National Child Passenger Safety Week wraps up on Saturday. However, experts continue to encourage parents to check out new guidelines and recommendations.
“Make sure you’ve got your child in the correct seat, installed correctly until such time as they can grow out of that seat.”
That’s Gary Bubar, Public Affairs Specialist at AAA Michigan. AAA and other safety organizations are encouraging parents to take the time to make sure their children are in the correct seat for their age and size when riding in the car. AAA recommends following the car seat and child restraint guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The guidelines were updated in August to encourage children stay in the “rear-facing” seats until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the seat.
“Let’s say your infant seat goes up to 35 pounds, well, you don’t want to turn that child arund forward facing until they’ve out grown that seat. And even if they are out of that infant seat, they can go to a rear facing convertible seat, and they should keep that child in there as long as possible, because developmentally, a child is much better able to handle the force of a crash, rear facing that forward facing. ”
As part of Child Passenger Safety week, Bubar says there are numerous seat checks going on throughout the state. One was held today in Grand Rapids, others are scheduled for next week. One will be held at the Cutlerville Fire Department on October 4th with another on October 9th at the Plainfield Fire Department.
Appointments may be needed. Bubar says you can find more information about child safety and seat checks at either AAA.com or Safekids.org.
