For the last 2-3 years we (in Australia) have received a lot of O/S information regarding rear facing. I personally think it is excellent that people are no longer turning at 8kgs on the dot and being excited about this milestone.
I noticed in a recent “how long did you rear face for?” thread that a lot of parents are aiming to RF until 12kgs and it seems obvious the the O/S message is getting across.
I wanted to take this opportunity to remind parents that the safe weight range of 8-12kgs is designed as a RANGE because all children do not fit in the restraints at 12kgs. In fact statistically only 5% of children are short enough at 12kgs to remain RF!
The Australian Standards has recently been updated and one of the major changes is using age and height instead of weight. At the end of the day, it is actually the height of a child that determines how protected they are in a car seat.
There will be 2 types of RF restrains:
1 – one that goes to 70cm (I assume the current 9kgs seats)
2 – one that goes to 80cm (I assume the current 12kgs seats)
It seems that seats will be clearly marked with stickers that will show if your child has outgrown the seat regardless of weight.
An example of a sticker on a capsule:
i33.photobucket.com/albums/d84/strawbs77/convertable.jpg
An example of a sticker on a convertible seat.
i33.photobucket.com/albums/d84/strawbs77/capsuleRF.jpg
The problem is that many people are unaware that it is actually dangerous to use a rear facing seat to 12kgs – without regarding your child’s height.
If your child is over 70 cm and in a 9kg seat, or if they are over 80cm and in a 12kgs seat chances are they are too big for that seat and need to be turned to forward facing.
Other indicators that your child is too tall to remain RF are:
Read your instructions and check the guidelines. Most seats do not allow you to use the top row of slots.
Your child’s shoulders must be BELOW the shoulder straps
There needs to be enough room to protect your child’s head in the event of an accident – at least 2.5 cms is needed (this is why you can’t use the top slots)
If you have a Meridian AHR typically you can only use level 1 and 2 for rear facing, however you may want to contact Britax on 1300 303 330 if you wish to use 3 or 4.
It is also important that you assess the safety of everyone using the car. Make sure that the front passengers are not being put in danger by being too close to the dash board.
It seems that many parents are stressed and confused by the recent media information from O/S regarding RFing.
Here are some interesting comments:
www.powmri.edu.au/news-events/news/...ian-researchers
QUOTE
“Our study reviewing all spinal injury among children in NSW over a 5 year period found no serious neck injuries in forward-facing child restraints that were not being grossly misused,” says Assoc Professor Bilston.
“Children under four in Australian forward-facing restraints often survive very severe frontal crashes with no or only minor injuries, even when multiple other vehicle occupants have been killed,” she says.
“This is very strong evidence that Australian forward-facing restraints provide excellent protection to children even in very high severity crashes.”
A full copy of the 5 year research report can be found here:
www.lifetimecare.nsw.gov.au/FileHan...ts_pdf%5Bdoc%5D
I have stated many times that the reason we do not have the injuries that are seen O/S is because we have a long standing use of the top tether strap. The tether strap stops the whole seat moving forward with the child, preventing them from hitting their heads inside the car – this is what causes the injuries.
This is the US Link that is often being posted in the media:
injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/6/398.abstract
Henry, B., et al. "Car Safety Seats for Children: Rear Facing for Best Protection." Injury Prevention 13 (2007): 398-402
This study was looking at forward vs rearfacing seats for 0-2 year olds.
I have been told that the study did not actually show a significant difference in frontal crashes. Apparently the main difference was in side impact accidents (the US do not test for side impact and I have commented before that our seats look like they have deeper side wings).
The study also included a 'fair' amount of restraints without top tethers. The US study was taken during the years 1988–2003. This is well before the US started using Top tether straps and only 1 year after they introduced LATCH.
For further information why top tether straps work can be found at this site: bestcarseathub.com/
My goal today in presenting this information is not to dispute O/s research finding as such – but to make it clear to Australian parents using Australian seats that Height is more important than weight when determining if your child can remain rear facing. I am afraid the the O/S media pressure has lead parents to focus too much on leaving RF until 12kgs, and I have seen examples of this both here on EB and in real life.
I also want to make it clear that there is no need to feel guilty when you do turn your child because Australian research shows your child will be safe (providing you use and install your child’s restraint correctly.