Car seat safety has been on the forefront of my mind a lot recently. We recently had a horrific traffic accident in Phoenix in which a little boy survived simply because his car seat was installed properly. Which got me to thinking about whether or not Jackson's car seat is installed the correct way. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has declared that the week of September 19-25 is Child Passenger Safety Week and there's been a lot of coverage on this. It's estimated that 3 in4 parents do not properly install their child's car seat, which dramatically affects your child's safety in the event of an accident. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14. Do you know how to install your child's car seat correctly? I don't! The NHTSA website has a seat inspection station locator where you can find a site near you that will check the installation of your child's car seat to make sure it's installed properly. They also have videos on how to install a LATCH car seat and a list of the highest-rated car seats. I'm definitely going to referring to this list when we invest in Jackson's convertible car seat! Right now the top rated car seats are the Graco MyRide 65, the Safety First Complete Air, and the First Years True Fit Premiere. They have also made the recommendation that children rear-face until at least two years old. What do you think of that?
5 comments:
Funny you posted this because I was talking to kingston dr about this today! She said they really should be rear facing until 2 years old or 35lbs. There backs can't handle the impact in a car when they are front facing. You can google what happens to the DUMMIES they use in car seat tests and watch its awful!!
I plan on rear facing Kingston as long as possible and unless he doesn't freak out too much. If he can see out the window I think he will be content.
Jake is 2.5 and he's still rear-facing. I turned Bradley front when he turned one, but I never would again after all that I've learned.
www.car-seat.org has some great forums and I feel good about my installation knowledge. When I got Jake's Radian, I read all about the tips to install it and then the tech (who I found on car-seat.org) told me I did fine. Most techs haven't dealt with Radians, though, so it's good to check if they're familiar with them.
Jacqui
I really wanted Luke to be rear facing for that long, but the poor kid was super tall and his poor legs were so scrunched that we had to turn him around pretty soon after he turned one. We have the First Years True Fit for Luke and love it! We've already started trying to find one for Reagan!
I don't think Mater would fit to be rear facing. I always worry about installing the car seat correctly. I thought I was done with all of that and then a grandson.. it just never ends....
Thanks for visiting my blog, I am a new follower!
I also had to turn my son around at about 18 months due to the length of his legs. I had no idea that they changed the suggestion to age 2! Very informative!
Here (belated) from FMBT to return your follow & wish you a wonderful week! XO Thanks so much for linking up with us!
Post a Comment