One of the major responsibilities parents have is ensuring their children are safe when they are driving. Every year, many children die or get injured as a result of car carnage. Correct usage of car seat safety comes in handy to keep the children safe. However, with a wide range of car seats available on the market, parents may find it overwhelming to select the best from the crowd. The kind of seat children requie depends on many factors like the kind of vehicle and size of the child among others. To ensure you are using an appropriate seat, researching on the different types of car seats available is necessary to be able to select the best. The American Academy of Pediatrics has put forth recommendations on the appropriate seat for children of different ages. The types of car safety seats recommended range from infant seats to convertible seats to seat belts for older children.
When travelling, especially for long distance journeys, infants of less than one year and not weighing more than 20 pounds require the rear-facing convertible and infant seats; the seat must always face to the rear. For Preschoolers and toddlers of one year and not weighing more than 20 pounds, convertible seats are important and can be placed facing forward though riding while rear-facing is recommended. For the school-aged children, booster seats come in handy as they have been specially designed for older children that have already outgrown car safety seats which are forward-facing. The children should remain in the booster seat until they are old enough to fit in the adult seat belt. Normally, when children reach approximately 4′9″ in height and are between 8-12 years, they are old enough to fit in booster seats. Older children that have outgrown booster seats require lap and shoulder belts at back seats until they are 13 years old.
After a careful selection of the appropriate seat for a child, there are important points to bear in mind. The back seat is normally the safest incase of a crush. If the vehicle comprises a passenger’s air bag, it is vital for all children under 12 years to ride in the back. Ensure the child rides while facing the appropriate way. Infants are required to ride in rear-facing seats and the back seat is preferable until they are 1. Infants weighing 20 lbs and are less than a year old require a restraint recommended for higher rear-facing weights. It is advisable to always go through the child restraint manual for detailed instructions on how to use the restraint properly. For children who are one year old and over and weighing at least 20 pounds can ride while facing forward.
Car safety belts are important as they hold seats tightly and in place to prevent the child from moving while the vehicle is in motion. Always ensure the belt passes through the appropriate slot and use the right belt slot for every direction. Safety seat belts come in handy for older children and the child should be able to sit comfortably without slouching and knees should be bent on the edges of seats and the feet on the floor. When travelling by plane, most convertible, forward-facing and infant seats can be used. However, travel vests and booster seats are not recommended. Restraints made particularly for planes are also helpful when travelling by plane. Always do your best to get a seat that is convenient for both your child and you. With the wide ranges of car safety belts and seats available, selecting an appropriate one is easy.
Ensuring car safety for the young ones is essential and most of the countries make it a legal requirement that one ensures that their children are well taken care of when in the car by use of car safety seats. Many companies offer car seats services leaving the parents with wide field to choose from. There are variety of car seats and one is supposed to choose based on their budget and child’s age. The infant car seat is designed for children who are less than one year, weigh 20 pounds or less, and should always ride rear-facing. The convertible car seat for preschoolers or toddlers car seat is designed for children aged above one year and who weigh more than 20 pounds and should also ride rear-facing as long as possible but they can also ride forward-facing. The school-aged children can ride on the Booster car seat designed for overgrown children and they should ride forward-facing but the booster seat should hold them until they are grown up enough for the normal seat belt to fit them. The normal seats belts are designed for grown up children between 8 and 13 years. One should keenly refer to the car seat manual to know if their child suits to use it. This enables one to make the right choice when buying the children car seats. Some of the basic child safety rules includes kids riding on the back seat of the car as this highly reduces their death risk in case of an accident. The car seat should also never be placed rare-facing on the front car seat especially when the car has active front airbags as this risks the child to being suffocated by the airbag in case the car is involved in an accident. The rear facing style is highly recommended due to its capability of going against physic-related forces that may expose the child’s body if they were riding forward-facing. The faster the car, the higher the crash will be and the faster the crush is transferred to the child’s body organs, while riding rear-facing, the crash will take long time to be transferred to the child’s organs hence less impact. Although one will not be able to prevent all the accidents from occurring, it is recommended that one does their best to ensure that the child’s safety is assured at all time of their ride especially for long trips. The car seats do not only protect the child from death risks in accidents, but also ensure the child’s comfort especially in long trips, which may include breaks and rough road encounters. Most countries have researched and approved the rear-facing ride as one of the safest children riding mean with the least death risks. When preparing for long car trip, one should take note that an accident can occur from side, front and back crushing and hence the regulation that the car seats straps should be carefully locked fitting the child to make sure that the child is not hurt regardless of the crush angle.
