Hi Allison:
Good questions. The benefit of being rear-facing is that it distributes the force of the crash evenly along the child's spine, providing better protection for the brain and spinal cord. This outweighs the risk of injury to the legs. It is okay for the legs to be
touching the back seat or crossed for the child to get comfortable. In a forward facing position, all of the force is concentrated in a small area of the child's neck. Their head will pull the neck forward. If the child's bones and muscles are not strong enough (which generally happens around 17 months or more) there is the risk that the vertebrae will separate and cause the spinal cord to stretch or tear. So
therefore we recommend that parents not rush to turn forward facing. I know that it seems like a graduation, a milestone to be reached, but it is actually a step backwards in terms of safety if the child is not sufficiently developed.
I hope that this helps.
Kim Mundle
Car Seat Safety Specialist
IWK Health Centre
tel: (902) 470-7324
toll free: 1-866-288-1388
>>> "Allison Gallant" <alliecat@******.ca> 16/10/2007 12:18 pm
>>>
Hi Kim. Thank you for your response. I now understand better why the girl in the commercial was rear facing, however, at her size, wouldn't there be a risk of her legs breaking in the event of a car accident? Wouldn't it be safer for her to be forward facing since she does meet the minimum requirements for forward facing?
My daughter is 10 months, 30.5" and 21lbs. I was planning on turning her
car seat around on her birthday (December 4th) because I know she will meet
the minimum requirements, however, is it safer to wait as long as possible
before doing so? I guess I'm unclear as to what the risks are rear facingvs forward facing.
Thank you for your information.
Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: Kim Mundle [mailto:Kim.Mundle@iwk.nshealth.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:47 AM
To: alliecat@********.ca
Subject: Re: I would like to express my concern over a Child Safety Link commercial that
Hello Allison:
Thank you for your comments about the commercial. The girl in the commercial is over the age of one, and over the minimum weight of 22 lbs because the safety recommendation for the rear-facing position is that children remain rear-facing as long as possible, within the rear-facing weight limit and height limit for the seat. Most seats sold in Canada can be used rear-facing up to 30 lbs, and therefore many children can remain rear-facing until age 2 1/2 or 3 years old. The age one and 22
lbs is the minimum that children must be to consider going forward facing. As well, they should be walking solidly on their own. When filming the commercial, all of the images were overseen by a certified Child Restraint Systems Technician for accuracy. Do you have any questions regarding car seats? I will be out of the office for a few
days but would be happy to talk with you when I return.
Kim Mundle
Car Seat Safety Specialist
IWK Health Centre
tel: (902) 470-7324
toll free: 1-866-288-1388
>>> "Allison Gallant" <alliecat@nb.sympatico.ca> 13/10/2007 11:21 am
>>>
I would like to express my concern over a Child Safety Link commercial that I recently saw. This commercial is talking about car seat safety and the importance of rear facing seats for children under the age of 1. The girl in the commercial that is climbing into the rear facing seat is clearly over the age of 1 and is way too big to be riding rear facing. I feel that this is a misrepresentation of good car seat safety. My sister and I are mothers to children all under the age of 3 and take child safety very
seriously. We feel that your commercial would be more beneficial if it was properly
advertising what your message is about.
Thank you for your time,
Allison Gallant
All I can say is wow! I would have never thought! This certainly opened my eyes & we are going to seriously think about when we are going to turn Olivia around.
Just thought I'd share this news!
'til next time!
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