Are you about to buy a car seat for your newborn child and wondering whether it’s safe or not? You might hear some say that car seats are very safe and extremely needed for newborn children if they are going to go on a car ride and you will hear some say that car seats are a waste of money for newborns as you can just carry them on your arms.
The people who say that car seats for newborns are not needed are in the wrong here as car seats are designed to protect your newborn child at all times. So, if you want to keep your newborn child safe from all kinds of harm during a car ride, then you need to get a car safety seat. Today, we will discuss everything exactly How safe are car safety seats for newborns. So, don’t go anywhere and stick with us and we dive into our topic.
How Car Seats Protect Newborns in a Crash?
To begin with, newborn babies cannot sit all by themselves on a normal car seat nor can they use the seat belt to strap themselves in and that could be very dangerous during a car ride if the baby isn’t strapped in safely. In such cases, what is the solution? Well, the one and only solution would be to get a car safety seat for your newborn child. How safe are car safety seats for newborns? Well, as the name mentions safety, its sole purpose is to make sure the newborn child is completely safe and in perfect condition during the whole car ride while providing the maximum amount of comfort to the newborn child.
How car seats are designed to protect newborns?
Car safety seats are designed in such a complex yet simple manner to protect your newborn child. They come with a perfect headrest for the child so that the newborn child does not develop any kind of neck problems or have any neck pain and feels discomfort. It also has a proper backrest that is curved a little so that the newborn baby can relax and lie down instead of sitting up straight completely like an office chair.
Protective soft pillow-type materials surround a car safety seat so that the newborn child does not feel any kind of discomfort while sitting in it and since it’s overloaded with it, in case of an accident, it will protect the newborn child from all kinds of dangers and prevent injuries. It is also equipped with a strap since a newborn child cannot use a seat belt, you can use the strap instead to strap your newborn child onto the car safety seat for maximum protection.
A car safety seat is adjusted and strapped onto the car seat and then the newborn child that is sitting on the car safety seat is strapped on the car safety seat that comes with it to make sure that the newborn child is safely and perfectly strapped in. If the newborn child isn’t strapped onto the car safety seat, then in case an accident occurs, the newborn child will be hurled off the car safety seat and will get seriously injured or even die on the spot since newborn children aren’t built to handle such kinds of accidents.
Even without an accident, if the driver suddenly brakes the car very hard and the newborn child isn’t strapped in, then he or she will fall off the car safety seat. The car safety seat won’t fall off because it was adjusted tightly onto the car seat but instead, the newborn baby will fall off because he/she wasn’t strapped onto the car safety seat. This is why it is very important to make sure that your newborn child is perfectly strapped onto the car’s safety seat to prevent any kind of injuries and reduce the risk of death. Just like how a car seat belt will keep us adults safe in the case of a car accident, a car safety seat acts the same way towards a newborn child but with extra protection.
Safety Standards and Regulations for Car Seats for Newborns:
Governmental organizations set car seat safety standards and requirements to guarantee that the seats are built, designed, and function effectively to protect infants in the case of a collision. In the US, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) monitors car seats for safety risks and non-crash related occurrences while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) establishes the federal safety standards for car seats.
The safest posture for infants in a car is rear-facing, and car seats for newborns are made to safeguard them in that position. The most popular kind of car seat for newborns is a rear-facing-only seat, which can normally accommodate children up to 22 to 35 pounds and up to 29 to 32 inches in height. Convertible car seats generally feature weight and height restrictions of 40 to 50 pounds and 40 to 54 inches, respectively, and can be used in both rear-facing and forward-facing orientations. Similar to convertible car seats, 3-in-1 and all-in-one car seats also function as booster seats for older kids.
Parents should search for a label that says the car seat is NHTSA-certified to ensure that it complies with safety requirements. The weight and height restrictions for the car seat, the installation direction, and other crucial details will all be listed on this label.
Safety Tests for Car Seats for Newborns:
Car seats for newborns must undergo a variety of safety tests to evaluate their ability to protect infants in the event of a crash. The NHTSA has established a set of safety tests that all car seats must pass to be certified for sale in the United States. Some of the tests that car seats must undergo include:
- Frontal impact test: This test simulates a head-on collision.
- Side impact test: This test simulates a T-bone collision.
- Rear impact test: This test simulates a rear-end collision.
- Roll-over test: This test simulates a vehicle rolling over.
- Dynamic sled test: This test simulates a crash by accelerating the car seat on a sled and stopping it suddenly.
The results of these tests are used to determine the safety ratings of car seats. The NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) both publish safety ratings for car seats based on the results of these tests. It is important for parents to choose a car seat that has been tested and rated for safety by these agencies.
Research on Car Seat Safety for Newborns:
Research on baby car seat safety is still being conducted, and it has already revealed important facts about how well-suited these devices are to keeping babies safe in the case of an accident. Car seats can lower the risk of injury and death for newborns involved in auto accidents by up to 71%, according to observational studies.
