Car Seat Safety
When purchasing a car seat there are a few things you should watch out for, even as your child gets older. Some parents don’t realize that buying the wrong car seat can be very dangerous for your child. Here are a few tips that you should look out for to make sure your car seat is safe.
Newborns should only have Newborn car seats or a rear-facing. Rear-facing car seats are perfect up to a year old or 20 pounds. Many of these seats come with a base, you can either leave the base in your vehicle or take it out for your stroller. (Some strollers come with the infant base and car seat) Leaving the base in the car will make loading your baby that much easier. Always make sure the base and seat click together, if you don’t hear it click it is NOT in there properly.
If you are like me, you worry when your baby’s head hits the side or she/he slumps down. Am I right? This is an easy fix, these days they have all types of padding to fit in the infant car seats to protect your child. Make sure it fits and that your child’s face is never directly in it. To make you feel even better, you may want to purchase a backseat mirror.
Check the Harness: This is the seat belt that you place over your baby in the car seat. Mine always had three levels, the bottom was for newborn and then as the baby grew you placed the harness through the higher holes. Make sure the harness is neither too tight or lose. Always make sure you fasten the harness as well, some think just because the baby is in the car seat they don’t need the straps to be snapped over the baby’s chest. They do!
Toddlers can actually have a variety of different seats: Combo, forward-facing or a convertible. Experts suggest keeping them in a forward-facing car seat as long as possible. Keep in mind the rear-facing car seats are meant for 20 lbs and under.
Older Children can use booster seats or what my daughter calls a lap seat. These should be worn until your child can fit comfortably in a regular seat belt, if they do not, keep them in a booster seat. This is normally around 8-12 years of age, so as you can see car seats will be a thing you should get to know really well.
A child that is no longer in a booster seat should still wear a seat belt. Make sure he/she knows how to put it on properly. A seat belt should fit across their lap and chest, make sure it is not going into their neck.
If you are ever concerned about the car seat you can always go to a Child Protective Safety Technician to make sure it is installed properly of for more instructions. Or you can read the manual that comes with your seat, this normally has a phone number you can call as well.
NEVER: Allow your child to ride in a vehicle without a seat belt. I’ve seen too many times a child was injured because they were moving around in the back of a vehicle or worse they were sitting still but didn’t have a belt on and were thrown from the car.
NEVER: Place a rear-facing car seat in the passenger side of the vehicle (Up front), airbags will explode forward, hitting the car seat and injuring your baby.
Tip: If you own a jeep, you’ve probably already learned this but even an older child must sit in a booster seat. We did not know this, we thought once our older son was a certain weight or age (as it was in that state) he’d be able to just sit in the seat. An officer pulled us over and explained, any child should sit in a booster seat under teen years as their necks can be injured if you hit a bump or get in an accident.
Tags: booster car seat, car seat, car seat safety, infant car seat, toddler car seatRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Uncategorized, baby care
1 opinion for Car Seat Safety
Kelly
Mar 4, 2008 at 9:17 am
My first daughter’s head used to tilt in her car seat at a crazy angle. It didn’t bother me so much but complete strangers used to come over and ask if she were ok because it looked “like her neck is broken.” She just really liked to sleep that way. In fact, she would bat her little fists at those cushions because she didn’t like them. I think she was just so small that she liked to be balled up all of the time.
My second baby, on the other hand, loved the cushions. She still uses a neck pillow to sleep in the car seat as a three year old (different car seat, of course!).
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