Elanso

There is a YouTube video circulating the internet (see below) that was created by a grieving family. They lost their 3-year old son in a horrific car accident when he was thrown from his seat-belt positioning booster. The video is a cautionary tale on choosing the right child restraint; had the boy been in a 5-point harness, it is possible he might have lived. No one knows for sure if that would have saved his life, nor if the cause of his death is due to seatbelt failure, but the video still serves as a grim reminder that life—especially our child’s life—is fragile and that we are obligated to do the very best we can to protect our children.

The number one killer of children under the age of 4 is automobile accidents. If that statistic doesn’t scare you enough, how about this one: 8 out of 10 carseats are either improperly used or installed. That means 80% of the children riding in their parents’ cars today are at risk for serious or fatal injury. You may be reading this thinking that it doesn’t apply to you; afterall, you read the instructions and watched the video that accompanied your child’s seat. You followed the minimum weight guidelines to the letter. The frightening fact is, however, that no matter how dilligent you think you are, there is still the possibility that your child’s safety restraint is not installed 100% correctly. “The only way to be 100% sure that your child’s safety seat is installed correctly is to have it inspected by a certified CPST or instructor,” says Melissa Marowelli, a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and mother of four. CPSTs know everything there is to know about seat safety and installation. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides a 32-hour comprehensive course and requires that all prospective technicians pass both the written and hands-on end of course exams with no less than a 90%. Beginning in 2007, CPSTs must also complete six hours of refresher training to ensure they stay current on updates and recalls. These professionals provide a valuable service to the community, and usually free of charge. You can find a certified CPST near you by visiting http://www.seatcheck.org.

CPSTs have a broad range of experience with the many types of seats there are, as well as with installation techniques for different vehicles. They know the ins and outs of how different restraints work with particular vehicles, tricks and techniques to safely installing a safety seat that the average parent may not know. Which is why mistakes can occur when a parent installs their child’s safety restraint. Marowelli says the two most common mistakes are seats that are too loosely installed at the beltpath (where the LATCH or seat belts connect the safety seat to the car seat) and harness straps that are not tight enough. Safety seats should not be able to move more than 1” on either side along the beltpath, and no matter how well the seat is attached to the car, twisted or loose harness straps can cause your child to fall out of the seat or become tangled in them and choke. Parents can avoid this by:

1. Periodically tugging on the base of the safety seat to monitor its movement. Over time, these can loosen.
2. Checking the harness fit each and every time they use the seat and adjusting it as needed. The straps are tight enough if you try to pinch the webbing but cannot get enough slack to hold between your fingers.
3. Ensuring that straps are not twisted and lay flat against the child.
4. Making sure that the harness straps are at or just above the child’s shoulders. If the straps are threaded through the highest slot and still fall below the child’s shoulders, it is time to move them into a more appropriate seat.

Rear-Facing vs. Forward-Facing

Mistake can also occur when it comes time to move your child from rear-facing to forward-facing, or from one restraint type to the next. Britney Spears faced a maelstrom of criticism when pictures were snapped of her driving with her nine-month old facing forward in his seat, his head slumped over. The absolute minimum for a child to be turned forward-facing is when he or she reaches 20lbs AND 1 year of age; however, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends that children not be turned forward until they are 18-months and/or have reached the maximum weight limit for that particular rear-facing seat. Most convertible safety seats now have a maxium weight limit between 30 and 35lbs, meaning your child may be able to ride rear-facing well past his or her first birthday. It’s understandable wanting to turn your child as soon as you can. As children get older, they want to be able to see their surroundings and the view of the back of the seat can be boring for them, leading to a lot of whining and anxiety-ridden car trips. But it’s better to keep your child safe and have to endure the whining, than to put them at more risk by placating them.

