This month I've been bringing you safety products and tips to keep you and your family safe. Even if you don't usually make New Year's resolutions, one thing you should evaluate for the start of the New Year is how safe your family is and what changes you can make to improve their safety.
With car seat recommendations constantly changing it can be hard to keep up with the latest recommendations. Here is what you need to know to make sure your kids are safe in the event of a car accident.
Recommendations For All Ages
- Select a car seat based on your child's age, height, and weight.
- Keep your child in the car seat for as long as possible, as long as your child fits the seat's height and weight requirements.
- All children under 13 should ride in the back seat.
The latest car seat guidelines from the AAP recommend that infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car seat (infant-only rear facing car seat or rear-facing convertible car seat like the Britax Advocate 70 CS pictured above which can face forward or rear) until they are two years old or until they have reached the weight and height limits of their car seat.
Once your child has reached age 2 or outgrown the weight/height limits of their rear facing car seat then they should face forward in a forward facing car seat. Whether you have a convertible car seat like the Britax pictured above which faces rear or forward, or you have a forward facing only seat, they should remain in the seat until they reach the height and weight limits of the seat.
Once your child has reached 4 feet 9 inches tall (57 inches) and is between 8 and 12 years old they are ready to move to using a seat belt alone. The seat belt must fit them properly having the lap belt rest on their upper thighs (not their stomach) and the shoulder belt going over their chest and not their head or neck. Don't allow them to put the shoulder strap behind their back! They should be able to sit with their back against the back of the seat and their knees bent at the edge of the seat.
All kids under age 13 should always sit in the back seat as it is the safest place for them.
Quick Tips to Remember:
-Register your child's car seat so you will be notified of any recalls
-Don't overdress your child in the Winter. When riding in their seat they shouldn't be wearing bulky jackets as this prevents the harness from being tight enough and could result in them being ejected from the seat.
-Don't buy a used car seat as you don't know it's history and if it has ever been in a crash the structural components of the seat could be compromised
-Car seats have an expiration date - check it and be sure yours hasn't expired
-Be sure the shoulder straps are always at the recommended height for your child. It differs whether they are forward or rear facing. Check your manual for proper placement.
I hope these tips and recommendations will help you to keep your kids safe while riding in the car. It's so important to stay up to date on current safety recommendations.
8 comments:
Question?
We have an HHR car- we have 2 kids in the back seat-riding in their car seats- ages 2 and 3...we have another baby on the way- where should we put the baby- in the middle? or to one side- sitting behind the passager seat or driver seat? Is the child in the middle going to be safe-b/c there will be no chair in front of them?
thanks if you can help
Thanks for your question Katychick. My recommendation would be to put the infant in the center. Despite not having a seat directly in front of the middle seat, it is still the safest place for the baby. In the event of a side impact or head/rear collision it is in the center and furthest away from any side of the vehicle. They say the next safest place after the center is behind the passenger seat because most head on collisions occur on the drivers side (think 2 lane head on collision). We arrange our kids in this order-oldest behind the driver, next behind the passenger and youngest in the middle. Hope that helps you!
-Sarah
This was a really great post. I talk about car seat safety on my blog from time to time and I thought you did a spot on job. Super clear as well.
to katychick:
This is a parental decision as usually car seat technicians advocate the middle position in the back seat for a child whether past car seat age or not. However, I'm a mom of 3 and many parents are also parents to more than just 1 child or even backseat passenger(s) in their car.
