CAR SEAT SAFETY
CAR SEAT SAFETY
When driving children in your car you should always be aware of the following:
1. Don’t buy or use the wrong seat. Don’t buy or accept a car seat that you haven’t tried strapping in your car using the seat belts or, newer model cars, the LATCH system. If you can’t get a tight fit, if the tether straps, don’t match up properly with the anchors on the car, or even if it’s simply awkward to handle the seat, don’t use it.
2. Make sure you install the seat correctly. A car seat works best when it is so tight that it effectively becomes part of your car’s structure. It should move no more than an inch when you shake it from side to side or pull it forward. To get a tight fit, put your knee into the seat and press.
3. Make sure children are strapped tightly enough. Sometimes you may be tempted to loosen the car seat harness when children are wearing heavy clothing (like a snowsuit) and then forget to tighten it again later. Or you simply loosen the straps thinking children will be more comfortable. But it’s critical that children are always snugly strapped in. The harness should fit tightly. If you want to use blankets, wrap them around children after they are securely buckled in.
If your car seat comes with a plastic harness clip, keep it adjusted to armpit level to hold the shoulder straps securely in place. Remember to change the harness settings when you move the car seat from a rear facing to a forward -facing position. When infants are facing backward, the harness straps should rest at or below their shoulders. When facing forward, they should be at or above shoulder level.
4. Don’t make the mistake of turning the seat around too soon. Parents like to see infants in their rearview mirror or think infants will be happier if they are looking forward. But turning a seat too soon can be a dangerous mistake. To be protected children should stay in rear facing seats until they’re at least a year old and twenty pounds. Infants are especially vulnerable to head and spine injuries if the car seat isn’t facing toward the back. As for concerns about a child’s legs being too big for a rear facing seat, don’t worry. There’s no evidence babies suffer unusual leg injuries.
5. Don’t ignore booster seats. The use of car seats has gone up in recent years, the use of boosters for kids between four and eight has actually gone down. This is true even though children can be severely injured without them. In a crash, a child can slip out of an ill-fitting adult shoulder belt or can “jackknife” over the lap belt, suffering head, face, abdominal, or spinal injuries. Boosters help keep children safe because they raise the child to aware the seat belt fits properly across their lap and chest. Children are more comfortable in boosters because their legs bend naturally at the end of the seat. It’s also easier for children to sit upright in a booster, which in turn makes restraints most effective. Children who are too big for car seats should use a booster until they reach a height of 4’9” regardless of age.
6.Never leave children in a car alone. The temptation is there when you are in hurry and need to pick up something quickly at the store to leave your child in the car and quickly do an errand, especially if your child is sleeping. It is important to note that in many states this is illegal. According to the NHTSA, even if cool temperatures are in the 60’s , the temperature can rise quickly to well above 110 degrees Fahrenheit inside your car. The inside temperature can rise almost 20 degrees within the first 10 minutes.
7. Don’t allow children to play in or around your car. Children love to imitate adults. Children playing in a car have been known to hit the gear shift and allow the car to roll into traffic. Also never leave your trunk open. Children get trapped in trunks and can suffer heatstroke, asphyxiation and death.
8. New or used car seats
Even if you know a car seat has not been in an accident, it’s still best to obtain a new one, especially if it’s rear-facing model that doubles as a baby carrier. Models are constantly being updated and improved and instructions are often missing from used seats, which make it harder for you to install them properly. In addition, plastic decays and weakens over time.