April 2007
More tips for safer seating
Always use a car safety seat and make sure your child is buckled up every time you drive, even if it's just down the street or criss-crossing a parking
lot.
Keep your child's convertible seat facing the rear of the vehicle until he reaches the weight and height limits specified by the manufacturer. Don't switch the convertible car seat to a front-facing orientation for a child younger than 1 year and weighing 20 pounds or less. That can result in death or serious injury in a crash. Some children ride rearfacing beyond their second birthday.
Location, location. The safest place for a child is in your vehicle's rear-center seat. The car seat should never be installed on a front seat that has an air bag. Two exceptions: If your car doesn't have a back seat, or if your child has a medical condition that requires constant monitoring, you can have an on/off switch installed for the front-passenger air bag or have it disconnected so the child's car seat can go next to the driver. But to have that done you'll need a letter of authorization from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To obtain one, contact the agency via its Web site, www.nhtsa.gov.
Secure installation. A tight fit is a major factor in crash protection. With LATCH, our testers have been able to get child seats to fit tightly in almost all cars, while with vehicle belts it can be more difficult to obtain a secure fit. Though LATCH was designed to make installation easier, the system is not without problems. A recent NHTSA study on LATCH found that some parents are not installing seats properly, even with LATCH.
Insist on new. Although there are many baby items you can borrow or buy secondhand, don't make a car seat one of them if you can avoid it. A used seat may have been in a crash or recalled. The manufacturer's instructions may be missing. If, for some reason, you must use a secondhand seat, avoid those with an unknown history or that are older than 6 years. In the world of car seats, a 6-year-old model is a relic--and risky. You'll also want to avoid recalled models. You can check for recalled models at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls.
Send in the registration card that comes with new car seats. That way, you can be notified by the manufacturer if the car seat is recalled You can also find recall information at the NHTSA Web site (www.nhtsa.gov) and or on this site at blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/recalls. If you have a car seat that attaches to a stroller, you can sign up for the Consumer Product Safety Commission's e-mail subscription list at www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Updated recall information on all infant products will be sent directly to your e-mail in-box.
Replace the seat after a crash. Although NHTSA now says that parents can be confident that a child car seat will continue to do its job after a minor crash--with "minor crash" defined as the seat has no visible cracks or deformation caused by the crash; the crashed vehicle can be driven; no one in the car was injured; the door nearest the car seat was not damaged; and air bags did not deploy--we believe you should err on the side of maximum safety and replace the seat even after a "minor" crash.
Keep your child's convertible seat facing the rear of the vehicle until he reaches the weight and height limits specified by the manufacturer. Don't switch the convertible car seat to a front-facing orientation for a child younger than 1 year and weighing 20 pounds or less. That can result in death or serious injury in a crash. Some children ride rearfacing beyond their second birthday.
Location, location. The safest place for a child is in your vehicle's rear-center seat. The car seat should never be installed on a front seat that has an air bag. Two exceptions: If your car doesn't have a back seat, or if your child has a medical condition that requires constant monitoring, you can have an on/off switch installed for the front-passenger air bag or have it disconnected so the child's car seat can go next to the driver. But to have that done you'll need a letter of authorization from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To obtain one, contact the agency via its Web site, www.nhtsa.gov.
Secure installation. A tight fit is a major factor in crash protection. With LATCH, our testers have been able to get child seats to fit tightly in almost all cars, while with vehicle belts it can be more difficult to obtain a secure fit. Though LATCH was designed to make installation easier, the system is not without problems. A recent NHTSA study on LATCH found that some parents are not installing seats properly, even with LATCH.
Insist on new. Although there are many baby items you can borrow or buy secondhand, don't make a car seat one of them if you can avoid it. A used seat may have been in a crash or recalled. The manufacturer's instructions may be missing. If, for some reason, you must use a secondhand seat, avoid those with an unknown history or that are older than 6 years. In the world of car seats, a 6-year-old model is a relic--and risky. You'll also want to avoid recalled models. You can check for recalled models at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls.
Send in the registration card that comes with new car seats. That way, you can be notified by the manufacturer if the car seat is recalled You can also find recall information at the NHTSA Web site (www.nhtsa.gov) and or on this site at blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/recalls. If you have a car seat that attaches to a stroller, you can sign up for the Consumer Product Safety Commission's e-mail subscription list at www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Updated recall information on all infant products will be sent directly to your e-mail in-box.
Replace the seat after a crash. Although NHTSA now says that parents can be confident that a child car seat will continue to do its job after a minor crash--with "minor crash" defined as the seat has no visible cracks or deformation caused by the crash; the crashed vehicle can be driven; no one in the car was injured; the door nearest the car seat was not damaged; and air bags did not deploy--we believe you should err on the side of maximum safety and replace the seat even after a "minor" crash.
