regulations on RF - where to find them?

can someone tell me where i can find the documents that confirm RF is recommended to age 2 and beyond?

My IL's finally took their seat to a check yesterday. I was thrilled. It did yield some good results - FIL learned how to use the locking clip that was necessary in their car and they ended up with a bundle of pool noodles to help with stability (locking clip was key for them though) as well as a reminder of where the buckle should lie and how tight the straps should be. i was happy.

i was NOT so happy when MIL called me from the check - at work - to tell me that the tech (at their local police station) who had supposedly gone through a 40+ hour training somewhat recently he says (& has been doing this a while) told them that he has NEVER been asked to install a seat RF for a 2 year old! grrr. she asked where that recommendation came from. at work, i didn't have all of my resources, but i could remember the AAP and googled them to confirm the wording. She relayed that but i guess he then told them that the AAP is "just a group of doctors" and NOT the recommendation of safety techs/professionals. He cited the 1 yr limit and told my ILs that after that the neck muscles are strong enough so RF is no longer recommended. UM- my seat goes to 33 pounds and you bet i'm using every one of those! ugh.

SO -- i plan to write to him just to inform him of my resources & hardly believe he'd like to see all of the parenting websites i visit that summarize things LOL! (at the very least because they will see him again when they need to flip FF) and on a personal note, so i get some credibility back with the ILs.

Can some of the techs or almost-techs on here please help direct me (or tell me i'm not really a misinformed overly-protective mom!).

TIA!

I'm sorry that the tech at the check was not up on the latest information.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids rear-face to the limits of their seats: "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should ride rear-facing starting with their first ride home from the hospital. They should remain rear-facing until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer. At a minimum, children should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds."

There was a US research article published within the past couple of years that showed that children between the ages of 12 months and 23 months were safer rear-facing than foward-facing.

There was an article published in an AAP newsletter within the past couple of months that said that kids should rear-face until age 2 instead of age 1. That article was based on the study I mentioned above.

Sweden rear-faces their kiddos until at least age 4 based on both their extensive research with rear-facing seats as well as their crash outcomes which show a very low death rate for rear-facing kids.

There was an article just published in the British Journal of Medicine that recommended that kids should rear-face until age 4 based on the US and Swedish research.

I think most of these articles should be in the Articles forum here on this board. I don't have any of the studies bookmarked on this computer, but maybe someone with more info or bookmarks at hand will post some more helpful info.

UGH! I'm sorry you had to deal with that. You are absolutely right about RF... you're not just paranoid. Good for you for standing up for what you believe in and KNOW is best for your child. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

http://carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf

http://www.carseat.org/Resources/Weber_CPCP.pdf

The second link is a study.

UGH, please do write him a letter an updates us to see if he replies.

Was he encouraging them not to rf the 2 year old or did he just say in passing that he had never installed a seat rf for a 2 year old?

Honestly, other than my kids I could say the exact same thing. I've never had a 2 year old rf at a seat check. Ever. I encourage all parents to rf to the limits but that doesn't mean they listen!

tanyaandallie said:

Was he encouraging them not to rf the 2 year old or did he just say in passing that he had never installed a seat rf for a 2 year old?

Honestly, other than my kids I could say the exact same thing. I've never had a 2 year old rf at a seat check. Ever. I encourage all parents to rf to the limits but that doesn't mean they listen!

Click to expand...

sorry i'm behind here. we changed computers & ISPs & i'm just catching up again.

According to MIL, he actually said that he has never installed a RF seat for a child that age AND while he would do it, he told them that the standard recommendation as well as his training recommended FF after 1 year of age. He told them the neck muscles were stronger then so RF was no longer needed. Is there something in your training info about it? i tried to pull up the manual info posted on the website about certification but it wouldn't work on my computer. (and while i know how to install by now, things just weren't sitting right in the ILs cars -- they were too stubborn to get it checked until they got tired of us nagging them. actually is kind of a sore spot even though FIL learned a few things)

Yes, the CPST training does cover keeping the child rear facing as long as possible.

The technician your parents interacted was unfortunately not paying attention in his class, or interjected his personal opinions over facts.

Report him. Immediately! Get his name and call Safe Kids pronto! Thats horrible! Sounds like someone is in great need of retraining!

Also point him to the nhtsa recommendations: For the best possible protection keep babies in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat. At a minimum, keep babies rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds.

IF you can find somewhere to get to that manual, do! Report him and send him the 100 pages from the manual that stress RF as long as possible. If he took his class recently, he slept through it, because "as long as possible" was all we heard (I just took the class in May). The "Official" rec from professionals (i.e. techs) SHOULD be "to the limits of the convertible seat." If he isn't recommending that, he is going against HIS professional organization. This stuff fires me up.

ETA: some of the links I have saved:
http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/newbornpreschool.htm
http://www.anec.eu/attachments/ANEC-R&T-2008-TRAF-003.pdf
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8"]YouTube - The Importance of Rear-Facing: Version 2[/ame]
http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a
http://www.joelsjourney.org/