---
title: New Car Seat Recommendations for Kids
date: 2011-03-24T15:06:04Z
modified: 2011-03-24T15:06:04Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/new-car-seat-recommendations-for-kids/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 1787
categories:
  - Kids
  - Living Naturally
tags:
  - baby car seat rules
  - car seats
  - infant car seat guidelines
  - rear-facing car seat rules
  - seat belt use
author: Elizabeth
---

New data shows children survive car crashes in better shape if they remain in rear-facing car seats until they are 2, and in booster seats until they reach 4’9″.

I believe the best cures work by preventing the problem in the first place, whether you’re talking about [migraines](http://elizabethyarnell.com/FoodSensitivities.htm "food sensitivity reactions"), [multiple sclerosis](http://www.fightmswithfood.com/ "fight ms with food"), or physical injuries from car crashes.

Hats off to Elizabeth Dole for raising the awareness of how simply wearing a seat belt could save your life in the first place. Can you remember: cars didn’t automatically come with seat belts! And no one wore them anyway! It seems like ancient history. Perhaps even Princess Diana could have survived had she been wearing a seat belt that fateful day.

Now our safety technology has progressed to include air bags, crumple-resistant frames, and car seats and boosters to keep kids safe. And more people survive car accidents in better shape because of these advances.

These [new car seat recommendations, issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration](http://www.milehighmamas.com/2011/03/22/toddlers-should-stay-rear-facing-longer/ "new car seat guidelines"), reflect analysis of traffic injury data from the past 15 years.

For toddlers, the reasoning to keep them rear-facing longer has to do with the size of their heads in relation to their necks and the chance of spinal cord injury from the force of a crash.

For older kids, mis-aligned seat belts can cause major stomach and spine injuries. Putting a too-small kid into an adult seatbelt without a booster can be as bad as placing a too-small child in the front seat, where they can be burned and suffocated by the passenger-side airbag if it deploys in a crash.

Better to keep kids safe with such an easy solution as a car seat, and keep yourself safe by wearing a seat belt, than to spend a lifestime trying to recover from the devastation.