Let’s Talk About: Car Seat Safety

For your child’s utmost safety, it is imperative that you install a car seat properly or have it professionally installed for you. You can get your child’s car seat checked for proper installation at any police station, highway patrol location, or other privately owned location that have trained personnel to inspect that your car seat is installed properly. You can go to this link and check your local car seat inspection stations by state. There is even a car seat check app available for $1.99! Also on a safety side note, make sure you install a car seat in the back seat of your car. And did you also know that car seats have an expiration date? Check the side or the back of your car seat to find the expiration! And once your car has been in an accident of any kind, make sure to get a new carseat through your insurance company since there may be damage to the inside of the carseat that you can’t see. They should be covered through your insurance so don’t hesitate to ask!

 

Now let’s talk a little about rear facing as long as you can for the safety of your child. I had done a lot of research on this topic when my daughter was roughly a year old because I only wanted the highest safety measures for her and also wanted to make sure I was following the law. I found over and over again that rear facing was the safest for a child during impact/a car accident. As a first time mom, I tried to do everything by the book and also according to my own judgment based on everything I had learned through extensive research.

 

And to be honest, I was shocked at how many of my mom friends, who had babies the same age, switched their child’s car seat to forward facing even before their child turned 1 years old and many of them sometime between 1-2 years old, but closer to 15-18 months old. Certainly before it became a law in my state in 2017, I was determined to keep my child rear facing until she was at least 2 years old. We ended up keeping her rear facing until she was 2 ½ and we probably could have done it longer because she was content and didn’t seem to mind at all. It was all she knew so she wasn’t even the slightest bit curious about turning around. I didn’t cast judgment on my friends and certainly didn’t lecture them, but when I found articles on car seat safety, specifically safety regarding rear facing, I posted it on social media where they could all be educated and exposed to the information. Plus, they would see my car seat when we would meet for a play date and besides being a good role model, it often times sparked conversation about the topic without me having to force it or bring it up myself.

 

Each state is a little different on this requirement, so you can check your state for more information based on where you live. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear facing until at least 2 years old. From the research I have done, “48 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require booster seats or other appropriate devices for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are still too small to use an adult seat belt safely. The only states lacking booster seat laws are Florida and South Dakota. Four states (California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma) require children younger than two are in a rear-facing child seat. Five states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) have seat belt requirements for school buses. Texas requires them on buses purchased after September 2010.”

 

For example, in California, according to the California Highway Patrol and California Law, effective January 1, 2017, children under 2 years of age shall ride in a rear-facing car seat unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall. The child shall be secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the manufacturer of the car seat. In addition, all children whose weight or height exceeds the forward-facing limit for their car seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, typically when a child has reached 4 feet 9 inches in height and are 8 through 12 years of age.

 

Typically a first offense fine for not complying with a state’s child passenger safety law varies from $10 to $500 and some states also use driver’s license points as an additional penalty for noncompliance. But besides the law, let’s talk for a minute about a child’s safety.

 

The Car Seat Lady has helpful information on her website on the safety of rear facing compared to forward facing. Some studies have shown that children (1-2 year olds) that are rear facing are 5 times safer in side impact crashes than children in this age group that are forward facing. Besides other statistics and facts based on research and safety tests, she also dispels some myths of rear facing car seats. Parenting also has a fantastic article written about rear facing safety  Another website found benefits of rear facing that you can read here and another here! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also discusses the topic of child passenger safety from August 2016 on their website!

 

When your child is ready to face forward, may I recommend they use a KidsEmbrace carseat! They make safety fun for children and offer a wide range of characters your children will love to ride in the car with no matter where they go! From Batman, Superman, and Avengers to Disney, Dora, Ninja Turtles, and Paw Patrol there are many car seat characters to choose from for boys and girls!

In fact, they have 15 combination booster car seats available for purchase that will grow with your child. They also offer high back boosters and backless boosters, too! They are all forward facing, so please make sure your child is at least 2-years-old between 22-65 pounds and 29″-49″ in height before purchasing one for your toddler! Once your child is 30-100 pounds and 38″-57″ in height, they can use the booster seat. And they only cost $149!

 

 

We own the Mickey and Minnie for our kids and they are super easy to install and are even machine washable! Each car seat has a 3-position adjustable headrest, one-hand harness adjusting system, comfortable contour, 2-position recline, and 2 cup holders!! And more importantly, KidsEmbrace products meet or exceed safety standards and are routinely evaluated to make sure their brand is up-to-date with the latest safety regulations. Additionally, our KidsEmbrace Harnessed Booster Car Seats are side impact tested, a non-requirement award in the U.S. and Canada, which they have made a company requirement to ensure they go above and beyond when it comes to Making Safety #1 and at the same time Making Safety Fun!

 

 

Check them out! They also make a collection of themed baby gear like high chairs, strollers, baby carriers, walkers, and more! They were one of our title sponsors for our Princesses Make More Magic event last year and they were wonderful to work with! I love working with companies that make high quality products and also have great customer service!