Whether you’re leaving our birthing center or leaving your house with the newest addition to your family, you’ll have to put your child in a car seat before you can get headed on your way. You want your child to be as safe as possible, which means ensuring that your car seat is installed correctly. So what are the top boxes to check off before you start off on any journeys with your new precious passenger? Read on!
Car Seats Aren’t One Size Fits All
You hear it all the time because it’s true – kids grow up FAST. And just as you’ll be getting new diapers, new food, and new clothes almost every time you turn around and look at your child, you’ll need to do the same with car seats. Different heights, weights, and stages of development all have different needs to accommodate during transit, and it’s something you’ve got to pay attention to while you’re watching your child grow. Keeping track of the way their bodies are changing isn’t just for the sake of great memories and cute growth charts on the kitchen wall – it’s a car seat safety must!
Hand-Me-Downs May Let You Down
We’re constantly learning new things about how to make life safer for babies, and what was common practice in the past may actually be dangerous. We pride ourselves on highly knowledgeable midwives and specialists within our walls, but in other area of baby-care, like car seats, the research and development phases are still very much ongoing. That means that the car seats of 15, 10, and even five years ago don’t reflect what we currently know about car seat safety. If you have a genuine need to get thrifty with your seat purchases, consider buying front-to-back convertible models that will accommodate your child’s growth, or travel systems that allow for taking the seat from your car and turning it into a stroller.
Security vs Blankets
We understand wanting to keep your child as close to you as possible. That’s why it’s standard practice for us to keep baby in the same room with you for their first cleaning, footprinting, and feeding. But since you can’t drive with them next to you, or even facing you in the rear-view in the beginning stages of their little lives, we understand the instinct to make sure they’re as padded and protected as possible while they’re out of your hands. Fact of the matter is – when it comes to keeping your child safest on car trips, the focus needs to be less on padding their seat and more on strapping it in. Cold weather and swaddling-fixed fussiness might lead you to want to wrap your child a little more heavily before you buckle them in – but this actually reduces the effectiveness of the seat’s protection in case of emergency! Stick to sticking those blankets on top of your properly buckled baby instead. Focus more on making sure the straps of the seat are properly situated in your car. The best thing about having kids in this day and age is that if you’re feeling a little lost with the diagrams that come with your seats, you can double check yourself with YouTube tutorials, or check out the Safe Riders’ program to make sure you’ve gotten the job done right.
Snooze Cruising
Nothing puts a baby to sleep like a car ride. Something about the combo of the road’s white noise and the smooth gliding sensation shuts down their busy little brains like nothing else. And when you tiptoe back into the house with them in hand, it can honestly seem a shame to risk their rest (and that sweet sleeping face!) by picking them up and putting them properly to bed. But there’s a lot to be said for leaving car seats in the car – staying in an upright position for extended periods can lead to airway restrictions, flat spots in a developing skull, and gastrointestinal distress in your infant. Now don’t panic, during the hours and hours of an interstate road-trip, there’s no better place for a baby to be. Just be sure to make a habit of leaving their seat with the other seats in the vehicle when you get out. And if you’re really worried about waking the sleeping beauty in your arms, we’ve got you covered with our own specially crafted sleepy time playlist.
We know you want your baby to be as safe as possible – so do we! Our relaxing and secure facilities aren’t just for show, everything from our techniques to our water birth tub-tiling is made with comfort, safety, and wellness in mind for you and your child. We may not be able to design the rest of the world that way, but we can definitely be sure of letting you know how to get things (and small people!) properly in place once you leave.
Important Links:
The Safe Riders Traffic Safety Program provides helpful information about child passenger safety and helps install car seats safely. Contact the program at 800-252-8255 for more information.
