For years, parents heard the same advice: You can turn your baby's car seat to face forward once he or she is at least 1 year old and weighs at least 20 pounds. This was intended as the minimum requirement, but that point often got lost.
Now experts including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) say that for safety's sake, your child should face the back of the car until the age of 2, or until he or she reaches the maximum rear-facing height and weight for his or her car seat.
That's because your child is far safer in a rear-facing position. In fact, between the age of 1 and 2, children are 500 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash if they're in a rear-facing car seat, according to Ben Hoffman, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico and a member of the AAP's executive committee.
Is it safe to keep my child rear-facing? What about his or her legs?
When sitting in a rear-facing car seat, most toddlers have limited legroom. Their legs usually touch the car seat behind them, and may even have to be bent or crossed to fit.
For parents, this can be troubling. You may worry that your child looks uncomfortable. Or, worse, you may think your child's legs could be hurt in the event of a crash. But experts say that's not the case.
Rear-facing car seats are far more effective at preventing fatal injuries – those that could damage your child's head, neck, and spinal cord and permanently disable or kill. They're also much better at protecting your child's arms and legs.
"In a forward-facing car seat during an accident, your child's arms and legs fly forward and are more likely to be injured," says Hoffman. "In a rear-facing car seat, the chance of injuries to the arms and legs in a crash is less than 1 in 10,000."
So even for kids who look constricted in a rear-facing seat, it's the safest position (as long as they're under the height and weight limits for the seat.)
Many car seats accommodate kids rear-facing up to 35, 40, or even 45 pounds now, and as tall as 37.5 inches. (Many kids will hit the limit for height long before they exceed the weight limit.)
The bottom line: "Do the safest thing for as long as you can. Move children when you absolutely have to, not when they reach the minimum standards," says Hoffman.