rear-facing - it's not just for babies

This is my nearly 4 year old.

He sits in a Britax Marathon with a 33lbs rear-facing weight limit (date of manufacture 2005). As you can see, he's pretty happy and comfortable in his seat. I am thrilled we have made it this far rear-facing.

This is his brother

He is nearly 14 months old, and judging by his love of food, we may be pushing getting to even 3 years old before he hits the 35lbs rear-facing weight limit of his Britax Boulevard. The good news for us though is the recent introduction of seats with a 40lbs rear-facing weight limit. The Sunshine Kids Radian line, the Graco My Ride 65 and the Safety 1st Complete Air are all leading the charge with the higher rear-facing weight limit.

But why is rear-facing so important you might ask? Well, it is a combination of physics and how the human body develops. You may have seen crash tests of rear-facing child restraints. If not, please view them now.





Notice how the child is pushed back into the seat and the head, neck and spine stay in alignment? Now view a forward-facing crash test.



Notice how the head and neck are thrown forward in the crash?

Now let's discuss the human body. A child's head accounts for approximately 25% of their total weight. As you age, this percentage decreases. However, that initial high percentage makes the rear-facing of a child so important. Weight combined with speed equals force. The greater the weight, the greater the force. Internally also, the spine of a young child is made up of cartilage. Not until between the ages of 3 and 6 years old do these bones fuse together, a process known as ossification. When that happens, the spine is able to protect the spinal chord better. Until then, the spinal chord can stretch in a forward-facing crash - up to 2 inches! Only 1/4 inch of stretch is necessary to render a child either paralyzed or dead. The disconnecting of the spinal chord from the brain stem is known as internal decapitation. This, sadly, is not uncommon in forward-facing crashes.

You may be worried about your child's legs when they are rear-facing. I refer you again to this picture:


I assure you my son is very comfortable rear-facing. There have been no documented cases of a child's leg breaking in a rear-facing crash, but sadly many documented cases of broken necks and worse of forward-facing children. Here is Joel's story:



So, if your Pediatrician, or your friend, or your relative tells you it's time to forward-face your child in their child restraint when they have reached 1 year old and 20lbs, you can take that opportunity to educate them that it is 5 times safer to keep your child rear-facing and that's what you will be choosing to do instead.

You can read more information about why rear-facing is the safer choice here on our website.

Morey family donation

Meet the Morey family!

This was an interesting donation situation. The family don't personally own a vehicle, but they get rides from friends on a regular basis. Since they had three children and often could be getting rides in vehicles with lap belts only and no top tethers, we put this family down for three Sunshine Kids Radians. The Radian outperforms forward-facing crash test standards without the use of the top tether anchor, so was a perfect solution to ensure these precious ones are kept safe. Also, due to the narrow seat, these seats can be fitted three across on a rear-seat as illustrated below:


Our deep and sincerest thanks go (once again) to the utterly amazing Judi Lambert, CPST, who used her own vehicle to teach the family how to correctly install and secure the children in their new seats.

You can watch this video to see Ms. Morey learning how to install these seats with various types of seatbelts.

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!

The foundation is in desperate need of donations - even $1 helps!

Sunshine Kids Radian - RF weight limit upped to 40lbs

Sunshine Kids have retroactively upped the rear-facing weight limit of the Radians manufactured in or after September 2008.



Recent additional crash testing has allowed Sunshine Kids to increase this weight limit from 35lbs to 40lbs, keeping pace with the recently released Graco My Ride 65 and recently announced Safety 1st Complete Air.

This change will be reflected in new manuals (end of this summer / early fall by the time it reaches stores.)

Interim Update Notification:
Models: U.S. models only - Radian65 (16500), Radian80 (18500) and RadianXT (19500)
Notice: Rear-facing capacity for these Radian models has been increased to 40 lbs
This change will be reflected on future Radian manuals and stickers.
This change is now retroactive and applies to U.S. Radian models manufactured in or after September, 2008.

Burns family donation

Meet the Burns family!

This little cutie is the pride of her grandmother who applied for assistance for her granddaughter who is 3 years old and approximately 35lbs. The foundation was happy to be able to donate a Britax Regent in Sahara cover to this family to ensure this adorable one is kept safe. Assisting us with the donation and providing an educational session on installation and usage of this seat was Marcy Howell - CPS Technician.

Can you help us continue to donate seats to the needy families on our waiting list?

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!

An Older Generation

Many of us as adults can look back to a time when car seats were optional; they looked like something hardly safe enough to keep a doll strapped down, and it was OK to ride without them. I remember riding in the back of pick-up trucks and sitting in that seat that faced out the back window of station wagons. The biggest thing that sticks in my mind about this time is the story my mom would tell me about how my grandma held me for 3 hours on her lap while we were on a road trip. Looking back I wonder how I, or anyone else for that matter, survived. In this post I want to help you learn why things have changed, and share with you the things to tell those parents and grandparents in your lives that simply don't understand or want to follow your wishes for your child's safety in their vehicle.

So many things have changed from the time we were children to the time we had children. There are lots of factors that bring about the changes we see now versus then. Often our parents and grandparents simply don't understand. Explaining to them the reasons helps them to realize why their views are outdated.

Firstly, we know much more now than before. As research and testing continues we learn more about how much a child's body is able to handle certain crash forces. This resulted in us raising our safety standards to meet the needs to keep a child safe. Just as those standards changed from 10 and 20 years ago, they will continue to change to a higher standard as time moves forward. Continual crash testing and research is allowing car seat manufactures to make seats that provide better protection for our children, and seats that help take more of the forces off the child to reduce the impact of the crash on them.

Other factors that are sometimes not considered are:

* There are more cars on the road now
* Cars are not as big and durable as they were
* Speed limits are higher
* There are more negligent drivers on the road
* Knowledge now is much higher than before

The factors that have brought about the changes in child passenger safety, are helping lower the statistics of injuries and deaths related to motor vehicle crashes.

I was compelled to post this today because too often I hear the same comments about, 'back in my day', 'when my kids were younger' or 'you survived' and so I just felt this was some good information to help pass on. When people know and understand why you're doing what you are, it's easier for them to understand the reasons and follow your wishes for care of your child when it comes to their transportation.

If you have questions about the changes or need further suggestions to help with someone respecting your wishes for car seats in their vehicle please post them in the comments.

Please also see this follow up to our piece at the Car Seat Poncho Blog.