]

On rear impact collisions:

-they are rarer than frontal impacts
-they tend to be lower speed, and most times the vehicles are traveling the same direction which lowers the impact force, therefore they tend to be less severe
-because of the angle of the seat the seat STILL contains the body better.

Child passenger safety is about playing the odds and maximizing the chance of best protection. A child is much less likely to be injured in a rear impact than a frontal, most common, or side, most deadly. Rear facing is much safer in both those cases, which are the majority of crashes and potential for injury. It is also very protective in a rear impact which has inherently less chance of injury.

 

[Jan06twinmom]

Does this video help? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U"]YouTube - Rear facing vs forward facing position in the car[/ame]

 

[JustJack]

Thanks! I linked her to this thread.

 

[tjham]

Bumping this up because the info is still important!