You might be wondering why does a newborn child need a separate different type of car seat when it can just sit on its parent’s lap in the front seat or its sibling’s lap in the back seat? Well, in most countries, you cannot have another person sitting on your lap whether it’s the front seat or the back seat and if you break the law, you might be looking at a huge fine. Apart from the law, it is highly unsafe for a child to sit on someone’s lap as during an accident or when the car brakes all of a sudden, the child might hit his or her head on the object that is present in front of it and might get injured very badly.
Today, we will be talking about why car seat safety for newborns is an important child and we will try our best to cover every single aspect so that you gain all the knowledge that you need on newborn car seats and their safety.
Why Car Seat Safety for Newborns Matters?
To start off with, we all know that we would do anything to protect our child at all times but it’s better to be prepared for danger than unprepared because if you are unprepared, then you could seriously risk injury to your child. In the case of a car, the best method to protect your child would be to get a car safety seat for your newborn child. A car safety seat isn’t like just any kind of car seat as it comes with a small space that will make sure to hold the baby in its place and not have any gaps anywhere, where the child could move back and forth & left and right.
Now, for a car safety seat to be completely safe for a newborn child, you need to make sure that while adjusting and putting it properly in its place, you are reading the manual and following every single guideline because if you don’t follow the guidelines properly, then the child safety seat won’t be put on properly, which might lead to injuries to the newborn child. You need to make sure that every single part of the car safety seat is properly attached to your car seat so that in case of a hard brake or sudden stop, the car safety seat doesn’t fly off its position due to improper set-up.
By setting up your car safety seat properly, you will not only be reducing the risk of injuries to your child, but you will also be reducing the risk of death as a car safety seat’s job is to protect the child at all costs and if set-up perfectly, then the car safety seat will keep the baby in one position and prevent all kinds of moving back and forth.
Choosing the Right Car Seat Safety for Your Newborn:
Now, you might be thinking there is only one kind of car seat safety for newborns, the small seat you see in movies where the actor keeps their baby in. That isn’t exactly true because there isn’t just one type of car safety seat but rather 3 different types of car safety seats. Let us go through them one by one.
Rear-Facing car seat (Aged 0-1 year old):
This is the most common type of car seat safety for newborns that you will see everywhere and this is the perfect type of seat for a newborn child. They are designed specifically for newborn children and small babies to keep them in a safe position. However, since they are mainly designed for newborn children and small babies, they won’t be useful for a long time, as they will soon outgrow them by the time they turn 1 year old. In that case, you can change it to a forward facing car seat from a rear-facing car seat.
A forward facing car seat is equipped with a tether and a harness, which makes it easier to strap the child in tightly and more safely while making sure the car safety seat in fixed in a specific spot tightly without any loose ends. Once the child grows up a bit more, it can then be replaced with a booster seat which can be used for a very long time as the child keeps on growing and growing needing to worry about a new seat.
Forward Facing Car seat (Age 1-3 years old):
This car seat safety for newborns is designed for mainly children above 1 year old to 3 years old where the child isn’t too big to fit in it. The best part about a forward facing car seat is that it is equipped with a harness and tether which will help not only keep the child totally strapped in but also make sure that the car seat safety for newborn is also properly strapped in so that during any kind of accidents or hard brake, the car safety seat won’t move from it’s position and fall off.
Booster Seat (Age 3-8 years old):
This car safety seat for newborns is designed for mainly children above 3 years old and all the way to 8 years old which makes this car safety seat very cost-saving since you don’t need to buy different types of car safety seats every 2 years. This car safety seat will boost the child’s height to make sure that the seat belt will reach the child and can strap it in properly. Some booster seats come with a head support to rest the neck and your head making them a much more suitable choice than the backless booster seats that do not come with a head support. Due to elevated height and being able to use the seat belt, the child will be highly protected during the whole car ride.
Importance of Installing Newborn’s Car Seat Safety
For your baby’s protection, the proper installation of a newborn car safety seat is crucial. Here are a few explanations:
- Accident protection: A correctly placed vehicle safety seat can aid in protecting your infant in the event of a collision. It may even be able to save your baby’s life by preventing damage.