To Boost or Not to Boost

Parents are often unsure of when they should move their child to a different seat, especially when to move them into a booster. “Parents should move their child when the child has reached the maximum weight limit for the seat, their shoulders are at or above the top slots in the seat, or the tops of the child’s ears are no longer contained within the hard plastic shell of the seat,” says Marowelli. “Unfortunately, many children are outgrowing their convertible seats before they are mature enough to sit properly in a booster seat.” If that is the case, Marowelli recommends purchasing a High-Weight Harness (HWH) booster. These seats incorporate a 5-point harness for children 60lbs. to 80lbs., a godsend for those of us with pre-schoolers too tall for their convertibles but too slim to use a regular seatbelt. Two such seats are the SafeGuard Go (up to 60lbs.) and the Britax Regent (up to 80lbs.). Keep in mind, also, that with forward-facing and booster seats that have top-tethers, the tethers MUST be used for correct installation! (For more explanation on LATCH and top-tethers, see section below)

If you have a children who are regularly above the 50^th percentile for height, you may also want to consider investing in a convertible seat with very tall top slots. A good resource to locate such a seat is http://www.carseatdata.org . Click on the link for “Measurements” to be taken to a database of measurements for all the seats currently on the market.

Laws vary by state, but generally speaking for safety purposes, parents should not move their child out of a booster seat until the child is around 80-100lbs, at least 4’9”, and can ride in the vehicle with their bottoms pushed against the back of the seat, their knees bent and the vehicle’s lap-should belt properly positioned over their shoulder and hip bones. Many parents erroneously believe that 40lbs. is the safe cut-off; not true, as that video can attest. If your child’s seat restraint has an upper weight limit of 40lbs., as some older models do, do not automatically assume that it is all right to move them into a seat-belt positioning booster; the safe choice is to invest in a HWH booster, as mentioned above. At no time should any child under the age of twelve, and especially those still riding in a safety seat, be allowed to sit in the front of a car with a passenger side airbag.

Understanding LATCH, Top-Tethers and Locking Clips Without An Engineering Degree

When shopping for a new (used) car, my main requirement was that it have LATCH—Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. I was exhausted from my struggles in trying to install my daughter’s seat in our car using the seatbelt and locking clip, and wanted something that was idiot-proof. “Currently, there is no data to support that the LATCH system is safer than using a seatbelt,” says Marowelli. “Its main purpose was to give parents a much clearer and easier way to install their children’s safety seats.” This was true for me; it is much easier to take the safety seats in and out of the car, and I am able to tighten them better than I could previously. One thing I did not know until recently, and which parents should keep in mind: Anytime you use LATCH to install your seat, you must use the top tether on it. Top-tethers were made a mandatory installation in all passenger vehicles starting September 1, 2000 and required on safety seats as of September 1, 2002. In some older vehicles, the top-tether anchors are actually not found anywhere on top, but in the floor or under the seat. You should consult your car’s owner manual for the exact location. Why is this important? “Top-tethers have been shown to significantly reduce head excursion (how far the neck stretches) in crashes where the child is forward-facing.

Locking clips are slowly phasing out as more cars and seats are equipped with the easier to use LATCH system. If you must use a locking clip to keep the seat belt tight through the belt path in the seat, Marowelli reminds parents to:

1. Never use a locking clip on a lap-only belt.
2. The locking clip should be no more than 1” away from the bucklehead of the seatbelt that it is being used on.
3. If for some reason the locking clip needs to be installed in a different position, ONLY a certified CPST should perform the installation.

When Good Seats Go Bad

Did you know that safety seats have an expiration date on them? Most seats are considered safe to use up to six years from date of manufacture, which can be found imprinted on the plastic shell on all seats made after September 1, 2002. After that, the plastic can break down and render the seat useless for protection. If you are scouring consignment shops and tag sales looking for a good deal on a used seat--STOP! Not only is it difficult to ascertain how old the seat is, even if it is not past its expiration date, you do not know if it has ever been in an accident, something which can also damage the sturdiness of the shell. It can be expensive buying a seat brand new, but would you buy milk for your child that is past its expiration date? Why take the same chance with your child’s safety in the car?

Many parents don’t realize that if they are in a car accident, even a minor one, their child’s safety seat may need to be replaced. Both Evenflo and Graco state in their owner manuals that their seats should be replaced after any accident, even a little parking lot fender bender. Britax recommends contacting them if you have any questions about whether to replace their seat after a collision, but, says Marowelli, a good rule of thumb is “if you cannot drive the vehicle away from the scene of the crash, you MUST replace the carseat regardless of the brand.” If you ever have any questions about whether to replace or not, it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Even a small accident can put strain on the seat’s plastic.

Many of us hear of stories like Kyle’s, but it can be hard for us to fathom that the same thing can happen to our families. We need to take these tragedies to heart, so that we can do all we can to prevent them from becoming our own tragedies. Your child’s safety starts and ends with you—become informed and remain vigilant always.