Swedish Car Seats: Continued

After posting about Swedish carseats yesterday, I came across this discussion from the NYtimes that happened pretty much the same time - with many people voicing their opinions very loudly about how terrible and unpractical it is to impose the new two year rearfacing carseat philosophy.

Motherlode - AAP recommendation

The article mentions Swedish car seats, so I thought I would post a little more information about them since I think they rock!

Here is a great video put out by an insurance company on the safety of Swedish carseats and rearfacing until 4-5 years old - notice how the older girls legs are not curled up, due to the difference in positioning of the carseat:

Many companies have developed car seats especially for Sweden -

I posted the one we have the Acta Graco, but there is also Britax and a few other models.

One of Sweden's aims is to eliminate all traffic deaths and have 0 traffic deaths for one year (and preferably more after that). You may think that sounds silly - but the idea as a goal has really been amazing to watch in practice. Last year only approx. 280 people lost their lives in traffic, all year, in the entire country.

In 2009 NO children with a rearfacing carseat died in Sweden (please remember that it is a recommendation not a law that children ride rearfacing until 4-5 so not all families do so).

There may be a lot of other reasons for the above statistics, but I don't think the carseats hurt.

Swedish Parenting: Rear facing Until You Can Drive

Another one of the things you learn when you have kids in Sweden is that rearfacing car seats are really the ONLY way to travel for any child until the age of 4 or preferably 5. In fact if you spend a lot of time here you may start to wonder why cars aren't all built with only the driver sitting forward facing and everyone else facing backward (sorry driver, but someone has to take one for the team).

There is, in actuality, no Swedish law that says that children HAVE to face backwards, it is only strongly recommended. That said, if your kids are forward facing before the age of at least a large 3, you will be subject to many 'how could you' stares.

 Swedish carseats, I think, are the safest in the world. They are built to carry a children rearfacing until they weigh 55 pounds and they are raised to give more leg room.

In the US Little Swede has a rearfacing carseat that looks like a Barka Lounger - complete with beer/bottle holders on each side. The Swedish model is without such luxuries, but hopefully will keep him safer.

It does surprise me that in a society that is, as the US, so safety conscious towards children, that this safety step has been all but ignored. I've heard lots of reasons: no leg room, kid can't see anything, can't watch the DVD player - but it seems odd to me that in a society when people are happy to lock up their kids rather than allow them to play outdoors due to stranger anxiety, this one concrete thing you can do to help your child is ignored.

The AAP now recommends rearfacing car seats until the age of 2, but as it isn't the law, many people seem to ignore this.