Episode 8: Rear-facing Car Seat Safety Research Update

Safety first! Catch up on car seat safety research in this new episode!

---

  By: Tali Ditye, Ph.D., Co-founder

  Updated: October 14, 2024

Mommyhood101 independently tests and curates baby gear to help you make informed decisions. If you buy products through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

In this episode, we discuss updated research on the safety of rear-facing infant car seats.

Check out some of our car seat reviews!

• Best infant car seats
• Best convertible car seats
• Best booster car seats

Transcript

All right. So, today we're really diving deep into something uh a question we get a lot actually. Are rearfacing car seats

really that much safer?

Like we all know it's what we're supposed to do, right? But like is it one of those things where you know it's like a little bit better

or is it like really really important? We've got some research to dig into.

And one of the big ones this study it really jumped out from injury prevention they looked at 10 years of car crash data. Can you believe that?

Wow. That's a lot.

From Kansas, 34,000 kids ages 0 to 4.

That's a significant sample size.

It is. That's a lot of a lot of information to dig through. We've also got a couple of articles from the UK. One's about um this idea of like are parents even getting good advice?

Oh, interesting.

About car seats when they go to buy them? And then another one that's kind of scary. It's about the possibility of head injuries specifically in rear-facing seats, but during rear-end crashes. So, we're going to get into all that. But first, I mean, starting with this Kansas study, what what stood out to you? What's the what's the big takeaway for our listeners?

Yeah. You know what's so cool about that Kansas study is it's real world data.

Okay.

It's not like in a lab. It's not a simulation.

Oh, wow.

These are actual crashes that happened. And they looked at, okay, what kind of car seat did these kids have and what happened?

And they found that the kids in rear-facing seats had a statistically significant reduction in the risk of injury, any injury, compared to forward facing.

Okay. Now when we say statistically significant, what does that actually mean? Like in car seat world,

so that means like it wasn't just like a random chance. It means it really truly makes a difference what kind of car seat. Um they found a 9% lower risk of any injury for the rearfacing kids.

See, now I got to admit I didn't realize it was actually statistically significant. I thought maybe it was like, you know,

yeah, a lot of people think

like, oh, it's probably a good idea, but Right. Right.

But 9% that's that's a pretty big deal. Yeah. Think about it this way. That's a 9% greater chance that your kid's walking away from an accident like unharmed.

Wow. Okay. That's that puts it in perspective. Yeah. And we're talking about any injury. So, this is like

anything

across the board, bumps, bruises to the really serious stuff.

Exactly.

Was there a particular type of crash where rearfacing showed the most benefit?

Yeah. So, they looked at, like you said, a bunch of different crashes and it seemed like the biggest difference was in um like head-on collisions.

Oh, interesting.

Which, when you think about it, makes sense because rearfacing seats, they're designed to like cradle the child, their head, their neck, their spine, all those really delicate parts, and in a head-on crash, all that force is going backwards, so the car seat's kind of absorbing it.

So, even if like, you know, I think a lot of us like to think we're really safe drivers.

Sure. Yeah.

We can't control the other maniacs on the road. So, Exactly.

Head-on protection, that's that's a big deal.

It is.

Did they Did this study look at those like the really bad ones too, the like the worst case scenario crashes.

They did, but thankfully there just weren't that many of those like really really severe injuries in the data, you know.

Oh, that's good.

To be able to really draw a strong conclusion about those,

right?

Doesn't mean that rearfacing is not good in those situations. Just means we need more data.

Okay. So, it's not that they're ineffective. It's just we don't know for sure yet.

Exactly. Exactly.

Interesting. Okay. So, shifting gears a little bit. mentioned these UK articles and one of them it was kind of about whether parents are even getting good advice.

Yeah. Right.

About car seat safety. Like are we being steered wrong so to speak? Haha.

Right. Pun intended. Maybe. I don't know.

Maybe. Maybe. But they had this survey and almost half the parents thought it was okay to turn their kid forward facing at 9 months old.

Yeah, I know. I was like, whoa.

Which I'll admit even I had to like double check when I saw that. shocking how common that is.

It is. And it just makes you realize how important it is to like really go to the good sources, right? Absolutely. Like don't just trust like the the guy at the store.

Exactly.

Do your research. And that kind of leads into this other article actually.

Okay. It did it actually found that a lot of the retailers, they're not consistently asking parents these like key safety questions really

when they're buying the seat.

Oh wow.

So it's like they're not getting that cadence.

It's like it's like buying I don't know like a a parachute and they're like here you go.

Right. And you're like wait how do I

do I just jump out the plane with this? Yeah. Exactly.

But there's a little more to it and and it's you know it could be really dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

Absolutely.

And so they were even talking about like a movement to create a formal accreditation.

