New Baby Car Seats Safety

 

It wasn’t until 1962 that seats were invented in England by Jeans Ames with the purpose of protecting a child. Did you know, although child seats were beginning to be manufactured in the early 1930s, their purpose was not for the safety of children. The purpose was to act as booster seats to bring the child to a height easier for the driving parent to see them.

Restraints were put into place to protect adults. Before these seats, (child seats,) were invented, there were 2,000 children’s deaths, under the age of fourteen,every year, in automobile accidents; in the United States. And, another 320,000 are injured each year. These injuries and deaths are not just a result of the severity of the accidents themselves, but, are related to the number of children, ‘not being properly restrained,’ within the vehicles. These children are either completely unrestrained, or, strapped in with adult seat belts.

In 1990, the International Organization for Standardization launched the ISOFIX standard, in an attempt to provide a standard for fixing car seats into different makes of cars. The Car seat vs. Booster topic is a prime example. Did you know that each state has specific laws regulating how old, how tall, and how heavy your kids should be before making the switch? Just because the seat you're purchasing claims that it is made for 30-100 lbs does not mean that you can safely switch your hefty 2 1/2 yr. old as soon as he hits the big 3-0. There are many other factors that go into the decision to graduate – some of them are even specific to your individual child! Most states have a firm policy that children should not leave the protection of a car seat until they are at least 4 years old and 40 lbs. That means that 4 years/40 lbs. is the earliest you should consider down-grading to the booster.

 

   Here are a few other safety tips when it comes to car seats AND boosters: Some important issues to consider when thinking about making the switch:

          o How wiggly is your child? Will they stay properly restrained by a basic lap/shoulder belt?

          o How often are you driving for long periods? Longer rides mean more opportunities for children to get antsy and shift out of proper seat belt placement.

          o Does you child often fall asleep in the car? Again, this can make the car seat a safer restraint option.

          o How tall is your child as opposed to your lap belt? No matter how heavy they are, the shoulder belt can be very dangerous if it's sitting too high on shorties (like mine!).      -

 

MAKE SURE to replace your car seat with a booster when the time does come to switch. A recent report states that 94% of parents go straight to shoulder/lap belt only when they ditch the car seat, with dangerous repercussions. Average and even modestly tall children do not sit high enough on their own to properly position the shoulder belt until they are at least 8-years-old (which is also the law in most states, by the way). The booster seat adds those extra needed inches to make sure the seat belt can do it's job when your kiddo needs protection.

Children are very precious so please follow all legal guidelines. We must protect and love our  babies. My topic for next will be Feeding high chairs.