Parenting, Car Seats | featured news

Special seats and other devices designed to help prevent parents from accidentally leaving babies and toddlers behind in cars don’t work, a team of experts said on Monday. They said parents shouldn’t rely on them to keep children safe.

When the American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that children ride in rear-facing car seats until at least age 2 — up from the previous minimum age of 1 — Internet news sites lit up with outrage. Many parents were hardly eager to embrace the latest medical advice about how to best protect toddlers from serious head, neck and spinal injuries.

Car seats, portable cribs contain toxic or untested chemical flame retardants, a study finds. Others say the findings overstate the risk.

A pediatricians’ group now says that toddlers shouldn’t move to a forward-facing seat until at least age 2.

To prevent injuries in babies, car seats should stay in the car.