*** Update!! *** As of March 12, 2007, Gavin was getting really close to the RF weight limit on his car seat, so we decided to turn him forward-facing. I had hoped to get him until 2yo still rear-facing, but we were a couple months shy. Here is a picture of him on his last day of rear-facing, at 21.5 months:

I often get asked why Gavin is still rear-facing in his car seat. After all, most people have heard that you keep children rear-facing until 1 year and 20lbs. So why is Gavin still rear-facing when he meets the minimum requirements? Simple....it's SAFER.

Gavin at 16 months

When researching car seats for Gavin, I started coming across lots of information about extended (meaning, past 1 year and 20lbs) rear-facing, and after reading the information it was an easy decision for me to make to keep him rear-facing as long as possible. Children under 2 are 4x more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a car accident if they are forward-facing as opposed to rear-facing. In fact, in Scandinavia, parents leave their children rear-facing until they are 4-5 years old! And their child fatality rate due to car accidents is extremely low, where as here in the US it is the number one reason for child deaths. In fact, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends rear-facing until the limits of the car seat, which is 30-35lbs and at least 1" of shell above the child's head for most car seats. Just look at this image taken from the point of impact of 2 crash tests--one with a forward-facing child seat and one with a rear-facing child seat.

I get many comments from people about Gavin being rear-facing.

• Won't he break his legs in an accident? He looks so uncomfortable squished up like that! There are NO reports of legs breaking in a car accident because of being rear-facing. And even if there were, I would MUCH rather have him break a leg than break his neck. Toddlers are so much more flexible than adults--just watch how they sit normally. They are not bothered by crossing their legs at all.
  
• My child is SO much happier facing forward. Sure, Gavin may be happier facing forward (I don't know, I haven't tried), but it's not a good enough reason for me to turn him around. He'd probably also be happier eating nothing but Goldfish crackers all day, but just because it makes him happy doesn't mean I'm going to do it. I'm the parent and my job is to keep him safe and healthy.
  
• I can't fit a rear-facing child seat in my car without having the front seat pushed all the way up. Once a child has good head control, you can make the seat as upright as you need it. In fact, the more upright the safer! Only newborns need the seat to be at a 45 degree recline. In fact, convertible seats (even the large Britax seats) typically take up LESS room than an infant seat because they can be installed more upright.
  

Want to do the research yourself? Check out these sites. They are FULL of information about extended rear-facing:

• You Tube - Child Seat Safety -- If you don't look at any of the other links, please at least watch this You Tube video. It's a wonderful summary of all the benefits of extended rear-facing and includes crash test footage.
• CPSSafety.com - Rear-facing Unmatached Safety -- This is a wonderful site with lots of information, crash test footage, and even a photo album of older children (some are over 4 years old!) still rear-facing.
• The Car Seat Lady - Rear-facing Seats -- 10 pages of wonderful information.
• MSNBC - Child Car Seat Advice Questioned (11/7/2005) -- This MSNBC article is a good summary of why it's best to keep your children rear-facing until AT LEAST 2 years old.
• Pictures of Spine Development -- This is a thread from the Baby Bargains Car Seat message forum explaining (with pictures!) the development of a child's spine and why it is to important to keep them rear-facing and as protected as possible.

• Baby Center Car Safety Tips Board
• Baby Bargains Car Seat Baby Board
• Car-Seat.org Car Seat and Car Safety Forums

Every parent needs to make the decision that works best for them in their situation. But after looking at all the information, it was a no-brainer for me to keep Gavin rear-facing as long as possible. I could never forgive myself if I didn't do everything to protect him.