In some circumstances, nevertheless, there have been questions raised concerning the safety of infant car seats. For instance, a 2016 research in the journal Paediatrics indicated that car seats may affect preterm infants’ respiration and oxygen levels, especially during lengthy vehicle trips. This study emphasizes the need for more research to fully comprehend the advantages and disadvantages of car seats for newborns, particularly those who are preterm or have severe medical issues.
The goal of ongoing research in the area of newborn car seat safety is to enhance the design and build of car seats to better protect babies in the case of a collision.
Common safety concerns for newborns in car seats:
One of the most common concerns for first-time parents is that their newborn child be all alone in the backseat of the car on a car safety seat and will cry a lot due to his/her parent’s absence. Unless there are other people in the backseat, the newborn child will be scared and will keep on calling out for their parents. This could also make the parents feel very uncomfortable and anxious, as they cannot be there for the baby. The mother could sit in the backseat but then the police could get suspicious, stop the car and ask that questions like why the passenger seat is empty despite there being passengers in the car and create a hassle.
Secondly, if the car safety seat isn’t tightly and properly set up on the car’s backseat, it could rock and move left and right during the whole car ride making the newborn child nauseous and car sick and if a newborn child gets nauseous, then they can easily vomit and ruin the car seats. Another concern is that since there are a lot of different types of cars, not all cars are equipped with the proper area to place a car safety seat, which can then make it difficult to adjust the car safety seat properly onto the car. With a specific area, the car safety seat can be properly and easily strapped on to car’s back seat without any worries but with that missing, you will need to make your own area and try to adjust it perfectly onto the car’s back seat.
Now, these concerns might make you feel like not getting a car safety seat for your newborn child but I can assure that these are nothing but minor concerned that shouldn’t get in your head. You just need to keep them in your mind so that you can avoid these and get better results. If you don’t buy a car safety seat for your newborn child due to these minor concerns, then you will not only be breaking the law by not providing your child with a car safety seat but you will also be putting your newborn child’s life at a big risk because during an accident, there won’t be anything protecting the newborn child and newborn children aren’t ready to handle car accidents.
A car safety seat’s primary and only goal is to protect a newborn child’s life from all kinds of harm and accidents. It is designed in such a way that it will make sure that the newborn baby will be protected from both the left and right side and make sure that baby is tightly and perfectly strapped on to the car safety seat so that he/she does not fall off the car safety seat and hit his/her head on the ground.
Tips for Maximizing car seat safety for newborns
Now that we almost come to the end, here are some tips that can help you maximize car seat safety for your newborn child
- Get a car safety seat that has “X” shaped straps
You are probably confused by the X shaped straps but you don’t have to be as “X” shaped straps are basically two diagonal seat belts from both the left and right side with a lock in the middle, as usual, you will find car safety seats with only one diagonal seat belt. While a car safety seat with one diagonal belt is good and safe, the ones with 2 diagonal belts are better as they provide more protection by keeping the baby more strapped in inside the car safety seat.
It’s better to place the car safety seat somewhere protected:
A car safety seat will always be strapped onto the car’s back seat but where exactly is the safest part? You might think that in the middle is a good option so that both the father and mother can easily get a look at their newborn child but that isn’t quite right. It’s because during a serious accident, the car’s windshield can break and there are chances that the glass can come back and hit the child since a car safety seat doesn’t come with a shield, those broken glasses can actually hit the newborn child and injure him/her very badly and it could even lead to death due to massive cuts and bleeding.
Therefore, the proper place to adjust a car safety seat would be behind the driver’s seat or the passenger’s seat so that the baby has some kind of protective shield that will protect the baby from harm whilst letting the newborn child enjoy the outside scenery through the window.
Conclusion:
Now that we have reached the end, we have discussed everything there is to know about how safe are car safety seats for newborn babies. If you have a newborn child and you plan to go out frequently, then you must get a car safety seat to make sure your newborn child is safe during the whole ride.
Even if you don’t go out frequently but occasionally, you still need to get a car safety seat for your newborn child because accidents can happen anytime so if you think that maybe if I take my newborn baby out once for a short time, he/she will be fine but that is the wrong kind of thinking that could injure your newborn child anytime. Car safety seats are designed to protect newborn children during the whole car ride from all side so not getting one would be putting your newborn child’s life at risk.
The government should implement more laws and use car safety seats for babies and make them stricter. They need to be stricter so that people cannot bypass them easily and have to make an effort to keep their newborn babies in car safety seat instead of their arms, which is very dangerous. By implementing more laws, we can protect newborn babies from injuries and reduce their risk of death by car accidents.
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 how safe car safety seats are for newborns. If you have any other questions about other problems, then you can refer to our other articles, which might help you.
