When I look back at the pictures of Brooke on our ride home from the hospital, I cringe at how badly we had her in her car seat.
We didn’t know any better. Like I think most parents, we thought car seats were pretty self-explanatory.
Luckily for Brooke, I’m a curious mom. I read lots of articles, join lots of forums and basically soak in information on anything I can. Through those forums, I began to learn more about child passenger safety. I realized how much I was doing wrong and how to make it right. I also found out I could become certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) and perform seat inspections and educate parents on the best way to keep kids safe.
So I spent 4 days, half of that time in a classroom, half crawling around the backseats of cars in blazing Texas heat, so that I could earn the title of CPST. I’ve only had the opportunity to work one check-up event but it was so fulfilling to see car after car of children leave my station, safer than they’d arrived.
One family with a seven-year-old daughter and 14-month-old son had never had car seats. EVER! We got them hooked up (this particular event was part of a class and if you took the class, you were eligible for a free seat) and when they left the little boy was rear-facing and the girl, while not overly thrilled about it, was in a booster and no longer tucking the seat belt under her arm.
Just one story like that tells me what I’m doing is worthwhile. Below are some of the expired and/or unfit seats we collected during our check-up event.
I have a deep desire to do more. 8 out of 10 car seats are being used incorrectly. That is WAY too many kids being put at risk. I have yet to figure out how to best tackle this problem. I would really like to get to the root of why parents are so resistant to guidelines and information as well as find a more effective way to get this information in the hands of both parents & pediatricians since they are trusted but can’t be expected to be experts in everything, including car seat safety.
I welcome any input you may have. Please leave me comments with your ideas and thoughts.
Meanwhile, here are my basic tips for safe kids in the car:
Everyone buckles up!
Unrestrained adults can and will most likely become projectiles in the event of a crash. I also recommend strapping in any booster seats that aren’t being used so they aren’t flying around either.
Don’t rush kids into the “next big thing”
Each step up in seat (rear-facing to forward-facing to booster seat to seat belt) isn’t a “milestone”, its a step down in safety. I know I’m dreading the day Brooke outgrows her Radian’s rear-facing limits and we have turn her forward-facing. (*Full disclosure here-Brooke does forward face in Keith’s car because she’s outgrown the rear-facing limits for that seat and we can’t afford another Radian for the little bit she rides in that car.)
The AAP recently updated (improved!) their guidelines for best practices in child passenger safety. One of my favorite car seat advocates, The Car Seat Lady, did an an awesome video explaining these changes.
Harness correctly
Rear-facing seats should have the harness thred through slots that are AT or BELOW the child’s shoulders. The opposite is true for forward-facing seats. The harness slots AT or ABOVE the shoulders should be used. It may seem like a trivial thing but it will affect the way your child’s body responds to the impact of a crash.
Make sure the harness is tight enough. If you go to pinch the harness at the child’s shoulder, your fingers should slip right off and not be able to gather any of the harness. This is hard to explain in words so I’ll keep an eye out for pictures or videos that will make it clearer. Your child may resist at first if you’d been keeping the harness loose before. They will get used to it and kids are smart. Explain to them they are safer that way and you’re doing it because you love them so much!!
Make sure the harness is flat and not twisted. The main goal of child restraints is to spread the force of impact across large areas of the body instead of too much force in one place. A twisted strap reduces the surface area of the harness and will put undue pressure in one place on the body.
Last note on the harness, the chest clip is meant to be where it says. It should be armpit level regardless of seat direction.
Avoid after-market products
If it didn’t come in the box your seat came in, don’t use it. These items will void your manufacturer’s warranty and are not known to be safe. You can’t even trust those that say “crash-tested” because the government has no standards in place for testing these products. Besides the chance of voiding your seat’s warranty many times things like seat covers and strap covers will affect the way the harness lays on your child or is made of a matrial that will compress making it easy for your child to slide out of the harness altogether in the event of a crash.
I didn’t intend to get so long winded but I suppose that happens when you’re passionate about a topic!! I really do value your feedback and ideas on how me can get the message across in a way that its well received. Also if you have questions, I’m always happy to help. I plan to create a page of links, articles and resources soon.
More great resources include:
www.car-seat.org
www.safekids.org
www.seatcheck.org
www.thecarseatlady.com or thecarseatlady.wordpress.com
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