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Tips for Car Seat Safety
By: marshafields34
Making use of a car seat is the first step in helping to secure the safety of your child in the car. However just possessing a car seat is not sufficient in itself: the car seat needs to be used, and it must be used correctly. Here are some steps to follow to assure that your children will be as safe as possible in their car seats.
- Always make certain that you read and understand the recommendations from the manufacturer on how to use the car seat correctly. Improper car seat usage is the primary cause of car seat failure. Also completely read the owner's manual for your car as it concerns the use of car seats. Most car owner's manuals have specific instructions for car seat installation and these instructions should always be given the utmost consideration.
- To maximize the safety of your children, only place the car seat in the rear set of your automobile, not in the front seat. for optimum safety, you should put the car set in the middle of the rear seat so that there is increased security against side-impact collisions.
- If your car seat must be placed in the front seat (in the case where there is no rear seat), only place it there if there is no front seat passenger airbag or if the airbag can be turned off. And then be absolutely certain that the airbag is indeed off. Never place a car seat in the front seat of a vehicle when the passenger-side airbag is enabled.
- Keep your toddler/infant in their rear-facing car seat for as long as possible so long as they meet the size and weight standards for that car seat when it is rear-facing. It is safer for your child to be rear-facing.
- When you put your kid in their car seat, be certain that the straps fit snugly and be sure to use the chest strap. The chest strap should sit across the chest as per the manufacturer's instructions. If the chest strap is too low, your child may not be secure in an accident. If the chest strap is too high, it may crush your child's neck in the event of an accident.
- Once your child outgrows their car seat, they should use a booster seat until such time as the seat belt fits them properly. This is typically until they are about 4' 9" tall or 80 pounds. Check your vehicle owner's guide for the specifics with your vehicle. When it does fit correctly, the shoulder belt should fit over the shoulders, not on the neck, and the lap belt should fit across the hips, not on the belly.
- After you believe you have the car seat properly installed, have the car seat installation inspected by a certified car seat technician. This can be done in minutes at no cost. Check http://www.seatcheck.org/ to discover the nearest seat check location to you.
- If possible, avoid used car seats unless you know for certain the history and age of the car seat. Do not buy car seats more than five years old, or car seats that have been in an accident. Make sure that used car seats still have all of their labels with the manufacturing information, manufacturing date, and model number. Also, make sure that the manual is available; never purchase a car seat without the instruction manual.
- If your vehicle comes with the LATCH system for car seats, make sure you buy LATCH-compatible car seats. Using the LATCH system makes car seat installation easier, more secure, and it is less likely that the car seats will be installed incorrectly. Still, the installation should still be looked at by a certified car seat technician.
- Look at the website of the manufacturer of your car. Often times, automobile manufacturer's website will list, on a per-model basis, the car seats that they recommend for installation in their vehicles.
Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info
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