Today's column is written by one of our favorite guest contributors, Jennifer Baker, who is a Counselor with the Houston, Texas Police Department. In this article, Jennifer discusses the frustrations and reality of the often scary but necessary world of child car seats.
Do car seats come with a manual? Yes they do....but have you really looked at one lately? It is more confusing than deciphering teen talk in a text message! And if you ever need an aerobic workout, try and fasten one correctly in the back seat of your car. I dare you to get it installed correctly and not break a sweat. But after all the huffing and puffing, you will rest easy knowing that you are keeping your little ones safe. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, children between the ages of one and twelve are killed more often in vehicle crashes than any other method. That is why, with the right car seat, you can reduce the chances of your child being injured or killed.
Options, options, options. Whew! There are so many choices when it comes to selecting a car seat. I have been to big box retail stores and felt like I was doing the electric slide while checking out the vast number of seats on display. How do you pick the best seat for your little darling? (There should be a manual to help you through this part of the process!) Yes, it is fine that the color matches the interior of your vehicle. And it is great that Little Johnnie has a place to put his sippy cup. But please keep in mind, that those features should be secondary in importance compared to the safety features.
One of the basic guidelines in helping to determine which car seat is best for your child, is to focus on the child's age and size. All newborns should be placed in a rear facing car seat in the back seat of the vehicle and should remain this way until they outgrow their initial carrier. Toddlers up to forty pounds should be secured in a front facing seat with a five point harness in the back seat of the car. When the child has outgrown the harness, a booster seat should be used. For instance, in Texas, the law states that all children, age seven or younger and under 4'9", must be in a child safety restraint system. Only when children can ride in the vehicle (preferably in the back seat) with their feet flat on the floor with their knees clearing the front of the seat, can they safely use only the seat belt. The seat belt must secure them at the strongest places of the child's body; which would be across the child's chest (not near the neck) and lie flat across the thighs (not the abdomen).
There has been some debate over whether children over the age of two need to be placed in a car seat, namely a TED Talks presentation by Steven Levitt, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats.html. Using raw data from all vehicle crashes involving children fatalities over the last 30 years, he asserts that there is "no proven benefit" to securing children in expensive child car seats versus using the less expensive adult seat belt. Car crashes are violent, daily occurrences in the United States and can be deadly. I would rather err on the side of caution when it comes to maintaining the safety of your youngest passengers and restrain them.
Latches, tethers and anchors - Oh My! Hold on to your instruction manuals because this is where it really get interesting. After you have purchased the appropriate safety seat for your child, it is time to pull out not only the instruction manual that came with the car seat , but your vehicle's owner's manual. You have to familiarize yourself with the mechanisms in your car in order to safely install the car seat. The car seat manual will give you instructions on how to properly install the seat based on your vehicle's options.
You can install the car seat using a seat belt or your car may be equipped with the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system. It is supposed to be less complicated and more user friendly than the seat belt installation. LATCH utilizes anchors, or metal bars, found between the seat cushions of the vehicle's back seat and top tether anchor, or rings, located behind the back seat of the car. The car seat has straps with hooks that attach to the anchors and tethers to keep the seat in place. Be mindful that the LATCH system also has weight limitations and restrictions on using it on front and rear facing car seats.
Still not sure if your car seat is installed correctly? No worries, most cities have car seat inspection stations within the police or fire departments or at some auto dealerships, that will happily offer free guidance. You can find Inspection locators on www.safekids.org and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website www.NHTSA.gov.
Okay, now that you have decided that it's just too complicated and your child really doesn't need to ride in a car until they are twelve - Relax! Take a deep breath, go sip a mojito and realize that this is a rite of passage that all parents go through and you too will survive and conquer this task. So, happy tethering and anchor away parents!
Remember - "If you fail to plan, Plan to fail!"
Until the next time...
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