Car Seat Safety

I'm a big advocate for car seat safety. BIG! It makes me cringe when I pass a car on the interstate and see a child who is not properly restrained or even see a photo of a child on facebook who should not be in a booster, but is. You can call me what you want, but car seat safety is important!

As parents, our job is to protect our children as best we can. One of the easiest ways we can do this when traveling is to have them properly restrained. The law states that a child should be in a rear-facing car seat until the age of 1, but the AAP recommends that they stay rear facing until the age of 2. My Pediatrician said this to us at our 1 year check-up when we were talking about keeping Eli rear facing longer, even though he had such long legs: "Would you rather him break a leg or have a spinal injury?" Well...that was easy.

Car seats are not cheap, but they are important. Car accidents happen all the time and children are killed everyday because their parents did not have them in the proper seat. Do your research before buying a car seat as it is an important decision. We love Britax, because they are known for their safety and have built-in side cushions, but of course it doesn't have to be that brand. Just because it says something on the box does not mean it is true. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!

I also see so many 3 and 4 year olds whose parents have them riding in a booster seat using the adult lap belt. It makes me cringe just typing that. Let me show you two videos where parents believed their child was ready for a booster seat, but clearly were not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPBSEQ4xbTw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I know that car seats are a pain, especially if you are transferring them from one car to the other. But, this is your child's life we are talking about. Putting your child in a seat that does not have a 5 point harness system is a danger to their life. No parents wants to hear from the police officer that if the child had been a 5 point harness, then they wouldn't have flown out of the car.  Just because it says on the box "This seat is for 3 year olds and 40 inches" does not mean you should go ahead and put your child in there.

Also, just because you have a nice seat, does not mean that it is properly installed. Check in your city for places you can take the seat to be checked by a certified individual.

Lastly, you should never buy a used car seat unless you know 100% that it has not been in an accident. Do not buy a car seat at a consignment store or yard sale because there is no way to tell if they have been in an accident, and once a seat has been in an accident, it should no longer be used.

You will be saving your child's life!