Tell me about extended rear facing!

My son just turned a year old. We haven't had the year appointment yet but at 9 months he was about 20 lbs. and 30 inches. He is very tall and quite slender. We still have him RFing in a FPSVD and I wanted to do it for as long as we can but I wanted the details on how long it is safest to do that, why it is safest to do that, why it's okay that his legs are bent (DH thinks we need to turn him around because his legs are too cramped and I know that's not true but I need to clarify *why*)
I just can't find all that information in one place, and thought you all could help me out.
Thanks!

At 12 months, baby is much, much, much too young to be forward facing. A child under two who is forward facing is FOUR TIMES as likely to be injured or killed in an auto accident than the same child in the same accident who is rearfacing.

A rearfacing child is able to absorb the impact of the crash equally all through the head and the torso, and the neck and spine are protected because the head is not thrown forward. In a forward facing impact, the energy is divided up only amongst the number of points on the restraint (3 or 5), and the head is flung forward.

At that age the spinal column can stretch up to 2 inches, but the CHORD can only stretch an 1/8 of an inch before it separates. A forward facing one year old could easily be internally decapitated in even a low speed impact.

The safest thing to do is keep your child rearfacing to the limit of his convertible seat which is 30-35 lbs. Having legs folded is perfectly safe and comfortable

I like this page http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx and this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868

Here's the stuff I've saved to my computer for quick reference for RFing info, Mostly from around here




The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible (to the limits of a convertible seat) for the best protection, which would be to 30-35 lbs. OR when the head is 1-inch from the top of the carseat.

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm
According to NHTSA, a rear-facing car seat is 71 percent safer than no restraint at all, and a forward-facing car seat is 54 percent safer than no restraint at all.

When a child is forward-facing, there is a lot of stress put on his/her neck in a crash. The weight of a child's head in a crash causes the spinal column to stretch...the spinal cord, however, is NOT meant to stretch! This can cause a tear...which means paralysis or even death. This is referred to as "internal decapitation"...the child's head would be slumped forward and it would look as though he/she was sleeping. It doesn't matter if the child has great head control...that means nothing. New data is showing that a forward-facing child is 4 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rear-facing child of the same age.



(note: having a carseat that allows tethering RFing reduces this risk (only two brands on the market currently allow this feature, Britax and Sunshine kids). New carseats can almost always can be tethered FFing which reduces head excursion in an accident. Even older cars can be retrofitted to add Top Tether Anchors)

Rear-facing seats do such a great job of protecting children because the back of the carseat absorbs the crash forces. The child's head, neck, and spine are kept in alignment, allowing the carseat to absorb the forces. The child's head is also kept contained in the carseat, decreasing the risk of coming into contact with projectiles.

More Rear Facing Information

1) rear-end collisions are less frequent than front-end collisions

2) rear-end collisions statistically occur at much lower impact speeds than front-end collisions

3) side impact collisions are less dangerous when RFing because of the way the carseat rotates in a side-impact collision.

4.) A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times MORE likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash and that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection and that there has never been a single reported case of hip/leg/foot injury from rear-facing.

5.)What about big babies? A 95th percentile baby may look stronger than his 5th percentile friend, but in a crash the bigger baby is likely MORE at risk if he's riding forward-facing. The rigidity of bones and the strength of ligaments in the spine is likely the same in children of the same age, no matter their size. And a 95th percentile baby likely has a much larger, heavier head, which will pull forward which much more force than that of a 5th percentile child. http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/newbornpreschool.htm, You can see that a child's head is a fourth of their body as a baby and you can also see how the bones calcify and harden as they get older.

6.) Many parents in the US think it's "weird" to have a 2 year old rear-facing--most children are switched to forward-facing around their first birthday. But if you lived in Sweden, the idea of a 2 year old FORWARD-facing would be "weird," as they keep kids rear-facing until the ages of 3 or 5. In Sweden, children go straight from rear-facing seats to booster seats! Because kids sit rear-facing for so long, fewer than 1 child a year dies in a rear-facing car seat in Sweden. If we also kept more kids rear-facing, we would not only see fewer deaths, but also fewer injuries--especially the really hard to fix ones like those to the spinal cord and head.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html

From my RF page:

Rear facing is a step that is poorly understood by law enforcement and the general public alike, but it's a vital step in protecting your child. One that should not under any circumstances be rushed.