In answer to your question if a child would be less safe with a seat back in front of them:
In actuality, this is one of the main reasons car seat technicians make sure you understand that if you have tether capabilities for a front facing car seat, you most definetly should do it. This is because in a crash the seatbelt that secures the car seat stretches and the car seat is plunged forward a lot more than we might think. Usually children end up hitting into the seat back of the seat in front of them in a severe collision and even in a carseat they do not always walk away from the accident without possible broken bones (leg(s) are the most common in forward facing children in car seats) since the legs usually fly straight forward fully extended in a severe collision. (Try not to think about this too much. It will drive you crazy if you dwell on it too much-- Anyways sorry to ramble, but in answer to your question it is actually Safer to have no seat back in from of them and their car seat. This is where moms of more than 1 might drive themselves crazy deciding where to place their car seats. If you put one of your toddlers front facing in the middle position that might save them a leg injury in a severe accident. However, one of your toddlers will still have to be on one side of the backseat which could impose a leg injury for them if they are front facing. Also, accidents are un predictable. 1 in 3 accidents are side impact crashes and that is scary in itself. However, if it was my parental decision I would have the 2 yr old rear facing on a side position and your baby rear facing on a side position and your oldest with possibly I'm assuming has the longest legs to be front facing in the middle. (Most parents prefer their babies to be in the middle seat though since it is the safest seat) And I'd get the strongest car seats I could for the outboard side positions, and the narrowest one you can find for the middle position. But, this is all assuming this would work for your car as well and the 2 yr old might obviously grow into front facing very fast, and you'd just have to be secure in knowing you're doing your best in at least making sure all their car seats fit the car properly and they are secured properly every time you are on a ride. Even what we might consider low impact crashes, say 25 mph and under can have deadly consequences to a car that looks barely totalled if they are not in a properly restrained car seat or booster so take heart, and just make sure all your car seats fit your car nicely. Hope that helped.
Also you can ask the professionals here:
http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=19
I just thought I might add that when my 2 yr old was an infant in a rear facing "infant" seat and I had 3 kids in the backseat of a very small older volvo, I had my baby in the middle position and perhaps with the fact that an infant's neck is so weak, the center position may be best. But as I said in my previous post, you can really drive your self crazy trying to decide. But I highly recommend the strongest car seats you can get on the outboard position such as the Diono radian car seat with a current giveaway here on Minnesota Mama's blog. Best of happiness to you with your 3rd little one!
It should be noted that a child should stay rear facing as long as possible, don't just use age 2 as a guideline since 2 yr olds vary widely in weight. Current model carseats will go to 45 lbs rear facing. Also, it is best to keep your child in a 5 pt harness as long as possible - don't graduate them to a booster just because they reach the 40 lb mark. Lots of seats now have 5 pt harnessing to 80 lbs. Kyledavidmiller.org is a great website for car seat safety advocacy. I actaully just did a blog post on this today @ http://countrymandm.blogspot.com/2012/01/easy-way-to-save-your-childs-life.html. the safest thing you can do is to keep your child rear-facing to the maximum weight your car seat manufacturer allows and to keep them in a 5 pt harness until they reach 80 lbs.
just wanted to add that we had the Sunshine Kids Radian80SL's for both our children, currently being replaced, due to accident, with the Diono Radian120's. These seats are top of the line for safety and will fit 3 across in mid-size and larger vehicles and are the only seats available using the latch system to 80 lbs.
I had a friend that I was friends with for years. We just ended our friendship a few weeks ago.
One of the biggest reasons was our difference in values. One of the biggest examples of that was her letting her three year old ride around without a car seat.
Can you imagine? I can't. I hope that doesn't go against your positive and upbeat request. If so, I understand if you delete this.
Totally agree with what Heather said! My current car seat that I have will probably get my 2 yr old rearfacing until age 3 on the dot. She's 2 1/2 right now and 32 pounds. She has 3 pounds to go which I estimate is half a year more rear facing. But my other car seat in my mom's car has to be forward facing for my 2 yr old because the car seat's shell is not tall enough. (cosco scenera which also will rf until 35 pounds but does not have a super tall seat back to accomodate her height.) And if you keep your kids in a 5 pt. harness w/ tether past 40 pounds you are adding more years of protection for car accidents that involve seat belt failure and ejection. So to all parents that can afford to make it a priority, do it and get a 5 pt harness higher weight harnessed seat. If you can't and you are boostering your child (4 yrs at the bare minimum or older) that will protect your child from death or injury due to improper seat belt placement on a small child which is very important, but they have also joined the adult class so to speak in that they are not protected from ejection from the car should their seat belt fail. So it's best to always choose the safest option until you no longer have the capability to do so, i.e. when they surpass height and weight limits of the highest weight and height limit car seat you can afford.
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