Car Seat Safety and Spinal Health

When you become a parent, there are all sorts of things to concern yourself with. "Is my baby healthy? Happy? Well-fed? Comfortable? Safe?" These thoughts typically swirl through a new parents head and as your little one grows bigger, there are different issues to address! Baby proofing, sleeping issues, keeping them happy in the car, etc.

Let's touch on one of those issues that most people aren't usually fully aware of: car seat safety. This is a huge concern for millions of parents. Which car seat is best rated, which can convert to fit a larger child, which can be transferred to other cars or snap into a stroller? All of those details can be decided after thorough research.

One area of concern I've seen come acorss many times as a parent and a health care provider is when to turn the car seat from rear to forward facing. Many parents feel their children become too big and uncomfortable facing backwards, so they turn them around to be able to see you, see the world, and have more leg room.

While this all sounds well and good, the science behind rear facing your child is important to understand. Your child's spine is delicate and not fully developed when they are born. Around the age of 2-3 the spine becomes stronger and more able to withstand different forces. BEFORE the age of 2, your child may sustain a more serious or life threatening injury to their spine and spinal cord if they are forward facing in the car, are involved in an accident, and have whiplash to the neck.

As parents, we always want our children to be happy and comfortable. So it is important to take into consideration that while rear facing your little one may not seem ideal at first glance, it can truly save their life if you are involved in a car accident.

Please visit the following pages to become more informed about this issue:

On Facebook: Car Seats for the Littles

On Facebook: Tokar Family Chiropractic (the most recent video posted shows the scary effect of a spinal injury to a toddler who was facing forward at the time of impact in the car he was traveling in.)

Online: http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/child_passenger_safety/cps-factsheet.html