The American Academy of Pediatrics is changing its guidelines for how long a child should remain in a rear-facing car seat.
The organization now says children should ride rear-facing in a car seat until they reach the height or weight limit for the seat. This eliminates the guidelines to turn a child’s car seat so that it’s forward-facing at 2 years old. Because the new recommendation is based on height and weight, some children may need to remain rear facing until after 2 years old.
Many manufacturers of convertible car seats specify weight ranges for both rear-facing and forward-facing. The AAP recommends keeping the car seat rear facing until the child reaches maximum height or weight for that seat.