- Preventing ejection: If a vehicle safety seat is placed incorrectly, a collision might cause the child to be thrown from the seat. This may be avoided with proper installation, which includes the use of the appropriate harnessing and seatbelt systems.
- Reducing head and neck injuries: A properly placed automobile safety seat can reduce the risk of head and neck injuries during a collision. A five-point harness, for example, can assist in dispersing and absorbing the impact of a collision, lowering the chance of harm.
- Regulation adherence: It’s crucial to install a car safety seat correctly to guarantee that local and federal laws are followed. A newborn’s vehicle safety seat may be required by law in some locations, and improper installation of the seat may result in penalties and other legal ramifications.
- Peace of mind: Last but not least, parents may experience peace of mind by properly installing a car safety seat since they will know that they have done all essential efforts to keep their infant safe while riding in a car.
a car safety seat for newborns must be installed correctly for neonates to be secure and protected when riding in a car. It may provide parents peace of mind, comply with rules, and assist avoid injuries.
Let us move on to the next section since we have just finished discussing the different types of it, we will be heading on to the “How to set up your car safety seat for newborns” section.
Detail Discussion of how to install a car seat safely
Setting up your car seat safety for newborns precisely is very important because if you don’t set it up properly, then your car safety seat for newborns will be loose and rock back & forth and left & right during the car ride and that is highly unsafe whilst making your baby nauseous. You need to set up your car seat safety for newborns perfectly for the safety of your child since that is everyone’s priority.
One of the best ways to latch your car seat safety for a newborn onto your car seat is by using the LATCH process. The LATCH process stands for Lower Anchor and Tether for CHildren. This process is being used in many places to make sure that the car safety seat can safely and tightly latch onto the car seat without much work or making a mess.
Step-by-step instructions for installing a car seat using the LATCH system
The first thing that you need to do is you need to read the car manual and the child car safety seat instruction guideline and understand what needs to be done.
Once read thoroughly, you need to look for the latch signs on your car seats and see if they are present in your car or not once you find them, you will now have to follow every single step that was written on the instruction guideline precisely because if you miss one step or don’t follow a step correctly, then your child safety seat won’t be put on properly which will make it lose and an unsafe place for your child and increase the risk of injuries. You need to attach all the hooks from the base of the child safety seat onto the car seat’s own lower anchor where you will see the rear backseat will meet the seat cushion.
Always makes sure to strongly tighten and strap all the straps down by following the car safety seat’s manual. While strapping in the car safety seat, make sure that you apply some pressure to the car safety seat downwards so that the car safety seat is strapped in more tightly without any wiggle room.
One important thing that you need to keep in mind is that, while putting on your car safety seat for newborns, you need to make sure that the straps are flat when putting them through the seats and not twisted as twisted straps won’t make the seat nice and tight. Once you have followed the instruction manual properly and completed setting up your child’s car safety seat, make sure to move around the car safety seat. If the car safety seat doesn’t move around a bit and stays firm, then that means that the car safety seat has been set up perfectly, but if the car safety seat moves around a bit, then you need to check the straps and hooks once again and fix it until the seat is tight and firm.
When to use the seat belt installation method?
Now that you have properly set up the car safety seat, you need to know that it’s not just another seat to put your newborn child on. A car safety seat’s role is to make sure the newborn child is safe and secured in the car whilst providing maximum comfort. It is designed to make sure that the newborn child is 100% safe during the whole car ride. Once you have set up your car safety seat properly, then you need to move on to “how to strap in your newborn child onto the car safety seat?” It isn’t a difficult process but it is a crucial process because if you don’t place and adjust your child properly onto the car safety seat, then he or she might be prone to injuries.
The first thing that you need to do is that, after you have placed your child on the car safety seat, you need to adjust the harness straps and the chest clip properly and make sure that it’s not too tight as that will make it difficult for the baby to breathe and not too loose as that will lead to the baby rocking during the whole car ride making it nauseous and making him/her prone to injuries. Just because you have a car safety seat strapped inside your car doesn’t mean that it will clean itself and make sure it’s neat and tidy at all times.
