American Association of Pediatrics 2008 car seat guide

The American Association of Pediatrics has issued it’s 2008 guide for car safety seats. It’s a great resource for what can be the very confusing world of car seats, be it rear facing, forward facing, convertible or booster. The guide distinguishes between the types of seats for infants to school-aged kids and covers the various harnessing or attachment systems such as LATCH and traditional belt-based attachment.

An incredibly helpful feature of this guide is the answers to common questions interspersed throughout the sections of content. One in particular that caught my eye and is often garners ambiguous answers when asked:

Q: What if my baby weighs more than 20 pounds but is not 1 year old yet?

A:Use a seat that can be used rear-facing by children who weigh more than 20 pounds and keep your baby rear-facing as long as possible, or at least until he has reached his first birthday.

You can view the guide online at the American Association of Pediatrics at http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm