Thursday, March 24, 2011

New Safety Seat Recommendations

The American Academy of Pediatrics released new recommendations this week regarding child safety seats. According to the new guidelines, published in the April 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics, children should be kept in rear-facing car seats until age two, or until they have reached the height and weight maximums set by the car seat manufacturer. This is a significant departure from the current recommendation for children to be kept in rear-facing seats until at least one year of age and at least 20 pounds in weight. Rear-facing seats are safer because they offer more support to the head, neck and spin of infants and toddlers in a crash. A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under the age of 2 are 75% less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they were placed in a rear-facing seat. [Healthday via Businessweek]
 
Thanks to Kosmix Corporation / RightHealth

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