Hey, Kids: You're Stuck in Back Seat Til Age 13

Academy of pediatrics ups age guidelines for car seats
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2011 8:52 AM CDT
Hey, Kids: You're Stuck in Back Seat Til Age 13
Parents shouldn't be in a hurry to move their kids from one stage of car riding to the next, the AAP says.   (Shutterstock)

Cue the choruses of, "Oh mom, do I have to?": The American Academy of Pediatrics has cracked down its carseat guidelines, reports the Washington Post, and they're likely to cause plenty of bickering. Among them:

  • All children should sit in the back seat until they are 13 years old
  • Children under 13 should use booster seats until they are 4 feet, 9 inches tall, or big enough to fit seatbelts properly
  • Infants should ride in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the seat's maximum height and weight.

"A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck, and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body," the report's lead author explains. The AAP notes that while car-crash fatality rates for children have plummeted over the last decade, crashes are still the leading cause of death for children over 4. (More pediatricians stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X