In June, Kim Kardashian came under fire for sharing a photo of her toddler son sitting in a front-facing car seat. Now, she’s speaking out to address the criticism.
On June 24, Kardashian posted a photo of her 18-month old son Saint sitting in a car seat. While many commenters cooed over how adorable he is, others expressed concerns about the safety of his front-facing car seat.
“He is so cute let’s protect this handsome boy by making sure [he] is rear facing,” wrote one Facebook user. “It’s illegal to have a child facing forward in California that is less than 2 years old. Please turn his car seat around, it’s not too late!” added another.
On August 10, Kardashian posted a YouTube video to address the criticism with some “Facts.”
“They say for his age, he should be rear-facing, but what people didn’t know is that Saint is now the weight and the height requirement to sit forward-facing,” the reality star explained. “Saint actually weighs more than North.”
Indeed, The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain rear-facing in their car seats until they reach the age of 2 or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that little ones can switch from rear-facing to front-facing when they’re between 1 and 3 years old, depending on their height and weight. Individual states also have laws about car seat safety.
Though Kardashian did not specify where the photo was taken, California law also mandates that children under 2 must ride in rear-facing car seats unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall.
As the California Highway Patrol website notes, “The child shall be secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the manufacturer of the car seat.”
Saint’s car seat has been identified as the Maxi-Cosi Pria 70, which has the same 40 pounds and 40 inches limitation for rear-facing placement.
