Category Archives: Car seats

Infant Car Seat Installing for Beginners

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 GUEST POST: by David Hermes Stanley

Off to get a mani and pedi…Mr. Stanley (aka Car Seat writer guy) has so kindly offered to write this informative piece on car seat safety and how to get the durn thang installed correctly.  Isn’t he totally awesome!?  My additional advice is…(because I just can’t keep my opinions to myself)…ALWAYS HAVE A CAR SEAT PROFESSIONAL (FROM THE CITY, POLICE, OR YOUR HOSPITAL CHECK YOUR CAR SEAT FOR CORRECT POSITIONING!! ~ Nurse Mommy

(Now David, it’s your turn to shine!!!)

I am sure you all know by now that if you are driving by car with your baby, he or she should be seated and secured in a specially designed infant car seat, not just because it is required by law in all American states and pretty much all the countries in the world, but also because it is the only way to ensure that your child will be safe in the unfortunate event of a crash. With that being said, nowadays those car seats are usually pretty high on a parent’s “to buy” list when preparing for the arrival of his or her baby.

Buying a good infant car seat however, is only one half of the equation. The other half is installing it properly and unfortunately, most parents seem to fail at that. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 3 out of 4 or 75% of infant car seats found in cars, are not properly installed! Here are some tips and instructions that should help you install your seat as properly and safely as possible, even if you are doing so for the very first time in your life.

1. Read the manuals

Before you start installing your baby car seat, you should carefully read the manual that comes with it, as well as that of your car. Keep those manuals close to you throughout the entire installation process; they will certainly come in handy!

2. Proper placement and orientation

The safest place to install an infant car seat is as close to the center of your car’s backseat as possible, or in the middle backseat if you own a minivan, a station wagon or a “people carrier”. When it comes to the seat’s orientation, all infants, newborns and toddlers should be seated in a rear facing seat. Please note that a rear facing seat should NEVER be installed in the passenger seat of a car equipped with passenger side airbags. Children should remain in those seats until they get at least two years old or until they reach the weight and height safety limits indicated by the seat’s manufacturer. Once your child outgrows his rear facing seat, he or she may “graduate” to a front facing one.

3. Proper installation

Modern infant car seats are installed and secured using two methods: the so called LATCH system and the car’s seat belts.

  • Using the LATCH system: LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children and is a system that has been specially designed to make infant car seat installation as easy, quick and safe as possible. All cars manufactured from 2002 onwards and many earlier models are compatible with it. Seats using the LATCH are permanently attached to special “anchors” found in the rear seats of the cars mentioned above. You can locate those “anchors” by reading your car’s manual, or by feeling around the backseat. Just attach the seat to the anchors following the instructions provided by the seat’s manufacturer and you should be fine.
  • Using the seat belts: If your car is not LATCH compatible or if you don’t want to use this system, then you’ll have to secure your infant car seat in place using your car’s seat belts. The most important thing when installing an infant car seat this way, is making sure that the seat belt is threaded through the right slots, so keep checking the seat’s manual to make sure that you have the right one. Apart from that, you should also pull the belt as tightly as possible; making sure that it has no slack. Once you’ve done that, buckle the belt and start trying to move seat forwards and backwards and side to side, if it’s not moving more than an inch in each direction, you’re good to go! Please note that the seat belts of some older models only lock into place in if the car comes to a sudden stop. If that is the case with your car’s seat belts, then you are going to have to get a locking clip to secure them into place.

4. The inch rule

Your seat should always be installed as safely and as tightly as possible. The best way to ensure this, is putting some weight on it when you are installing it. You can do this by placing your knee on the seat for as much of the installation process as possible. This will make sure that your infant car seat is installed as closely to your car’s seat as possible. Once you’re done installing the seat, try yanking and moving it forwards and backwards and side to side. If it doesn’t move more than an inch in any direction, then congratulations, your seat is properly installed. If it does move however, you are going to have to reinstall it.

 

David Hermes Stanley is a freelance writer currently writing for a website focusing on reviews and articles concerning the top rated car seats for infants and toddlers.

 

 

 

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Maxed-out moms need answers, compassion

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previously published in The Kansas City Star newspaper on Saturday, 9/24/11

STACEY HATTON COMMENTARY

I am one of those phone calls that every police dispatcher or DMV receptionist dreads picking up. “Ma’am, you want what?” Then I repeat my inane question in another fashion, hoping it will make sense a second time.

It is at this point that I wonder whether using an exotic French accent or increasing my volume every other word would make a difference, but I usually talk myself out of that and politely ask to speak to a manager.

However, the problem remains: My questions are serious, and according to the aforementioned departments, have never been asked before. So either I am moronic or, as I like to think, creatively wired.

After my normal repartee with the phone triage person at Overland Park’s Police Department — who, by the way, is a lovely human being, and we should do lunch — I was put in contact with my buddy in O.P.’s Traffic Safety Department, Capt. Mike Imber. He doesn’t treat me like I am crazy for asking questions that every mother with multiple children has thought in the parking lot at the grocery store at some point.

I asked him:

“How can I get all of my children safely strapped in their car seats, get the groceries put away in the back and return the cart, without leaving my kids alone in the car or risking dragging them through the lot with cars whizzing by while returning the cart?”

Now I know all of you “problem solvers” are trying to figure this one out. It can be done easily if you do this, or have you thought of this?

But, Bucko, hear me out. Try it in the rain, or try it with multiple-birth infants, or give it a whirl with a posse full of ADHD kids ranging from 2 months to 4 years. It can’t be done. Only with a large supply of duct tape followed by a knock on your door from the division of children services, can you successfully manage this feat of iron.

So I pleaded with the law over the phone. Help us struggling mothers get through the day without anyone getting injured or incarcerated!

Capt. Mike found my question (once again) to be not so easily answered, so he referred to “the books.” And the most disturbing piece of information he discovered was this: “Minors should not be locked in an unattended car by any adult, unless such child has present ability to be released from such vehicle.”

Say what?

So, basically, if you securely restrain your infant in the car seat so she is not able to get out of the seat by herself, and then you walk away from the car, you are breaking the law.

If you strap your sleep-deprived, screaming toddler in his 5-point-harness car seat for him to chill out while you get the groceries in the back of the minivan in the pouring rain and lock the door because you are afraid he will get out of the harness and throw himself into oncoming traffic, and then you push the cart to the cart barn, you are breaking the law!

If you stow your smarty-pants preteen in the luggage rack above the vehicle and lock it securely with a padlock and key while you place your frozen items in a cooler so you can go next door to get a mani and pedi, you are breaking the law! (As a registered nurse, I am required by law to say I don’t recommend this.)

I guess the moral of the story is that you should watch out for those moms whose nerves are maxed out and for those who don’t have enough hands to grab onto their kids to get them safely from Point A to Point B. (I’m not recommending running up behind them and grabbing one of their kids and carrying them to the curb for her because Mama Bear can be ferocious!)

But if we all watch out for each other, take off the blinders, show some compassion and just stop to offer a few seconds of your time to a parent in distress, our community will be stronger for every helping hand. Our kids just might learn from these actions as well.

Stacey Hatton is a pediatric registered nurse, writer and public speaker. Her humor blog can be found at http://nursemommylaughs.com.

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