Car Seat Safty

I can not stand it when I see a child in a car seat they don't belong in and I won't hesitate to say something. I see it all to often, parents move the child to the front facing before they are physically ready for it. Moving a child to front facing before their neck can stand an impact can paralyze them or worst cause death. Yes, I was once an uninformed parent my self and even moved my now 5 year old son into a front facing car seat way before he was even ready. I used the reason that his legs where too long. Which now I know is not a problem at all. I also have heard the reason I can't afford the rear facing bigger infant seat or they can't stand to rear face ( how does your child know what they don't like if they have never face forward?). There are a million and one reason why each parent parents. I am not here to tell anyone they are a bad parent or that they are doing it wrong. I just want to inform parents as much as I can, so that their little ones are safe for as long as they can be. Here is a link to a great site that helps inform you of what your child should be in.

 http://www.safercar.gov/parents/carseats.htm

This is one of the biggest things I see when a parent places a child in the car seat. The chest piece is to be at the arm pit level and you should not be able to pinch any extra belt on the shoulders. When rear facing the straps are to be at or below the shoulders and once moved to front facing at or above the shoulders.

Another one that I see during the winter months  is the big coats. If you don't understand why this is not safe take a moment and install your child in the car seat as you normally would then remove child without adjusting the seat and remove bulky clothing then place child back into the seat WITHOUT adjusting anything and see how loose it truly is. If you where to be in a wreck your child could projectile out of the car seat due to not having it properly tighten.

Here's the one that drives me CRAZY! The seat belt next protectors. If they did not come with the car seat they do not belong on the car seat. You can not get the straps close enough to the shoulders and you can not get the chest piece up on the chest high enough. Use a thin sock if you are that concerned about it pinching the next. Update: Adding a sock is still not recommend or part of any manufacturers manual and could possibly void the warranty on the car seat its' self.


I hope that this has informed you enough to re-look at how you put your child in the car and car seat. Make sure you read your manual as it has some very useful information. These are just a few that I see happening all too often and hope that it can change. Inform your self and become a car seat god. hound all your friends and don't be afraid to say something to a stranger the next time you see that their child may not be safe.