"adequate head support"

NannyMom · Jul 13, 2010

Children need to have support from a booster seat or vehicle headrest to the tops of their ears. Adults (as per info from a thread I had a couple months ago) should have the headrest to the top of their head. Why the difference? Is it just because adults will move more because we're heavier? Or is it just because the booster manuals say so? Or is there no good reason?

Judi · Jul 13, 2010

Never heard the top of the head thing. Always been told the bump, in the back of your head.

Gypsy · Jul 13, 2010

When I do a Seat Check I do parent safety education as well, a bit about texting/cell phones and I teach the headrest should be up to or higher than the tips of the ears.

I've never heard any other recommendation.

scatterbunny · Jul 13, 2010

Judi said:
Never heard the top of the head thing. Always been told the bump, in the back of your head.

Me, too...I've only ever heard the midpoint of the head, or the tops of the ears, or eye-level, which are all basically the same thing.

Judi · Jul 13, 2010

Yep, if you can plug the ears over the seat, that is bad.

pj2rc · Jul 13, 2010

on a similar line of thought, I've been wondering .... why do some vehicles have no headrests in some seats. My Jeep Cherokee has no head support at all in the 2nd row. My mom's 08 Equinox has no head support in the 2nd row middle seat. What are adults supposed to do in these vehicles if they have to sit there -- I can't ride in a booster! Also -- why are lap belt only's still installed in some vehicles? That's not safe either .. DH's truck has lap only in the front middle and rear middle.

canadiangie · Jul 13, 2010

Years ago the province I live in (= state to you guys) did a huge PSA billboard thing about raising your head restraint. I specifically recall it showing the head rest raised to the the tips of the ears... ie: tips of the ears was sort of the goal. I have always just went with this. Never heard otherwise for adults.

a_js · Jul 13, 2010

On most people, the tops of their ears are just a tad higher than the "bump" (the external occipital protruberance) which is why that's what they say for a standard, IMO. Because it just sounds silly to say "as high as your external occipital protruberance."

Judi · Jul 13, 2010

a_js said:
On most people, the tops of their ears are just a tad higher than the "bump" (the external occipital protruberance) which is why that's what they say for a standard, IMO. Because it just sounds silly to say "as high as your external occipital protruberance."

Which is why I dumb it down and say, 'the head rest needs to cover the bump in the back of your head'.

Dillipop · Jul 13, 2010

pj2rc said:
on a similar line of thought, I've been wondering .... why do some vehicles have no headrests in some seats. My Jeep Cherokee has no head support at all in the 2nd row. My mom's 08 Equinox has no head support in the 2nd row middle seat. What are adults supposed to do in these vehicles if they have to sit there -- I can't ride in a booster! Also -- why are lap belt only's still installed in some vehicles? That's not safe either .. DH's truck has lap only in the front middle and rear middle.

This is all changing now. All seating positions have to have lap/shoulder belts beginning in Sept 2007, I believe.

Looks like all seating positions will need to have workable head restraints by Sept. of this year, if I'm reading things right.

ketchupqueen · Jul 14, 2010

Okay, I just noticed that the bump in the back of my head is higher than the tops of my ears.

Mae · Jul 14, 2010

I was told it should come up to at least the middle of your ears.

NannyMom · Jul 14, 2010

Tonight, when I can copy and paste, I'll have to link to my other thread for adults. It's in the car safety section.

Maedze · Jul 14, 2010

The top of the head is the NEW RULE FOR ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINTS. You can see it in most new vehicle manuals.

These restraints are active: they angle toward the top, reducing the gap between the back of the head and the restraint. The closer the restraint, the less likely the risk of head injury. If the head rest angles out and hits you in the middle of the head, it might hurt you rather than help you. It should angle out and curve with the top of your head.

Adult head rests need to be adjusted so that their eyes/tops of their ears are CENTERED in the head rest rather than at the top of the head rest.

joolsplus3 · Jul 14, 2010

IIHS has a nice page here... http://www.iihs.org/ratings/head_restraints/head_restraint_info.html

The higher the better, like this nice tall BMW headrest that catches the head pretty well... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rvOtEJdp_0&feature=related"]YouTube- Crash Test of 2007 BMW 3 Series Covertible w/sab[/ame]

Why aren't they in all seating positions? Whiplash is rarely fatal (thus, car companies don't face astronomical lawsuits for failing to protect people's necks, it's cheaper to just keep making lame, cheap, low backseats), adults rarely ride in the back seat, and people complain they block your rearview... and most importantly, until recently the government hasn't required it.

Keeanh · Jul 14, 2010

Does anyone know if this new headrest requirement is for Canadian vehicles too? We have a larger-than-average family and it drives me NUTS that it's basically impossible to get a vehicle with enough seats, while still having headrests for the older children / teens.

Qarin · Jul 14, 2010

NannyMom said:
Tonight, when I can copy and paste, I'll have to link to my other thread for adults. It's in the car safety section.

Here. Post #5, from Pixels, is the one which gives the higher ideal while not talking about active headrests:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=121712

NannyMom · Jul 14, 2010

So, even for children in backless boosters, and dorels eats that require head support.... we want head support at least to the tops of the ears, preferably to the top of the head? When A moved from her Vivo to a backless booster, I made her put the headrest to the top of her head. This is in my 08 Sienna and Mom's 06 Odyssey.

snowbird25ca · Jul 15, 2010

Keeanh said:
Does anyone know if this new headrest requirement is for Canadian vehicles too? We have a larger-than-average family and it drives me NUTS that it's basically impossible to get a vehicle with enough seats, while still having headrests for the older children / teens.

Not sure if it's coming in to our legislation or not, but I would expect our vehicles to have the same implementation timeline just because most of them come off the same factory line as the US vehicles do. :thumbsup:

"adequate head support"

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