Oh yeah.

For car seat advice like

so that you know when you go into a store

right that the person actually knows Right. They've been trained. They

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Because like we were saying, it's one thing to like buy the right seat, but if you don't know how to use it,

right,

it's not doing any good,

right? It's got to be installed, right? It's got to be

Exactly.

All of that matters.

Speaking of using it, right, this last article, this is the one I'm a little terrified to even talk about it, but the head injuries in rear facing.

Okay. Yeah.

During rear end crashes. So, what what did they find? How worried should I be?

So, basically, they They took crash test dummies,

okay?

And they put them in rear-facing seats, simulated rear-end crashes,

and they measured how far back their little dummy heads went.

Okay.

Right. And then they compared that to like the roof heights.

Oh, okay.

Of different vehicles.

So, like, is there enough clearance?

Exactly. Is the kid going to like hit their head? And good news,

okay,

in most vehicles there's plenty of room.

Okay.

Like it's a very low risk.

That's reassuring

of the head actually hitting the roof. Okay. Most vehicles you said. Are there are there any like exceptions? Like should I be worried about my my Subaru Outback or anything?

You know, the ones that they mentioned were like pickup trucks.

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Because they tend to have like a lower roof line.

Right. Right. In the back, especially

Exactly. So, if you've got a pickup truck, maybe just double check like

be extra careful. Yeah.

And make sure there's enough space.

Yeah. Gosh, there's so much to think about.

I know it's overwhelming.

It is. Okay. So, we've we've covered a lot. We've got this Kansas study. Super interesting real world data. rear facing. It's looking good. We've got this issue of are we even getting good advice? Make sure you're going to those reliable sources. And then this this head injury thing,

which thankfully

not as bad as you might think.

Not as bad as I thought. Not as bad as I thought, but you know, still something to to be aware of. If our listener is like trying to make sense of all this, what's like the big the big takeaway?

The takeaway is the evidence is really pointing towards roof facing being safer for those little ones. And you know, of course, more research is always happening, right?

But that Kansas study, that's pretty powerful with real world crashes.

It is.

And you know, always check your manual.

Oh, yeah. Good point.

Your car seat manual, your vehicle manual, because it does vary a little bit. And if you're really unsure, find a car seat technician.

Yes, those exist.

They do. They can help you.

They will check it out, make sure you're doing it right.

Yes.

Okay. It makes you wonder like what other what other things are we like doing with kids, you know, that

that we think we've got it all figured out. But

maybe there's a better way,

right? There's a better way.

Okay. Well, on that note,

right, like maybe we'll find out in a few years that like I don't know, baby shoes, they're doing more harm than good or something,

right? Who knows?

Who knows? Technology changes, the research changes. It's good to to stay on top of it. But anyway, I digress. So, we've got to choose the right seat. We got to install it correctly. But then there's that whole other thing, right? Actually getting the kid into the darn thing,

right? Right. And keeping them happy

because you know some kids, they do not want to be rearfacing. They want to see the world.

They want to be like everybody else.

They do. They want to see out the front. So, do you have any any tips for those parents who are like struggling with that?

It can be tough. They get,

you know, but I think distraction is key.

Distraction. Yeah.

You know, like have special car toys.

Oh, yes. The car toys that they only get in the car.

Ex. Exactly.

The good one.

And and even like adjusting the mirror so they can actually see you.

Oh, that's a good point.

It makes them feel a little more secure.

Yeah. Like they're not just like stuck back

right

facing the back of a seat. Yeah.

And then, you know, you can still like chat with them, play some car games.

Oh, yeah. I spy. That's always a classic.

Exactly. Those kinds of things.

Yeah. They get so distracted they forget they're even, you know, in a car seat at all.

Exactly.

Well, this has been this has been really interesting. I feel like You know, even even for me, I'm like learning new things. I'm like rethinking some things.

It's good to revisit this stuff.

It is

because it does change.

Yeah, it does.

And and guidelines get updated.

Okay. So, for our listeners out there who are maybe, you know, expecting their first little one or maybe they've got a couple kids and they're like, "Wait, what was that rule again? What what's the like final final thought?"

I think the final thought is trust the experts. Okay? Like, you know, the American Academy of pediatrics, they they base their their car seat guidelines on all the latest research, right? So, you know, check those out. They keep those updated. They're a great resource.

They are. And and you know what? Don't be afraid to like ask for help.

Yes.

Like, if you're not sure if you installed it right, go to the fire station. Go.

They're happy to help.

They are.

They want to make sure your kids safe.

Exactly.

That's what they're there for.

Okay. Well, on that note, I think we'll uh we'll wrap up this deep dive into car seat safety. Thank you to everyone for listening. You

save travels and we'll see you next time.