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Children should use rear-facing car seats until they are four, says research
Researchers have warned many parents and healthcare providers are unaware it is safer to leave children in rear facing seats until the age of four.
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal Online, many babies start to travel in a forward facing car seat at about eight months as parents are unaware of the safety implications.
But Dr Elizabeth Watson, a GP at the Sunny Meed Surgery in Woking, and Dr Michael Monteiro, a specialist registrar at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, say parents should be advised to carry children in rear facing car seats for as long as possible.
After analysing existing data on car seats, they found in the event of a crash rear facing seats were more effective than forward facing seats at protecting children under the age of four.
The seats help to keep a child’s head, neck and spine more aligned, distributing the force of the crash more evenly across those areas.
They also found that in a head-on collision front facing seats could add to the likelihood of severe injury because of a young child’s relatively large head.
The authors added that many parents did not know that there are rear facing seats for toddlers available.
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Readers' comments (3)
Pam King | 13-Jun-2009 11:42 am
As a mother of 3 I can honestly say that the issues caused by not having eye contact with such young children make for a far more stressful journey and leads to greater potential for accidents.
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Karen Longmuir | 14-Jun-2009 9:45 am
I agree with Pam, and furthermore, I can say for a fact that my daughter's legs would have been compromised in a rear-facing car seat at four!
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Karen Longmuir | 14-Jun-2009 9:45 am
I agree with Pam, and furthermore, I can say for a fact that my daughter's legs would have been compromised in a rear-facing car seat at four!
Unsuitable or offensive?