Angela Dean, of Ross, turned her daughter Josselyn's car seat from facing back to front the very morning of her first birthday. Her friend Angela Trimpey, of Ford City, was so excited to turn her daughter Autumn's seat around that she took pictures.

"It was like Christmas," she joked.

Now, that rite of passage might have to wait a year. The American Academy of Pediatrics is announcing today that parents should keep toddlers' car seats rear facing until at least age 2.

The recommendation, which the pediatrics group categorizes as "a significant change from previous AAP policy" comes as part of a policy statement that sticks with the group's prior advice of keeping children in convertible car seats until they reach their seats' height and weight limits, using a booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and between 8 and 12 years old and keeping children younger than 13 in the back seat.

"Most people see their kids in terms of milestones -- that moving from one thing to another is really a positive thing," said Ben Hoffman, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico and a member of the committee that drafted the AAP statement. "Turns out with car seat safety, it's not."

Rear-facing car seats distribute the impact of a crash along a larger surface area, said Dr. Hoffman, which better protects young children.

Previously, the AAP had advised parents to keep their children in rear-facing car seats for as long as the manufacturer's height and weight limits allowed, but had also set a minimum age to turn the seats at 1 year old and 20 pounds. In many states, including Pennsylvania, the law requires that children be rear facing until the 1 year and 20-pound mark.

Today's recommendations are two-fold: The AAP is still urging parents to keep their children in rear facing seats as long as the height and weight limits allow -- often at least 35 pounds, which happens for the average child between ages 3 and 4. But because an age guideline is simpler than looking up manufacturer guidelines, the AAP is also urging that children stay rear-facing until they are 2.

"What we are trying to do is simplify the message," Dr. Hoffman said. "In general, changing attitudes and behaviors is not easy and this is the next step to help parents do the best possible thing for their children."

And for most parents, these new recommendations would certainly constitute a change in behavior.

Standing in Ross Park Mall wearing stickers from the Disney Store, Ms. Dean and Ms. Trimpey cheerfully explained that their children seemed to enjoy facing forward because they could see where they are going, watch what their parents are doing and stretch out their legs. It's also easier for the parent driving, said Ms. Trimpey, noting that she can hand Autumn drinks and snacks much more easily when the 18-month-old is facing forward.

"When we were her age," said Ms. Dean, pointing to her 2-year-old daughter, "our parents didn't even have us in car seats."

Leslie Frank, a pediatrician with GIL Pediatrics in East Liberty and Murrysville, understands the inconveniences of rear-facing seats. For her three children, she researched car seats with the highest rear-facing weight limits and kept her children in those seats until they reached those limits -- well past their first birthdays.

She's always counseled parents to keep their children rear facing as long as possible, and heard the objections of parents.

"Parents are always very anxious to turn their baby around," she said. "I don't want to sound harsh, but parents should not make a decision on what their child likes best, but on what's best for their child."

Infants and toddlers, whose heads are disproportionately large and heavy compared to the size of their bodies, are at particular risk for neck injuries in a car crash, Dr. Frank said.

The AAP changed its recommendations in part because of a 2007 study that found that children younger than 2 are five times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in a front-facing car seat than in a rear-facing seat.

The AAP also looked at evidence of low injury rates from Sweden, where children sit rear-facing until approximately age 4.

"We're talking about the leading cause of death for children," Dr. Hoffman said. "If there was something this easy and accessible that could reduce the risk of heart disease by 500 percent, everybody would be doing it."

Dr. Hoffman acknowledged that car seats in Sweden are designed differently. If parents in the United States do indeed start keeping their children rear-facing longer, he would expect "significant innovations" from manufacturers of U.S. car seats. To accommodate this wider age range, European car seats are larger with a different harness system.

For Leanne Fudor, of Ross, seat logistics were the reason that she turned her daughter Gwen around at 18 months. Though she knew that children should be rear- facing as long as possible, Gwen's legs seemed cramped and "it just didn't seem comfortable."

Informed of the change in recommendations, however, Ms. Fudor said she would probably wait until her next child -- due in May -- turns 2 years old before turning the seat.

And that is exactly what the AAP is hoping to accomplish -- not just for toddlers, but also for older children. Dr. Hoffman said that parents often move their children into booster seats at 40 pounds, and out of booster seats at age 8, even though they haven't reached the maximum limits on those seats.

For older children, peer pressure is certainly an issue, he said, noting that one of his sons was the only child in his class still in a booster seat at age 11.

"Every time I put him in the car, I knew he was the safest he could be," he said. "This is about how you protect your child and how you show them you love them."

Even parents who are extremely conscientious about the type of car seat they are using could be installing them incorrectly, said Dr. Frank. Even though she is a pediatrician and her husband has a Ph.D. in engineering, they installed their first child's seat incorrectly.

Dr. Frank recommended that parents have their car seats checked by child safety passenger technicians, who are searchable by Zip code at www.nhtsa.gov.

"If there's any question as to whether my seat works for this child, parents should really take advantage of the resources," she said. "Even the most educated parents can get confused."