Safety Seat Check-points this weekend!

AAA and IDOT are holding safety seat checkpoints at 82 locations throughout the state as part of National Child Passenger Safety Week.

Don't turn your child's car seat around until he/she is too tall or weighs too much for the seat. That's the newest recommendation. It is no longer one year old and 20 pounds. My little guy just turned two and I haven't changed his seat around. I thought it was going to be a big deal to keep him rear facing, but it has actually been nice. The seat still reclines. So when he falls asleep, his head doesn't flop around. And I just reclined the seat in the van so his big ol' feet aren't scrunched(he almost wears the same size shoe as my four-year-old.)

Most car seats are not installed correctly. It's a great idea to have someone who is trained take a look at yours. Again, there are 82 free checks this Saturday in Illinois. To find seat check locations throughout the state, visit www.buckleupillinois.org.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Unbuckling the Car Seat

My four-year-old has been known to get his arms out of the five point harness car seat. I think it's my fault because the straps must not be tight enough. We have gone from winter coats to t-shirts to sweat jackets in the last few weeks. I always tighten the harnesses back up, but I guess they aren't as snug as they should be. Thankfully, he hasn't figured out how to unbuckle the car seat just yet. I remember when my oldest did. He still gets out of his seat more than he should and he'll be 8 this year! Have your kids ever maneuvered their way out of the car seat?

FROM NBC: Many young children have the motor skills to unbuckle their own car seats long before they have the thinking skills to know why it's dangerous. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine surveyed parents with kids under age 6.

They found the vast majority of kids who unbuckle themselves from the car seats -- 75-percent -- are under age 3! Some little Houdinis were able to free themselves as young as 12-months old.

It was more common among boys than girls. And nearly half of kids who unbuckled did so while their vehicle was in motion. when they were in 5-point harnesses, most managed only to undo the top buckle.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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FINALLY:Car Seat Recommendations Changed

This actually really irritates me. This is why I NEVER say government organizations are always right. When they discover a rule or guideline needs to be changed, it take a RIDICULOUSLY long time to actually change anything. It is really frustrating. There is a supposedly "new" recommendation released today that kids need to stay rear facing in a car seat until 2 years old.
Duh-we've been talking about this on my blog for a very long time. When did experts first realize this? Check out this article on my blog dated May 18, 2009! If this is such a huge safety issue, why did it take them almost two years to release an official recommendation? When there's that much red tape, there's a problem in my opinion. (Ok, off my soap box now..)

I am actually abiding by this rule. It's probably more out of laziness than anything else! But seriously, I just never took the time to change the car seat around because I knew it was safer to keep my 18 month old rear facing(and because it's filthy dirty and I didn't want to touch it). I just reclined the seat so his big ol's feet would fit. I also have my four-year-old in a five point harness and my seven-year-old in a booster seat. He will continue to use the booster until the seat belt hits his shoulder instead of his neck. How about you?

Here's the story that ran on NBC today: There's new advice this morning for parents of young children -- about when you should turn your babies' car seats around to face the front. Many parents mark their children's first birthday by turning their infants' car seats from rear-racing to looking forward. It's been the general rule of thumb.. until now.

Dr. Dennis Durbin - The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:"All infants and toddlers should remain in a rear-facing car seat until they are 2 years of age or until they outgrow the weight and height limits of their car seat." Dr. Dennis Durbin is the lead author of a new American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement. He says keeping young children in the rear-facing position for as long as possible will help protect their head and neck in the event of an accident.

Dr. Dennis Durbin/ The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "We've seen many cases where children suffer serious injuries to their neck or their head when they've been turned forward facing and those injuries probably could have been prevented had that child been in a rear-facing direction." And even though they're older, and bigger, kids up until age 2 should be able to fit in most car seats.

Dr. Dennis Durbin/The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "The childhood obesity epidemic has already spurred car seat manufacturers to make design changes to their seats to accommodate heavier children." State child safety seat laws will not automatically reflect the recommended change. But the hope is that parents will take it upon themselves to create new rules for their own families.

The new recommendations say older children should be in a booster seat until they're 4-feet, 9-inches tall and are between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. Kids should remain in the back seat until age 13.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions SB products, exclusive to Soderstrom Skin Institute, are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. In addition to being "Feel Good Products," they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skin care objectives. This product line contains higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea, than what you can purchase over the counter.

Booster Seats

I might not want to be in a such a big hurry to graduate my children to their big kid seats.

The Law: Car seat until 4 years old and 40 lbs
Booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs

However, this rule doesn't tell us when to go from a booster with a five point harness to a loose seat and the car's seat belt. Here's a question from a newsanchormom.com reader:

Hi Jen. Thank you for the great website that is loaded with useful information for all of us Moms! I have a question about the safety of booster seats. I am not eager to take our 40 lb 4 year old out and into a booster. I have read about the booster seats not being as safe using the car's seat belt and to keep children in the 5 point harness as long as possible. So, I did find a booster that uses a 5 point harness, but it is pricey. So should we spend the extra money on the 5 point booster?

According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, you should keep your child in a five point harness for as long as he/she fits in into it. The NHTSA says to check the weight limit of your high back booster, but most of them go up to 80 pounds.

However, the NHTSA says many kids get too wide or too tall to use a high back booster by the time they reach 65-70 pounds. The NHTSA says to use a booster seat that has a detachable base at this point because the high back boosters with a five point harness tend to sit up too high for the lap belt in a car.

"Another type of seat for a child who is at least one year old and weighs at least 20-30 pounds, is a forward-facing-only seat with a harness. Most of these seats come with a removable harness and are called combination seats or child seat/boosters. Some manufacturers call these seats high back boosters, which is confusing because the term "booster" is generally used to describe a seat that lifts a child up to improve the fit of vehicle lap and shoulder belts......For best protection, use the built in harness until the child outgrows it. "

If you want to know which safety seat is best for your child, you can find the answer by looking through a list of car seat safety questions.

I have an almost 12 month old and I was surprised to learn the NHTSA recommends keeping him rear facing even if he is 20 pounds. The NHTSA says not to turn the child forward facing until he/she outgrows the weight limit that is printed on the seat. The child could be almost two before this happens.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen