Some store owners say all babies should be seated in rear-facing car seats up until the age of two, or 22 pounds, whichever came first.
Their advice has come in the aftermath of the case of father of three Dave Searles, who was acquitted last week after he forgot his five-month-old son Ethan in a rear-facing car seat in his vehicle in 2012.
Gael Alluard, co-owner of the Dwellings Inc. in Canewood, St Thomas, said it was recommended by the American Academy of Paediatrics that children be placed in rear-facing car seats from hospital discharge.
“This is not our take, but rather what is recommended. Infants should be in rear-facing car seats starting from their first ride home from the hospital, until they are two years of age or preferably until they are the highest weight or height allowed by their seat manufacturer. Those are the US safety guidelines, which we also use,” she said during a telephone interview yesterday. (RA)
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