Car Seat Safety
By Julie Irwin Zimmerman
A car seat is one of the most important tools for keeping baby safe; most hospitals won’t discharge a baby without one. But car seats must be properly used to be effective. Laws and guidelines change as research advances, so it helps to review the details of car-seat use for babies, toddlers and children from time to time.
Most parents use a carrier car seat for newborns, which allows the infant to stay in one place from home to car to errands. This is especially useful when babies are still drifting in and out of sleep unpredictably. Carriers are always rear-facing and most are approved for use up to 20 lbs. Dave Laub, owner of Room to Grow in Kenwood, finds that many babies become too heavy for a carrier around 16-18 lbs. “When you get to that weight, it’s time to start thinking about a convertible car seat with a five-point harness,” says Laub. Convertibles allow babies and younger toddlers to sit rear-facing and older toddlers to face forward. They are generally approved for children 5-30 lbs. rear-facing and either 20-40 lbs. or 20-65 lbs. front-facing.
Infants up to one year must be rear-facing, because their chest muscles are not developed enough to protect them from internal damage from the seat straps in the event of a crash. It is fine to keep children rear-facing up to 30 lbs., no matter what their age, unless the child’s legs are long enough that they can put their feet against the seat and lock their knees. This could cause broken knees in a collision, and indicates the child should face forward. (If your child can lock his knees before his first birthday, Laub suggests you talk to your pediatrician about what configuration is safest for your child.)
When a child hits 30 lbs., parents can begin to think about a booster seat, which raises a child high enough to use a car’s seat belt. However, Laub cautions, “for parents who want to go from a five-point harness carseat to a booster, your child must be disciplined enough to sit still 100
percent of the time so that the shoulder strap crosses them safely, across the middle of their collar bone.” If there’s a risk that the child will pull the seat belt off, it’s best to keep her in a harness.
In Ohio, all children must be in a car seat or booster until they are four years old and 40 lbs.; in Kentucky the law applies to all children under 40 inches. Other states require safety seats for children who are six and 60 lbs. or even eight and 80 lbs. Laub also says that many children aren’t tall enough to sit safely without a booster until age 12. When in doubt, it’s always safest to err on the side of caution. Room to Grow’s technicians will provide advice and install car seats, because the best equipment in the world doesn’t help if it’s not used properly.
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