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Keeping Your Baby Safe in the Car

Keeping Your Baby Safe in the Car - Common Mistakes

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  • Stephanie Tombrello

    Executive Director, SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.

    http://www.carseat.org/   
     

    SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. the national, non-profit organization dedicated to child passenger safety. Our mission is to help reduce the number of serious and fatal traffic injuries suffered by children by promoting the correct, consistent use of safety seats and safety belts. Founded in 1980, SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. is nationally recognized for program excellence, training, and up-to-date technical materials. We provide consultation to advocates, parents, business leaders, the media, and professionals working in the fields of health care, traffic safety, and education. Stephanie M. Tombrello, L.C.S.W., Executive Director of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A., has been involved in child passenger safety since 1970. While shopping for a car seat for her infant daughter, she was shocked to learn that most of the models available in stores were unsafe. Stephanie and several other early pioneers in the field successfully petitioned the federal government to require crash testing for child restraints. She also wrote the petition which resulted in the federal requirement for manufacturers to provide shoulder belts in the rear seats of all post-1989 passenger vehicles.In 1980, Stephanie founded a grassroots organization in the Los Angeles area which evolved to become SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. Under her leadership, the organization has become the premier resource for child passenger safety in the nation. Stephanie is a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technician-Instructor and was appointed in 1995 to the National Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Restraint & Vehicle Compatibility.

  • Keeping Your Baby Safe in the Car - Common Mistakes

    In this video, SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. Executive Director Stephanie Tombrello explains how to buckle up the expectant mother to protect her unborn baby, how to select the appropriate safety seat for a newborn or older baby, how to prevent injuries from air bags, how to install rear-facing safety seats correctly, and the safest location in the car for the baby. She shows common types of car seat misuse and explains how to keep a fussy baby buckled up. The final segments include a one-minute car safety check and additional safety tips for the whole family.

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  • Transcripts

    Stephanie Tombrello: Hello, I am Stephanie Tombrello, Executive Director of SafetyBeltSafe U.

    S.

    A. and we are talking today about how to protect our youngest travelers. Now we are going to talk about some of the common errors that parents and other adults make in transporting children in the car. One of the most common errors is to put a baby who should be rear facing, facing the front of the car. Another common error is to take a rear facing infant only seat that is designed only to ride facing the reared vehicles and try to use it forward facing.

    Of course, that means that there is not correct belt path. With a convertible seat turned around forward facing, we have found that many times parents do not use the correct belt path for forward facing. They think it's okay to either use the latch straps through the rear facing belt path or use the safety belt through that belt path. Now you are putting stress on the safety seat in the wrong place. Probably, the most common error is to have the safety seat too loose in the car. Safety seat should not move more than an inch to the sides or front of the vehicle.

    Many infant safety seats are convertible seats in the rear-facing position, however, can be easily moved more than an inch towards the back of the car; that's fine, because that's a rebound system that helps to dissipate some of the crash forces and that's expected. Another problem is choosing a seat that's totally inappropriate for the child even though the pounds listed on the seat may make you think that it's right. For example, you might have a child who weighs more than 20-22 pounds and find a seat at the store that says that it starts at 20 or 22 pounds and goes to 40 pounds or higher. That seat is for an older child. The pounds have to do with certification, but the age of the child is very important, because that talks about development and behavior.

    So now we have talked about some of the common errors that adults make when transporting children in the car. Next, we are going to talk about how to handle those inevitable fusses that children make when they are riding in a car.

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