You need to clean the car safety seat from time to time because if you don’t keep it clean at all times, then dust and dirt will start to accumulate on to your car safety seat which is really unhygienic and can affect your newborn child very badly. You will know that it’s time to clean your child’s car safety seat when you notice that it has some dirt on it or it’s color is starting to change. It isn’t that hard to clean a car safety seat, as all you need to do is, first take a vacuum cleaner and vacuum out the dust and the other debris.
Once that is taken care of, you need to take some mild soap and apply it thoroughly onto the car safety seat, mainly on the stains, get a damp cloth or a brush with soft bristles and start to slowly wipe it down. You need to wipe it down properly to make sure that there isn’t any moisture left on the car safety seat and while wiping it down, do not apply too much pressure as that might lead to the tearing of the car safety seat’s surface. You don’t to buy a new car safety seat every time you see that it becomes dirty as a car safety seat is very durable and doesn’t need to be replaced for at least 6 years.
Common Car Seat Safety Myths Debunked:
There is a myth that goes around saying that some might think that a car safety seat is a waste of money and time because why bother to buy a car safety seat when you can just hold the newborn child in your arms, right? However, I am here to debunk this myth and say that it is very unsafe to hold a newborn child as a car can suddenly brake hard and if a newborn child is on someone’s arm, then he or she will directly hit the front and get injured very badly. Apart from the newborn child getting hurt, the one who was holding the newborn child will also be injured badly since they were busy holding the baby and not protecting themselves.
In most countries, you could be heavily fined if you have a newborn child in your arms instead of a car safety seat and some countries have permanent laws that require you to travel with a car safety seat at all times if you have a newborn child. Secondly, some might say that if you are making a quick run to the grocery store, then you don’t need to put the newborn child in the car safety seat because why should I go through such a hassle if it’s just for a small time, right.
Well, I am here to debunk this myth and tell you again how unsafe that is because it only a second for something bad to happen. You could be taking a turn right after leaving your house, and at that moment only while taking the turn, you hit another car. Not only will you be hurting yourself, you will also put the newborn child’s life at risk. Therefore, no matter how short or long the car ride is, Always make sure to put your child in the car safety seat for maximum protection since protecting them is our main priority.
Finally, the third myth that I will be debunking is that some people say that it is very safe to buy a secondhand car safety seat. That is 100% not true as it is highly unsafe to buy a secondhand car safety seat since you have no idea where it has been as someone could also possibly pick it up from a dumpster, wipe it down a bit and sell it to you by telling you that he used it personally with care.
Apart from that, a secondhand car safety seat could have wear and tear on it that makes it look ugly and if the owner did not take good care of it, then there could be dust and dirt stuck on it, which is very unhygienic and unsafe for your newborn child. Therefore, whenever you want to buy a car safety seat, always buy the new packaged ones from the baby shops and if you are not on a budget, then go for the branded ones, as they will have more perks compared to the normal ones.
Conclusion:
To wrap things up, we have concluded everything that you need to know about a newborn child’s car safety seat. A car safety seat is very crucial for a newborn child, as a newborn child needs to be protected at all costs and a car safety seat’s job is to protect the child during all car rides. Without a car safety seat for newborns, a child in at a very high risk of massive injuries and possibly even death. Some might say that a newborn child is safe in the arms of the passenger but that is highly unsafe and could lead to serious injuries for both the newborn child and the passenger since the passenger won’t have the capacity to protect himself or herself or the newborn baby.
There have been many laws around the world where it is illegal to put a newborn child on to the passenger’s arm during a car ride and in some countries, you can be fined a lot for that. Therefore, why bother to put your newborn child’s safety at risk and break the law when you can just easily buy a car safety seat and install it in no time? I believe that, in my opinion, there should be more laws on having a car safety seat for children as it minimized their risk of injuries.
We all face different kinds of problems every day and we at Hacks for Cars try our best to help everyone with their problems and make sure that they leave our site with a smile on their face. I hope that this piece of the article was able to educate you on everything that you need to know about car safety seats for newborn children. If you have any other questions about other problems, then you can refer to our other articles, which might help you.
