Jul
27
Written by:
Safekids Media
27/07/2010 1:03 PM
Parents have known for a long time that babies and kids need to be in car seats when travelling, but as children tend to fall asleep in them, we often don’t have the heart to wake them and remove them from the seat once we get to our destination.
The reality is that kids get injured when left in their seat when it is being used for something other than travel. A recent study in the U.S. found that 9,000 infants visit an emergency room per year because of car-seat-related injuries that occurred outside the car!
Infants are usually hurt because the straps were undone and they fell out or the car seat was placed on an elevated surface like a table or shopping cart and they fell off.
Children often fall asleep in their car seats while travelling, but car seats are designed to transport your child safely in a vehicle and they should never be used in place of a crib.
Here are some guidelines that parents and caregivers can follow:
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Babies might have difficulty breathing while in car seats, because their weak necks make it hard for them to hold their heads up. Newborns should spend no more than one hour at a time in their car seat, and parents should ensure that the baby is positioned properly and breathing comfortably. Once a baby reaches one month of age, the risk of breathing problems is very low, so parents can plan longer car trips, while still being careful to monitor and take scheduled rest stops.
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When parents use an infant carrier or car seat outside of their car, they should do so for only a short time and stay close by. It’s important to keep the baby buckled in, and place the seat on a low level, like the floor. This will prevent the car seat and child from falling.
Remember, it’s called a CAR seat for a reason!
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