How smart are you about car seats?

Follow me on Twitter @drClaire If you’re a parent — or anyone else who has driven a child somewhere — you likely know quite a bit about car seats. Or do you? As both a pediatrician and a parent, I know that lots of people don’t know everything they should about car seats and booster seats. It’s understandable, as the information can be confusing, and while resources are available, many parents don’t know about them. But it’s a problem, because making a mistake when it comes to car seats can literally be life-threatening. Of the children 12 years and younger who died in motor vehicle crashes in 2015, more than a third weren’t buckled up. Let’s test your smarts. Can you answer these questions? When should parents change from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing one? a)  12 months b)  24 months c)  When they outgrow the rear-facing seat (assuming they are at least 24 months old) Answer: C. Turning children around too early is one of the most common car seat mistakes people make. In part, that’s because the recommendation used to be to turn children forward-facing at a year (that was the recommendation when my eldest children were babies), and some grandparents and others don’t realize it has changed. It’s also tempting to turn children around early because it’s easier to see them from the front seat. But here’s the thing: children are safer if they are rear-facing. It’s just the physics of crashes and little bodies. So if a child turns two and ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Injuries Parenting Prevention Safety Source Type: blogs