Is Your Child Car Seat Safe?

After you spend time researching and trying to get pregnant, endure nine months of pregnancy, the monumental task of labor and delivery, you want to learn all you can about keeping your child safe and doing the right thing. We read books and attend classes to learn about breastfeeding, newborn care, and spend inordinate amounts of time researching diapers, and how to baby proof our homes and sleep train our infants. But how much time do you spend learning about car seats and their safety?

Since our modern lives have us spending so much of our time in transit, it is vitally important you are fully aware of how to keep your child safe, and it all starts with the kind of car seat you own, and more importantly how to install it.

Car Seat Safety Tips

Here are our tips for you to ensure your child’s car seat is safe:

1. Be sure you choose a car seat recommended for your child’s age and size, and select one that properly fits in your car and use it each and every time you drive with your child. Use gov’s seat and size recommendations here.
2. Be sure to follow the manufacturer instructions specific to the car seat you own, reference the height and weight limits, and reference the owner’s manual for your vehicle to ensure you install the seat properly.
3. Keep your child in a safety seat as long as possible, meaning until they max out the size and weight limitations. Small children are more likely to be injured in car accidents and sometimes it’s because the safety belt, which is intended to protect an adult, did not fit properly and caused harm. Car seats make sure the safety belt keeps a child properly restrained and protected.
4. Once your child is old enough to use the adult safety belt and no longer needs an infant seat or booster, this does not mean he or she can sit in the front seat. Children under 12 should remain in the back seat of the car for maximum safety.

The NHTSA’s full list of car seat recommendations can also help you make sure you keep your kids safe.

Ask a Wichita Personal Injury Attorney

If your child was injured in a car accident because he or she was not properly protected by a car seat contact us online or call us at 316-265-6000 to set up your initial consultation. Our Law Firm is located in Wichita, Kansas.