car seatOne of the first milestones for kids, when it comes to automotives, is switching from a rear-facing car safety seat to forward-facing. Or maybe it’s more of a milestone for the parents, in truth. Right now, the law requires children to stay rear-facing until at least one year of age and a weight of 20 pounds. But in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents keep their kids facing the rear of the car until at least two—or when the child reaches the limits of the car seat.

The AAP has actually always recommended keeping kids rear-facing for as long as possible. But since the minimum was one year and 20 pounds, most parents made the switch then. With their updated guidelines, two years is now the new minimum.

In addition to recommendations for toddlers, the AAP also made changes for older kids as well. Is your child under 12 still using a booster seat? If they’re not yet 4 feet 9 inches tall, they should be. And that could pose issues for kids that transitioned out of a booster seat due to age, but weren’t quite at the correct height. Booster seats are made to reduce injuries by placing the seat belt at the correct height for back seat passengers.

Because the new policies are just recommendations and not new laws, it’s not clear how many parents will actually make the changes. For the safety-conscious, though, the new policies may be the incentive they need to keep their kids in seats or boosters just a little while longer. Getting your kid to start using a booster seat again is another story.

For parents of young children, like me, the change will be easy. My son won’t know the difference if he has to use a booster until at least age 12 (or until he reaches 4 feet 9 inches). But in families with older children, it may be more of a battle. Do you have kids that fall under this new guideline? What do you think—will you follow it or continue to do what you’ve always done?

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