seat belts and car seats

I volunteered my time and voice to do a presentation on the current car safety seat and seatbelt recommendations last night at Jake's school.

Note I said recommendations, and not regulations.  And not laws.  Because laws and regulations?  Wow.  They vary from state to state and they are becoming less strict as time goes by.  Probably because of people fighting to make their own choices for their children, infringement of rights kind of stuff.  My baby belongs to me and I'll do what I want with it kind of stuff.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you keep your infants and toddlers facing backwards until they are 2, provided they do not outgrow the height and weight limitations of the seat.  Convertible car seats are better for accommodating this recommendation than are those infant carrier seats.  Your kid might look crunched up, but his joints are still pliable enough that getting crunched doesn't make him stiff or uncomfortable. 

All toddlers and preschoolers should use a forward- facing car seat in the back seat with the five-point harness provided with the seat for as long as possible, usually up to age 5 if your kid is of normal size.

A child has outgrown his or her forward facing seat when:

He or she reaches the top weight or height allowed for his seat

His or her shoulders are above the top harness slots

His or her ears have reached the top of the seat

All school age children should use a booster in the backseat with the shoulder belt over the mid-point of their shoulders and across their lap until they are 4' 9" (57") tall.  A child usually reaches 57 inches tall somewhere between the ages of 8 and 14 years.  If  you look at those CDC growth charts, you'll see that the 8 year olds in the 95th percentile are 57" tall while 14 year olds in the 5th percentile are 57". 

My mother-in-law is only 59 inches tall.  She is 19 apples big.  

I am almost 23 apples big.  

You could make a half way decent sized pie with the number of apples between us.

Jacob measured 14 1/3 apples, or 43 inches at  his last doctor's appointment.

I was as many apples as my grandma in 4th grade.

Children younger than 13 years or smaller than 57 inches should always sit in the back seat.  Airbags may inflate in any crash and can cause serious injury or death.  The serious injury is usually brain damage.  The death often is caused by decapitation.  Most parents would not want to hold their child's detached head in their lap.  That last sentence is an opinion, not fact, but I can probably find something to back that up.

Car seats expire!  Check the date on the back or throw them away after a car accident or 5 years after purchase.  You may want to write your purchase date on the back of the seat.

Never use a cracked car seat, a seat with missing parts, or a recalled car seat (you can check by calling the manufacturer or by calling the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888.327.4269

Speak with your obstetrician, pediatrician, school guidance counselors and social workers, local fire departments, local police departments, community centers, places of worship, and the United Way regarding free or low-cost car seats.  Buying a car seat should be a priority in your budget.  Children who need one should get a new car seat before they get the new toys, sneakers, or outfits.  REPEAT:  Children who need one should get a new car seat before they get the new toys, sneakers, or outfits

A police officer can pull you over if he or she sees that your children are sitting in the front seat or sitting in the back without a car seat or with ill-fitting seat belts.  You can be ticketed and fined.  In some cases, you may be charged with child endangerment and you AND your children can be taken into custody.  Sometimes it's hard to get your kids back once they've been taken.

***Seatbelts and car seats save lives***

This is basically the information that I shared with the parents.  I gave them a hand out.  I shared with them that in my profession, I have worked with several parents who are now parenting a special-needs child because the child was not buckled in or they weren't in their seats correctly. I offered information for special harnesses that help hold kids who are famous for unbuckling themselves.  I said that it isn't like when we were kids, our parents aren't driving metal tanks and other kids don't make fun of each other if they wear belts or have booster seats (or helmets for bike-riding).   I said that caregivers should know all about car seat and seat belt use and installation.  I let them know that when I am in the prisons, I have met with parents who are there because their kid died in a car crash because the child was not buckled in or they weren't in their seats correctly.  They lost their child and their freedom.  They are now a criminal.  I shared that these are not generally cracked out parents, or crazy people.  They are normal parents, just like us who didn't have their kids buckled in the way they should have been buckled in.

I had to stop for a second to keep from crying.  Because you don't know what it's like to see a brain damaged child who used to be perfect unless you've seen one.  Because you don't know what it's like to see a mother dressed in orange because she killed her child in her haste to get the kid to school on time unless you've seen one.  Because you don't know what it's like to watch a father cry because his baby is dead because he didn't know the buckle on the five point harness needed to be pulled up rather than pushed down near the waist unless you've watched him.

I hope you never see it.  My job has a lot of perks.  Stuff like that isn't one of them.

   

Upon leaving the Parent-Teacher Meeting last night, a mother who was in attendance got into her car with her preschool aged child and they drove off together.  He was sitting in her lap.