bree
Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
I was reading about the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. In May, 2011, they surveyed 500 parents about when they turned their child forward-facing. I was kind of surprised by the results.
30% of parents turned their child forward-facing before the age of 1.
27% of parents turned their child forward-facing between 13-15 months.
16% of parents turned their child forward-facing between 16-23 months.
13% of parents turned their child forward-facing after age 2.
I was surprised by both the 30% figure and the 13% figure the most. I know parents turn their kids forward-facing before age 1, but I was shocked it was so high. I've met exactly one parent in real life who rear-faced until 2, so I was astonished (in a good way) to see that 13% of parents are rear-facing until at least 2 or beyond.
I actually kind of wondered if maybe parents misunderstood the question, but it was pretty straightforward. "At what age did you first have your [x-month/year old] child ride in a car seat that faced forward instead of backward?"
The results got some press coverage. I read an article about it the other day from Good Morning America and the Chicago Tribune covered it as well.
30% of parents turned their child forward-facing before the age of 1.
27% of parents turned their child forward-facing between 13-15 months.
16% of parents turned their child forward-facing between 16-23 months.
13% of parents turned their child forward-facing after age 2.
I was surprised by both the 30% figure and the 13% figure the most. I know parents turn their kids forward-facing before age 1, but I was shocked it was so high. I've met exactly one parent in real life who rear-faced until 2, so I was astonished (in a good way) to see that 13% of parents are rear-facing until at least 2 or beyond.
I actually kind of wondered if maybe parents misunderstood the question, but it was pretty straightforward. "At what age did you first have your [x-month/year old] child ride in a car seat that faced forward instead of backward?"
The results got some press coverage. I read an article about it the other day from Good Morning America and the Chicago Tribune covered it as well.