When sitting in a forward-facing car seat, the upper body is thrown forward in the moment of the crash until the seat belt stops the speed, but the head continues to move forward at the same speed as the car was travelling before the crash. A heavy weight and force is then placed on the neck to stop the heads forward movement. When rear-facing the forces are evenly spread across the child’s car seat dramatically reducing the forces and stain on the child’s head and neck which is heavy and vulnerable.

When they are involved in a car crash in a forward facing car seat, the weight of the head combined with the immature skeleton, can cause the spinal cord to stretch up to two inches. If it stretches just half an inch it will snap. This is known as internal decapitation and causes paralysis or death.

Stay rear facing for as long as possible