Car Safety Seats

What Parents Need to Know

Car Safety Seats: What Parents Need to Know
By Elizabeth Heubeck

Sifting through photographs of barely recognizable cars severely damaged in accidents, I stiffened, imagining the potential devastation suffered by the passengers. One of the photos showed a crumpled car that had flipped five times after being struck by a vehicle traveling at high speed on Interstate 95. Three young children were in the back seat at the time of the accident. None was injured.
Deborah Baer—a certified instructor in child passenger safety, car seat guru, installer and activist—explains why. Their car seats were properly installed.
Riding in properly secured car seats, the children who endured the crash unharmed were in the minority. An estimated 90 percent of all car seats are installed improperly, according to recent statistics.
What do parents do wrong? I ask Baer.
“Everything,” she answers matter-of-factly.
And it’s no wonder, with all the factors that go into properly installing a car seat. Considering the risks posed by improperly installed seats, however, taking the time to do it right is well worth it.
Wanting to learn first-hand the proper car seat installation technique, I took my car, kids and husband to Baer’s house, where she has begun something of an underground car seat installation program. You simply call her, set up a time and expect to spend the next hour or two in her Baltimore County driveway.
“I do this 24/7,” says Baer.
Many people find out about Baer through word-of-mouth. I received her name from Barbara Beckett, executive director of the Maryland Commission for Seat Belt Use and state coordinator for Maryland Safe Kids Coalition.
It took Baer two hours to demonstrate and help us properly install two car seats. Along the way, she convinced us to discard one seat, which she promptly replaced with a new, safer and larger seat for my daughter that she pulled from her garage. In exchange for the car seat, we made a $70 donation to the non-profit Maryland Safe Kids Coalition.
That Baer stows car seats in her garage was less shocking to me than the diligence and physical strength required to properly install the things. A petite yet visibly strong woman, Baer goes about her business with gusto, pushing and pulling on the seat, at times looking as if she’s wrestling a bear. She rarely does installations alone, which is why it was wise for me to bring my husband along.
Baer fully engaged him in the process, at times shouting directives such as, “Pull, now push, get your knee in there!”
There’s a reason for all the effort.
“You want to get the car seat so it’s married to the car,” Baer says.
After she and my husband were through, they’d clearly achieved the desired effect. Those seats weren’t going anywhere, regardless of the impact they encountered. And that’s just what Baer—and safety-conscious parents—want to see.

A Little History
That wasn’t always the case. A little more than 20 years ago, most kids were jostling about in their parents’ cars, oblivious of the role of car seats. Maryland’s first car seat law took effect in 1984.
“A lot of pediatricians and nurses working in prenatal and neonatal units were seeing all these crashes in which babies were riding in moms’ arms, so they worked with manufacturers to do something about it,” Beckett says.
Baer was and remains a labor and delivery nurse dedicated to seeing the infants she helps bring into the world survive. Pushing for safety laws then, as now, Baer wrote the first course in Maryland on child passenger safety back in the 1980s.
Despite remaining widespread ignorance regarding proper car installation, Baer is encouraged at the growing interest she’s witnessed over the last 20 years. She recalls a time in the late 1980s, when she distributed 3000 flyers for a car seat check—and got three responses.
“Now, you get so many people you don’t know what to do,” she says.
But there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“It’s really scary…we still have kids who aren’t buckled up,” adds Baer. BC


Tips for Proper Car Safety Seat Installation and Usage, Stage by Stage *
Infant Seats
Install the car seat before baby is born.
Infants must ride in rear-facing seats until they’re at least 1 year of age and 20 to 22 pounds. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing seats until children reach 30 pounds, or when their head is within one inch of the top of the seat. (Some car seat models are now certifying rear-facing use up to 35 pounds.)
“Rear-facing saves many more lives,” Baer says.
To ensure proper fit, check to see that the child’s shoulders are at or below the top strap slots.

Forward-facing Car Seats
Although children can be placed in a forward-facing seat at 20 pounds, recent recommendations suggest using a rear-facing car seat certified for up to 30 or 35 pounds before switching to a forward-facing seat.
Safety experts recommend the five-point harness without shield.
“Tray seats do not protect as well,” notes Baer, adding that they do not restrain the child as well upon impact.
To ensure proper fit, check to see that the child’s shoulders are at or below the top strap slots.
Keep straps of harness on the child’s shoulders.
Test the snugness of the straps: If you can fit more than one finger underneath the straps at the child’s collar bone, it’s too loose.

Booster Seats (for children over 40 pounds)
Children can move to a booster seat when they weigh at least 40 pounds.
Most kids need to ride in a booster seat until at least age 8, sometimes longer, until the safety belt fits properly without it.
Never place the shoulder belt under the child’s arm or behind his or her back.
Take the five-step test:
1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your child needs a booster seat to make both the shoulder belt and the lap belt fit right for the best crash protection. Your child will be more comfortable, too!
* Source: SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.

General Tips for Car Safety Seat Usage
Under Maryland law, all children must meet the following two requirements before “graduating” from a federally approved child safety seat (e.g., front-facing car seat or booster seat): a minimum age of 6 years old AND a weight of 40 pounds or more.
Car seats last only six years, as plastic erodes and straps fray. Throw yours away if it’s older than that. Don’t know? Flip it upside down to look for date of manufacture.
Check for recalls on a car seat before purchasing it.
Choose a car seat that’s easy to install.
If you’re using a latch system, do not let children sitting in a full-harness car seat play with the adult shoulder strap. This could result in injury.
Read both the vehicle owner’s manual and car seat instructional manual before installing car seat.
Make sure shoulder straps remain flat during usage. Bunched up straps can cut like rope during an accident.
Ensure tightness of safety belt when securing the seat.
Exercise caution before using a second-hand car seat whose history remains unknown (e.g., whether it’s been in a crash, recalled, etc.).


Resources
Maryland SAFE KIDS Coalition, 410.767.5300 or 1-800-370-7328 (SEAT).
Maryland Kids in Safety Seats (KISS), www.mdkiss.org.
Maryland State Police, 410-653-6129.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 888-327-4236, www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
SafetyBeltSafe USA, www.carseat.org.
©Baltimore’s Child Inc. March, 2007