Understanding and caring babies at all stages

Most parents understand the importance of putting their children in car seats, especially their younger kids, but reports still show that 80% of kids aren't secured correctly in a car seat. Carseat safety is simply not a joke and it has to be attended with maximum caution.

Among the easiest mistakes to avoid is to just make sure that your child is in the correct car seat for his age and that he is facing the right direction.

Here are some car seat safety directions :

• Infants should be in a rear facing infant only seat or convertible seat until they are 1 year old AND twenty pounds. Children who reach twenty pounds before their first birthday still need to face backwards and can be moved into a rear facing convertible seat.


• Smaller infants who don't reach 20 pounds until after their first birthday should also continue to face backwards. This is more a minimum though. Many people advocate continuing to sit toddlers rear facing in a convertible seat until they outgrow it for added safety. After they are twenty pounds and have passed their first birthday, toddlers can use a forward facing car seat (either a convertible, combination or forward facing seat) until they are about 40 pounds.
  
• Children over forty pounds should be placed into a belt positioning booster seat (either a combination seat or booster seat) and they will usually stay in it until they are at least 8 years old. You should not use your car's regular seat belts until they fit correctly when your child is about 80 pounds and is 4ft 9 inches tall.

• Remember that your child will not be ready to use regular seat belts until the shoulder strap fits across his shoulder and not his neck, and the lap belt fits across his hips and not his stomach. All children under 12 years of age should be placed in the back seat of the car, especially if you have passenger side air bags.