Rear-facing travel: Why and until when?

Author: Patricia Santamaría | physiotherapist and mother

Child restraint system: Why travel rear-facing?

If I told you that "the simplest rear-facing car seat is always better than the more complex forward-facing one," would you believe me? Yes, that's true. Rear-facing is 500% safer than forward-facing. Yet, in Spain, there is still a lot of ignorance on this topic.

The Nordic countries are pioneers when it comes to rear-facing travel (RFC). There are no children there, for example, who are two years old and travel forward-facing, whereas in Spain, unfortunately, most children go straight from Group 0 (baby seat) to a forward-facing seat (FFS) when they turn a year old, due to lack of knowledge, as no one has advised us otherwise.

If we look at the figures for infant mortality and injuries in traffic accidents, they are very low in Nordic countries due to their child restraint systems. If the child is traveling rearward, in a frontal collision, the force of the impact is absorbed by the seat and not by the child's head, as would be the case if the child were traveling forward-facing.

In Spain, according to the DGT, it is mandatory to travel rear-facing until the age of 15 months (or 71 cm) , but it is recommended to travel rear-facing as long as possible . We must keep in mind that until the age of 4, a child's neck is not anatomically prepared to suffer a frontal impact. This does not mean that it is better to carry children facing forward after the age of 4; quite the opposite.

The maximum age for using ACM seats depends on the seats available on the market. Previously, ACM seats only allowed us to ride in this position until the age of 4, but now they are available up to 6/7 years.

I know that many moms/dads have chosen an AFM chair because they had some doubts :

• What if my child gets car sick while facing backward, like mine? The answer is NO. Children can get car sick for a variety of reasons, such as overeating before traveling or being too hot, but not from traveling backward, as that's the position they've adopted since birth. Adults get car sick while traveling backward because they're used to traveling forward, which they're not.

• What if my child gets bored because they only see the back seat ? The answer is NO. When a child travels forward-facing, all they see is the headrest of the front seat. When they travel rear-facing, they see the back seat, or even more. Although infant seats are lower and more reclined, in ACM seats, children from 15 months onwards are more upright, so they would see even more than they would in AFM.

Another factor that often makes families decide on one car seat or another is price. ACM seats are more expensive than AFM ones. But if we think about it for a moment... What's more precious than a child's life? Now, when we're about to give birth, we go to the childcare store and choose the trio we like best without skimping, and then when we go to buy a car seat, we go looking for the cheapest option when it comes to child safety...



Now, I advise you to go to a specialist store when purchasing a car seat . Never buy these types of items online , as each seat must be adapted to the height and weight of the children and the characteristics of each car.