Car Seat Safety

Tonight I went to a car seat safety class put on by a program called Safe Kids in my county. I already knew most of what they went over but it was good to hear it nonetheless. In return for taking the class and giving a $20 donation I was given a convertible car seat for Baby T. The same car seat retails for $150! It was well worth 45 minutes of my time. I learned a lot in the class. For example,

Several studies done by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that 82% of car seats and installed and used incorrectly.

I also got a really good piece of information. Your baby can outgrow his or her car seat without reaching the height or weight requirement. Baby T is a big boy. He's very tall but it is all in the torso. His head is about even with the top of his car seat. Even though he hasn't met the height or weight limits for his infant seat he needs to switch to a convertible for this reason. It isn't safe for children to be in an infant seat when their head is within 1 inch of the top of the hard plastic shell of the car seat. I had no idea that his car seat wasn't safe anymore. How could I?

So please, please, please look into a car seat safety class. Your baby's car seat can save his life. It's such an easy (and usually free) thing to do. Plus, you might get a very inexpensive car seat out of the deal!

For those of you in Fort Collins, check out the Safe Kids program:
http://www.safekidslcc.org/carseatresources.html They're hosting an event September 11th where they will check your car seat (or you can call the Fire Department to set up an appointment for them to check it).