Child Passenger Safety Week
I would be remissed if I didn’t remind everyone that it is Child Passenger Safety Week. Recently, I learned a little more about car seats thanks to the beautiful people at Britax. For example, I had my daughter’s harness coming up and over her shoulders when in fact, they should have been coming down on her shoulders. As she’s grown, I’ve adjusted some things but didn’t realize the importance of others. Little things like that, that I never realized. It makes me think about the very first time I put the frog princess in the car seat and I strapped the bottom of the harness wrong. I cannot tell you how many books I read, how much I checked safety, researched what I had in the home, took childbirth classes, etc. But here I was having never really taken the time to figure out how a car seat was supposed to work.
Something as simple as the fact that when you latch them up top you need to move that up to their chest area as opposed to leaving it around their bellies in case of accidents. I could go on and on and on.
According to the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the majority of car seats are still not used correctly. Up until recently, I was part of that group. The idea that car crashes are the leading cause of death in children 1-13 was sobering to read.
This isn’t a post where I’m going to tell you what you should buy. This is a post where I share my open and honest opinions (like you didn’t already know this). Because of all of the times for you to not be sure about something, this would rank way a the bottom.
Last week upgraded my baby girl to what I like to call the ultimate booster seat. I now have the peace of mind of knowing not only that I have the best protection out there for her but, that I’m using the car seat the way that it was intended.
On September 22, 2012 car seat inspection stations nationwide will provide car seat checks and hands-on advice to parents and caregivers about selecting the right car seat for a child’s age and size as well as installation tips. I think I’ll swing by one and make sure I have everything in order, just in case I missed something. How about you?
Here are some additional resources for you:
- Tips for safely installing car and booster seats.
- A car seat inspection station locator that includes the option of searching for Spanish-speaking technicians.
- Instructional videos for installing several types of car seats and booster seats.
- An ease-of-use rating system for car seats and booster seats.
Stay safe!