Car Seat Safety
1)
Children under 1 year of age must ride in a rear-facing child seat until
they reach at least 1 year old and 20 lbs.
2) Children ages 1, 2,
and 3 must be properly restrained in a forward-facing child seat.
3) Children ages 4, 5, 6,
& 7 are required to ride in a booster seat unless the child weighs
more than 80 lbs, OR the child is taller than 4' 9", OR only a lap
belt is available.
4) Children ages 8
through 13 must be protected by a seat belt. It is recommended
children under 13 do not ride in the front seat of a vehicle.
Booster seats are available at department stores, toy stores, and stores such as Target and
Wal-Mart. A no-back booster costs about $15.00 and a high-back from
$20 to $100 depending on the style. You can always call 1-866-SEAT
CHECK for the location of the nearest child seat inspection station. Also, check your area car dealerships for periodic Car Seat Safety Checks.
The lap belt should rest low across the pelvic area on the hip bones. The lap belt should never rest on the stomach area. Make sure the shoulder belt is snug across the chest and rests flat across the
center of the collar bone; the shoulder belt should never be placed behind
a child's back or under the arm. The booster seat should follow the
child. Make sure carpools, child care providers, family, and friends
have access to your child's booster seat.
Safe Kids
www.safekids.org
This site covers children from birth to age 14. This is an amazing site including about everything you could think of from links to CPSC recalls to travel safety and grill safety info sheets. Risk areas include, pool, car, bike, medication, sports, toy, playground, pedestrian, and travel safety and prevention of falls, strangulation, choking, suffocation, drowning, fire, heatstroke, and poisoning. There are a couple dozen research reports, stories from other parents, fact sheets, and a blog. There is a media section for reporters to get press releases and position statements. The Parent Center has safety guides, recall information, and monthly newsletters. You can search by safety risk area or by age. There is even a section on keeping the special needs child safe in the home. It includes burn, fall, choking, and poison prevention for the special needs child.
Consumer Product Safety Commission
www.cpsc.gov
The home page has the most recent recall information for all products much in Spanish as well as English. Right under the current recall information is a button for 'View all Recalls' or 'Search Recalls.' If you search you can look for toys or for child products that are not toys. You can also search by month, by product type, description or company. The website also allows you to report a product you think is unsafe, receive RSS feeds, or get email notifications. There are also safety tips and product warnings on everything from dehumidifiers to bleachers. From the recall page you can also click on "Especially for Kids" linking to pages with games and quizzes for children.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
www.nhtsa.gov
While this site covers everything to do with vehicles and our highway safety, there is quite a lot of information for the parent of a young child. The first thing you're likely to see when you hit the home page is the "Look Before You Lock" campaign to prevent children's death from heatstroke when left in a locked car. You can read research about child car seats and laws about child passenger safety. In the 'Driving Safety' section you can find the most information for children. The bike sub-section has tips on how to fit your helmet, children's activities, videos to watch, and a whole section in Spanish with videos, checklists, and downloadable activity kits. The child safety section covers primarily safety in and around cars. It discusses proper installation and use of car seats and has lists of recalled seats. It has car seat recommendations, laws by state, and a car seat inspection station locator. There is also information on trunk entrapment, vehicle rollaway, backovers, power windows, heatstroke, and seat belt entanglement.
Children's Safety Network
www.childrenssafetynetwork.org
There is a tremendous amount of information on this website. Some information is available through webinars; some are links to current event articles and research. They have newsletters and special newsletters that are written with a particular theme in mind, such as water safety, bike safety, car safety, etc… Though it does cover children through teenage years, including teen driver safety, bullying, and teen dating violence, there is much about the young child from strangulation and fire hazards to poison and drowning prevention. There is even rural and farm safety which I found unique to this site.
National Fire Protection Association
www.nfpa.org
If you click on 'Families and Educators,' it leads to links for various informational pages. You can download an inspection checklist for your home, send an email to "Sparky the Fire Dog," go to Sparky's website, sign up to receive education newsletters, download fact sheets and fire safety education messages. The community tool kits are particularly helpful to parents and educators with downloadable pages for use with children.