To put it bluntly, the longer your child is rear-facing (meaning, faces the back of the car), the better. The reasons for this are quite simple, yet also very profound, and are based on an understanding of basic physics as well as an understanding of how the skeletal structure of a child develops.

When your child is rear facing, he or she recieves the maximum amount of protection available. In a crash, rather than your child's spinal clolumn taking the crash forces, the child's seat absorbs them.



The younger a child is, the larger the skull is in proportion to the rest of the child's body. This means that in a crash, the very large head can cause the spinal column to seperate. In younger children (under twenty pounds AND twelve months old) this generally results in death. At about twelve months AND twenty pounds the damage is less likely to result in death. Instead serious (often permanent) injury occurs because the bones in the spinal column are not yet mature.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868




Children under age two are four times more likely to be injured in a crash when forward facing. The vertebrae of a young child is still in three pieces until 3-6 years of age; it simply cannot withstand the extreme force exerted when forward facing, even at a low speed crash.



Here's a quick activity to help you understand what happens.

You will need:

a short length of white or beige coiled phone cord (the kind your mother used to have hanging on the kitchen wall when you were a child)
a red Twizzler (TM) candy


Slide the candy inside the coils of the phone cord, then hold each end tightly. Now, as hard and as fast as you can, pull the ends apart.



While very graphic, this is what happens to a child who is forward facing too soon. The phone cord is the child's vertebae. These will stretch. The candy is the spinal cord. It will snap.



Needless to say, this is not a good thing for your child. However, you can prevent these injuries by keeping your child rear facing to the limits of his or her seat!



Why and how does this make a difference, you ask?



Have you ever played "egg toss" or water balloon catch? If you have, you understand the best way to keep from breaking your egg (or balloon) is to cup your hands together like a baseball glove as you catch it. Your hands absorb the stopping force on the egg, rather than the egg itself recieving the impact and breaking.



Your child's rear-facing car seat acts on your child the same way. The rear-facing seat absorbs the tremedous energy from a crash, dispersing it around your child.



Using our "egg toss" analogy - your child is the egg and his/her rear facing seat is the baseball glove. In a crash, the inertia of your child pushes him or her into the child seat; the seat gently brings your child to a stop, cradling his or her head and spinal column.



"What about my child's legs?"



One of many car seat related myths is that a rear facing child is at risk of broken legs when rear-facing. The reality is this: any crash severe enough to break the legs of a rear-facing child is enough to severe the spinal column and kill a forward facing child. There has never been a documented case of damage to the legs, hips or internal organs when rear facing.



"What about comfort?"



Children are rather odd creatures, they find comfortable positions that would land the average adult in traction. Most children simply prop their legs on the back of the vehicle seat, or cross them. Many children actively prefer rear facing.



"My child suffers from car sickness."



While there are a few cases in which turning a child forward facing relieves travel sickness, it really is a toss up. There is no guarentee that doing so will relieve your child's symptoms, and the evidence that it can harm your child to be forward-facing too soon is overwhelming. While being car-sick is a miserable experience for parent and child alike, it's extremely important to remain rear facing.





"My child hates riding in the car!" or "My child is miserable rear-facing."



You will, over the course of your child's life, have to make many decisions which will make your child unhappy.



Safety issues are non-negotiable. You would not allow your child to play in the Wal-Mart parking lot the Saturday before Christmas, would you? Of course not! Choices regarding your child's safety seat are just as important and should not be influenced by what the child desires. My preschool-age daughter would love to eat chocolate cake for every meal. That would make her happy. But it would not be a healthy choice for her.



That said, if your child only knows what it's like to be rear facing, there is no evidence that turning him or her forward facing will make them happier. Many children actively dislike forward facing. There is no support for their legs and if they drop something (like their favorite "lovey", or a sippy cup), it hits the floor rather than landing in their lap where it can be retrieved easily. http://www.cpsafety.com has an album of older rear facing children.



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Tiffany (papooses) has a ton of great info on her site as well.
http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/newbornpreschool.htm