summertime is here and that means road trips down to the delaware beaches and other great vacation spots with the family. we wanted to make sure that your children are riding safely along for the trip, so we decided to post about car seat safety. there is so much to know when it comes to children in car seats and recommendations have changed a lot over the years, so we invited an expert in car seat safety to guest blog for us.
please join us in welcoming stacey friedland to the first & little family! stacey is a local delaware mama with two beautiful children and she is the cofounder {along with her husband, top delaware pediatrician dr. allen friedland} of s.a.f.e.r child products {http://www.saferchildproducts.com/}.
s.a.f.e.r specializes in removable seat covers for car seats so you can clean your child’s messy car seat without uninstalling it. s.a.f.e.r car seat covers are secure, fast and easily removable and help ensure your children are safe by always riding in properly installed car seats without multiple trips to local car seat fitting stations.
if you want to ensure you properly secure your most precious cargo, here is more info from the state of delaware site {http://ohs.delaware.gov/carseat } and here is our overview of the top 10 things to know about kids in cars by stacey…
safe travels this summer! xoxo, kate & amber
photo credit Adam Gault/Getty Images
1. as of march 2011, parents are urged to keep their children in rear facing car seats until 2 years old. riding rear facing better protects the child’s neck and spine from the force of a crash.
2. keep kids in car seats to the highest height and weight limit of the seat, or as long as possible. there are many seats with higher harness weights to allow bigger children and older children to remain in car seat with a 5 pt. harness restraint. this way, young children are better protected than in booster seats alone.
3. do not transition them too soon. children who outgrow their car seats should use a belt positioning booster seat until they are 4’9” tall, the height that a vehicle seat belt is designed to fit. a backless booster seat may be ok to use, as long as there is a “head rest” or a tall seat back in their seating position in the car. otherwise it is recommended that they use a high back booster seat.
4. older kids who want to be without a booster should pass the sit test. they need to be able to sit upright, back to back, bottom to bottom on the vehicle seat and their knees should bend naturally over the edge of the seat. they need to be able to maintain that position for the entire trip.
5. whether or not child is riding in a belt positioning booster seat, the shoulder belt needs to cross over the shoulder and across the center of the chest, not at the neck or by the ear! at the same time, the lap belt needs to sit snugly across the upper thighs or hard hip bones, not the soft belly. many internal injuries have been sustained from improperly placed lap belts.
6. ride in rear seat until at least 13 years old. keep away from active air bags. recommendations not based on size of child, but on strength of their bones/ body frame which has to do with age, not size.
7. whether car seat is secured with vehicle seat belt or latch, all forward facing seats must use at top tether strap to reduce the forward movement of seat and head excursion in a crash.
8. never use vehicle seat belt and lower anchors together. this is thought to put too much strain on the car seat. choose the system which works better for you and for your seat, in your car.
9. choose the seating position in which you can attain the most secure installation and the best fit for your seat in your vehicle.
10. the price of the seat does not correlate to how safe or “good” it is. all child car seats sold in the united states meet the same safety guidelines. a more expensive seat may just have more padding and choices of fabric patterns.
here are some additional sites to reference…
compare car seats at babies r us http://www.toysrus.com/car-seat-finder/index.jsp
national highway traffic safety administration http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/CPS
