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What You Need to Know about Child Safety Seats

August 18th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Many parents want to know about the safety of child safety seats? Has enough child proofing been done by the manufacturer to make them a viable choice for your baby? The truth is that, while many are safe, the way child safety seats are used by parents are the biggest problem in car seat safety.

What it takes to put a child safety seat in Right

Parents make many mistakes in the installation and use of safety seats is a big child proofing issue. For example, parents put child safety seats forwards instead of backwards, They put the straps in an incorrect place, making them too loose to be effective, they put the chest clip in an incorrect place, or they fail to keep the child in a booster seat long enough. Parents also forget when it is adequate to put the child in the front seat of the vehicle.

A Safety Warning You Should Be Aware of

While you may be using your child safety seat as directed, automakers have found that they may not be as safe as one would think. For example, the writers of Consumer Reports tested a dozen infant car seats and found that the car seats did not perform as well as expected.

Even so, safety officials say that child safety seats are at least 17 percent effective in reducing infant deaths and are 54 percent effective in saving the lives of kids aged 1-4 years. Even booster seats are helpful—reducing injury rates in children 4-7 years old by 59 percent. Some European models, however, have shown to be more effective than US-made products.

Safety Seats Controversies

The National Highway and Safety Administration differs in opinion from Consumer Reports and calls their study defective. They stated that, in side impact collisions, the study mimicked a side impact speed greater than 70 miles per hour. When tested at slightly more than half that speed, the child safety seats operated appropriately. This resulted in Consumer Reports withdrawing the results of their report and plan to retest some of the car seats before sending it back out for republication.

The Truth about the Safest Child Safety Seats

If you are a family that already has a safe car seat that has not been recalled, you should stick to the one you have. If, however, you are child proofing and are in the market for a really safe infant car seat, you need to know that the Graco SnugRide and the Baby Trend Flex-Loc performed the best in the Consumer Report’s study. Be sure to read the instructions, as with any infant car seat, and take your time putting in the car seat in the safest possible position for your child.