It’s an unavoidable reality that mothers and fathers are worrywarts. We attempt to keep our darling babies safe from the time they are born, which, as any parent of a mobile infant or toddler knows, is no easy chore! So we stock up on drawer locks, furniture bumpers, baby gates, and the best-rated car seats, doing all we can to keep our beloved little ones safe.
We realize how frightening and perplexing the world of car seat purchase, installation, and usage may be, which is why we’re here to make sure you have all the knowledge you need to put your fears to rest.
3 child car seats safety tips:
1- Don’t hurry through installation:
To say the least, car seat installation may be scary and stressful. Of course, reading the instructions is essential. We should also cross-reference that tiny book with the owner’s handbook for our automobile.
The most common car seat installation failures include not securing the seat firmly enough and, for older children, not utilizing the top tether strap when transitioning to forward-facing car seats.
2- Boosters are important:
All children whose weight or height exceeds the forward-facing restriction for their car safety seat should utilize a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits correctly, often when they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and 8 to 12 years old. All youngsters under the age of 13 should travel in the rear seat.
3- Maintain your child’s rear-facing position for as long as feasible:
When your kid outgrows an infant car seat (which is always rear-facing), he or she will transition to a convertible car seat. These may be used in either a backward or forward direction. But you should always keep your kid rear-facing until they reach the rear-facing restrictions of the car seat – preferably until they reach the rear-facing limits of the car seat. That shouldn’t happen until your child is at least two years old.
When should your child start using a forward-facing car seat?
The American Academy of Pediatrics no longer advises that you switch your child’s car seat at the age of two. They now urge that you maintain your kid in the rear-facing position for as long as possible until they reach the greatest height and weight limit for the rear-facing position in their seat.
Takeaway:
Ensure that everyone in the car is wearing their seat belts. Aside from keeping all of your adult passengers alive, making sure everyone in the car is wearing a seat belt prevents them from becoming human torpedoes in the case of an accident. According to studies, if an adult travels in the rear seat without a seat belt, the other passengers are up to three times more likely to die in the same collision because the unbuckled adult is now a human rocket.
That sounds very terrible, and it is. If a car seat, for example, covers a seat belt buckle, reposition the car seat so that the buckle is accessible to the adult. It’s about ensuring everyone’s safety.