The importance of keeping your youngest travelers in a rear-facing car seat

A recent study shows that that most parents are still moving their children to a forward-facing car seat sooner than they should.

The parent survey, published in the journal Academic Pediatrics, was conducted in 2013—two years after the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents keep children riding rear-facing in their car seats until the age of two. The main finding of the study was that despite the changing guidance on when to change how a child is situated, the most common age range when parents switched from rear facing to forward facing remained at 13 to 15 months.

On the positive side, researchers did find a 7 percent increase in parents waiting to move their child forward facing until they were 2. Another positive, the survey revealed that shift accompanied a corresponding 9 percent decrease in forward-facing use for the more vulnerable age group of less than 1 year old. No car seat allows a child weighing less than 20 lbs. and less than 1 year old to use a car seat in a forward-facing orientation.

The data didn't surprise us. As many parents know, the rear-facing recommendation can be tough to stick with. But the reader comments that accompanied some of the related media coverage nont only gave an indication of just how challenging parents were finding this recommendation to implement but also were cause for concern.

In reading the particular reasons why parents were struggling to keep their kids rear-facing or why they had chosen to move to forward-facing earlier than we'd hoped, we realized that for at least some of those we had some insight or suggestions that may help. But we also know that every child and circumstance is different and that perhaps there are ideas, tips, or tricks that others have that may help to keep others to keep their kids as safe as they can. Based on the extensive research data we see and the number of crash tests we do, we know that rear-facing is simply the safest way for your child to ride.

See our car seat ratings and buying advice.

How to keep your kid safe

Understand why you're doing it. Consider a head-on crash for a child in a rear-facing seat compared with a child in a forward-facing seat. When rear-facing, the plastic shell keeps the head, neck, and spine in alignment while allowing the child restraint shell, along with special padding and foam, to absorb the energy from the crash. Crash forces will be spread over larger areas of the body than they would be if seated forward-facing. Further, the head remains within the protective shell of the seat, helping to prevent the head from directly impacting the interior of the vehicle. When forward-facing, the child's body is held back by straps while muscles, ligaments and tendons strain to control the head while stretching the spinal cord. All that fancy padding and foam you paid for is just along for the ride. The head is free to move forward out of the shell and make contact with whatever is ahead of it. There is no trend of broken legs or hips associated with children rear-facing in crashes, even so, the grim reality is that broken legs can be fixed, a damaged spinal cord or brain injury can not.

Don't let the car seat define your timetable. Your child will most likely outgrow a rear-facing infant seat well before they are old enough to be turned forward. At that point when you're replacing your child's first seat with a brand new one, it seems logical for many to also make the forward-facing swap at that same time. But as we've said in our Real Child Seat Timeline, this is when you'll actually be moving to a rear-facing convertible seat to make that homestretch to age two. That same seat will then spin around to become your forward-facing seat when its time.

Choose that convertible seat to fit your car. We have already established that in order to for your child to stay rear-facing until age two, you're going to need a convertible car seat. Many of the comments we read, particularly from those parents with small cars, indicated that the infant seat was already taking up so much interior space that using a larger rear-facing convertible seat just wasn't happening. Rear-facing convertibles most often do take up more room in the rear seat, but a couple of features may help. Unlike smaller infants that need a more reclined position to maintain proper breathing, a toddler in a convertible seat can sit a bit more upright.

You can't go against manufacturer's instructions for installation, but many times installing a convertible seat at the more upright end of the seat's allowable recline range can gain you valuable inches. Look for a seat with a rear-facing recline indicator that has more than one zone or a range (rather than a single position) for installation.

You might also try installing your rear-facing convertible in the center rear seat. Sometimes installing in that position allows you to get just a bit more room between the car seat and the front seatbacks. Admittedly getting your child into the seat when it's here is a bit more of a struggle, but if it gives you a couple of more months it may be worth it. And besides, the center seat is the safest position in the car.

They're comfortable, really. Many parents objected to the appearance of their rear-facing child's legs bent against the vehicle seatback as they got taller. That sentiment led to some formal comfort studies conducted by The Ohio State University on kids between the ages of 22 and 26 months where certain comfort indicators, as well as a parent's knowledge of each child's comfort level, provided insight into whether or not kids were comfortable when positioned rear-facing.

That research indicates that there is no comfort improvement for forward-facing kids versus rear-facing. Even though their legs appear to be in a position that would be very uncomfortable for most adults, they are just "bendy" enough that comfort is not the issue. Contrary to popular belief, analysis of the data on child injury also shows that there are actually more injuries to children's lower extremities (legs) in forward-facing seats than in rear-facing seats since the legs are free to impact what's ahead of them.

However . . .

Even with every parent's best efforts to do the right thing and keep their child rear-facing as long as they can, many of the comments we saw from parents simply indicated that their children were so much happier forward-facing that they felt compelled to turn them. The happier child allowed for happier travel for the entire family and as others noted was key to allowing them to remain an attentive driver.

Only you know your child and your own situation. Some tips we have learned that might help include not referring to a forward-facing as being for a "a big kid" and thus recognized as a right of passage, and to never let a child ride forward-facing and then try and turn them back to a rear-facing position—they might not miss what they haven't experienced.

We are looking for your help!

For those of you that have been successful at keeping your kids rear-facing up until age two, are there any ideas, tips or tricks that you could share with us and others that made keeping your child rear-facing easier? We'd love any insight you can provide! Share your thoughts at facebook.com/consumerreports.

—Jennifer Stockburger