Do you know the dangers of car seat placement/positioning?

Have you ever noticed newborns in car seats with their heads all the way over to one side? Have you ever wondered what it was doing to their necks? An important study in the September 2001 issue of Pediatrics measured how well newborns breathe in car seats. The researchers compared 50 healthy, slightly preterm babies (born at 35-36 weeks) to 50 healthy term newborns. Surprisingly, the amount of oxygen in the blood (and getting to the brain) declined in all of the babies in both groups as they rode in their car seats. The lowered oxygen levels were significant but not dangerous for most children. Among the premature babies, 12% had periods of apnea (absent breathing) or bradycardia (depressed heart rate), accompanied with significantly decreased oxygen levels (this would about 20,000 near-term babies in the US each year). Conclusions? This study supports the American Academy of Pediatrics’ too-seldom-followed recommendation that all preterm babies be observed in a car seat for fit and for breathing stability before discharge from the hospital. The findings also suggest that car travel be minimized for all (and especially preterm babies) before they are able to support their heads. Car seats and baby swings have become convenient spots for babies between car trips. Likewise, extended non-travel use of these seats should be discouraged until the babies are able to support their heads.

There are many dangers involving car seats and babies. From the time your new baby comes home from the hospital, until they are driving with their own driver’s license, parents need to learn how to maximize their kids’ safety in the car. Most parents don’t know how to use their child’s car seat correctly. Too many school-aged kids are in danger because they don’t use a booster seat. Some kids are in danger from air bags because they ride in the front seat before they are big enough to do so safety. Inexperienced teenage drivers are often overtired, driving under the influence, overly confident in their abilities, or aren’t paying attention because they’re distracted by their friends. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of accidental death for all young people from one-year-old babies through teens. Too many motor vehicle deaths and injuries could have been prevented. Here you’ll find the information and tools you need to keep your child safer on the road—whatever their age.

A lot of the dangers involve breathing. As we all know its vital to breathe.

Even though winter is now passing...

As the coldest part of winter approaches, parents everywhere bring out their babies' winter coats or snowsuits to keep baby warm during travel. However, thick winter coats or snowsuits can compromise your child's car seat safety. In order for a baby car seat or toddler booster seat to function properly, the straps need to remain tight against the child's chest. Winter coats and snowsuits make car seat safety difficult because they change the way a child fits into the car seat. When the car seat straps don't fit the child properly, there is a chance the child could be ejected from the car seat. Site.

When do you need to use a forward facing car seat. The regulations are as follows.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently revised their recommendations to say that children should ride in rear-facing child safety seats as long as possible. They also maintain that children should be a MINIMUM of 12 months old AND weigh at least 20 pounds before they face the front of the vehicle. Until that time, their bones and ligaments are not developed enough to withstand forward-facing crash forces. The rear-facing position reduces the risk of spinal cord injury in a frontal collision, since the safety seat's shell supports the neck and spreads crash forces across the entire back. Most infant-only seats have a limit of 20 or 22 pounds, but most current convertible safety seats have rear-facing limits of 30 pounds or more. These seats provide better protection for children, even beyond their first birthdays.