Search Results for: blog infant child car seat safety

IIHS Finds Half of All Booster Seats Do Not Fit Properly

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently evaluated 83 booster seats. They found that around half of them do not fit children properly. It might be time to check and see how well your child’s booster seat fits, and what the IIHS thinks of it. Booster seats are a slightly more “grown up” version of “infant seats”, or “convertible car seats”. All are designed to safely restrain babies and young children with a five-point harness. It helps to ensure the physical safety of infants and small children in case the vehicle they are riding in is involved in a traffic … Continue reading →

Sunshine Kids Car Seats

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I am kind of a car seat crazy person. I want my kids to be safe. You hear stories all the time about seats not being installed correctly, or about an accident that could have been avoided if only the child had been strapped in correctly to a car seat. So, when I had my first baby, I made sure to do my research. I found an acceptable infant car seat, but when it was time to move her up to a bigger one, I wanted one that was going to last, and one that was strong, and durable. I … Continue reading →

Can You Have Too Many Car Seats?

Car accidents are the number one killer of small children, though safety seat use has helped a lot. I am passionate about car seat safety. Using car seats properly and appropriately is a relatively easy and painless step to take to try to keep our children as safe as possible. I wish that more people would research car seat safety and keep their children rear facing as long as possible. Convertible car seats have high rear facing weight limits in an attempt to keep children in the safest position. Unfortunately, too many parents think that turning their children forward facing … Continue reading →

Car Seats

When I was pregnant, I was very intimidated by car seats. They seemed complicated to install and I was worried about the consequences of doing it wrong. What if I got into a car accident and the seat wasn’t secure? Fortunately, the hospital where I gave birth had a free car seat check. It was a quick appointment. The women showed me how to properly install my car seat, gave me some tips for getting it snug, and then actually installed it for me. I received some free car seat safety information as well as an identification sticker to place … Continue reading →

More Car Seat Safety

On July 23 we welcomed a new baby into our home. She was a day old. I realize that I write about toddlers not babies, so you may be wondering why I’m starting this blog with Baby E, but she’s pertinent to the topic. We have a Graco Snugride infant carrier. I have transported four children in the seat. It’s a great and safe seat. Baby E was so small, though, that the seat’s lowest strap slots were above her shoulders and as tight as the straps would go were not tight enough. I got a Chicco Keyfit so Baby … Continue reading →

Don’t Leave Kids in the Car

The toddler, new baby, and I had a busy day today running around to between the pediatrician and Children’s Hospital. Baby E got to nap, but Jessie and I didn’t. It really was a long day. We got home with enough time to catch the last few minutes of Judge Judy before the news came on. The lead story on the 5:00 afternoon news was a toddler left in a car in a Texas Workforce Commission parking lot. A security guard found the child before tragedy struck. The mother left the windows cracked about three inches and took an infant … Continue reading →

Warm Weather Car Safety

Depending on where you live, winter can be long, depressing, and, let’s face it, cold. When warm weather arrives, many of us can hardly wait to get outside. There are parks to visit, playgrounds to explore, and beaches to comb. And yet, with all the fun surrounding warm-weather outings, some precautions need to be taken when traveling with a baby. Before you even place your child in the car, check the car seat, especially any metal buckles or other metal parts. These can get extremely hot during a warm day, especially if they are in the direct sunlight. The last … Continue reading →

Safety of Slings

If you’re a parent who keeps up with baby product news, you no doubt have seen phrases similar to the following in recent headlines: “Sling recall.” “Slings blamed for infant deaths.” “Are any baby slings safe?” Due to the recent recall of two sling models manufactured by a well-known baby product company, many parents are questioning the safety of their baby carriers. Parents who formerly were convinced of the benefits of baby wearing are now wondering if the benefits are worth the risks. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 13 infant deaths have been associated with sling-style carriers over … Continue reading →

Car Seat Safety Following A Car Accident

My family was in a car accident this past week. We were inside our car, which was parked in a Walmart parking lot. I had just finished buckling our infant daughter into her car seat when a car struck us on the driver’s side front door. After getting everyone out of the car, calling 911, and calming our unsettled nerves, I began to consider the lasting impact of the car accident. Would all three of us be sore the next morning? Should I take my daughter to the doctor to be examined? The biggest question on my mind was the … Continue reading →

Long Car Ride Tips for Babies Under 3 Months

I’m still in Iowa and that means that I took an extremely long trip (by car) to get here. How long, you might ask? How does 15.5 hours sound? Long? Short? What if I told you we tried to make it in one day (and did). Hmmm? Interest peaked? I hope so. Granted, we only made it in one day on the way up and haven’t proven similar success yet on the way back. That said, I’d like to give some tips that my wife and I learned during our lengthy journey with our son. Tip one was leaving early. … Continue reading →