As a car seat technician, I educate caregivers about the proper installation and use of child restraints.  Car seat technicians also have the opportunity to educate families on a number of other safety concerns in and around vehicles, from the dangers of leaving children alone in a vehicle to the importance of checking around a vehicle for any children, toys or pets before backing up. One common topic of education during car seat checks is the danger of projectiles in vehicles.

You might be wondering what we mean by projectiles.  Essentially, this is anything that might have the ability to come loose or move freely in the car in the event of a crash.

So what types of items are we talking about?  Mirrors placed on the seat back in front of a rear-facing child. Pull down window shades. DVD players. Tissue boxes. Bags. Sporting equipment. Toys. Booster seats. You get the picture.

Any of these items are a concern because, in a crash, they may strike the driver or other vehicle passengers, causing injury. (Check out this blog post about a child who had to receive more than 400 stitches because of a soft-spouted sippy cup that went flying in an accident.)

Car seat technicians use a simple formula to help explain crash forces: weight x speed = force.

As an example, if you have an older child that uses a booster seat, chances are you don’t think about fastening the booster seat into the vehicle with the seat belt when the child is not using it.  Let’s say that booster seat weighs about 5 pounds.  Even in a low-speed crash – 30 miles per hour – using the formula above as a guide, during that crash the unrestrained booster seat will now move towards the point of impact with approximately 150 pounds of force.

To help limit the threat of projectiles in your car consider doing the following:

• Buckle up unused booster seats;
• Store items (like bags and purses) on the floorboard of the vehicle;
• Use cargo nets or shields in the back of SUVs;
• Choose window-cling sunshades rather than the shades with suction cups and metal bars; and
• Entertain a small child with soft options, such as stuffed animals or soft covered books.

And remember, it is important for ALL passengers in the vehicle to buckle up on every ride.

Click here for more information about child passenger safety and the car seat services offered at Children’s Hospital.

There is an alarming threat to young children in the home: TVs and furniture tipping over onto children. New research from Safe Kids Worldwide shows a 31 percent increase in TV tip-over injuries over the past 10 years. This study found that every three weeks between 2000 and 2010, a child died from a television tip-over. And even more concerning, every 45 minutes, or less than the length of a Sesame Street episode, a child is sent to an emergency department as a result of a tip-over incident.

We all know that toddlers are very curious human beings. Once an object of interest is in sight, a curious toddler will likely stop at nothing to get it in their hands. For that reason, these injuries disproportionately affect young children: seven out of 10 children injured by TV tip-overs are 5 years old or younger.

The good news is that a few simple changes in a child’s home can help prevent these injuries and deaths.

First, all large pieces of furniture should be secured to the wall. This includes bookshelves, dressers and TV stands.

This advice created a bit of a disagreement in my house when we were preparing for the birth of our first child. My husband was on board with strapping the tall bookshelf to the wall – he could easily see the potential for that to topple over. However, he balked at the idea of strapping the large dresser in her nursery, as it took two men to move it into the room. He relented when I explained that while the dresser is indeed too heavy for a small child to move outright, a child can easily open the dresser drawers. Once multiple drawers are opened, the dresser becomes very front-heavy. The open dresser drawers may also seem, to a curious toddler, like the perfect stairway to reach some coveted item on top. Unfortunately, that is often how these large pieces of furniture topple over onto small children.

So the next step is related – remove any object that might entice a young child to try to climb to a higher elevation. Keep toys, stuffed animals and books at a low level, easy for a child to reach.

Finally, all TVs need to be secured to the wall and/or a sturdy, low piece of furniture. While new, flat panel TVs are more lightweight than their older counterparts, they just keep getting bigger and bigger. Their larger size often makes them unstable, so if they are not attached to a wall they seem to be causing just as many injuries as their older, heavier counterparts.

TV and furniture straps come in many varieties and difference prices, with some furniture straps for as little as $3.00. Some varieties allow you to secure the item without drilling holes in the furniture. You could even just visit your local hardware store to find an L-bracket or another piece of hardware that could do the trick – just make sure the hardware is rated to a weight that is appropriate for the item you are securing.

Please join us in spreading the word about this emerging danger. We can stop this trend!

For more information and safety tips, click here.

I spend most of my day giving presentations, talking to parents or researching child safety topics. I can recite our new parent child safety spiel in my sleep! This past year, with the birth of my first child, I had the opportunity to practice what I preach.

For my family, it all started before Charlotte was born. A few simple child-proofing steps can easily be accomplished well before baby arrives and with minimal disruption to your daily activities. We started with plug protectors – those simple, inexpensive plastic pieces that fit inside your electrical outlets. Bending down to reach the outlets during my third trimester was truly the hardest part of that installation.

The next pre-baby installation was furniture straps. This one is often new to the parents I meet, but it is incredibly important. Furniture straps should be used to attach all large pieces of furniture to the wall. In our nursery we attached Charlotte’s book shelf and long dresser. It is important to remember that even if you think the piece of furniture is too heavy for the child to move, you should still strap it down.

Last step before the baby arrived was securing our baby monitor. If you choose to use a monitor, make sure the cord is secured away from your baby’s sleeping area. We placed ours on top of the book shelf, with the cord tucked neatly away between the back of the book shelf and the wall.

Fast forward six months and our little girl started crawling. Oh my!  We installed cabinet locks on all lower cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms and added cushions to the corners of the furniture. (For some reason she always gravitates to the corner of the furniture when trying to pull herself up). We also installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs in our two-story home.

Fast forward another four months and my little 10 month old has figured out how to climb the stairs. We really thought we would have more time before that happened.  We initially thought we would find a gate to fit across the bottom of the stairs, but ran into a few problems. First, it is hard to find a gate that fits well on the banister.  Second, when we did find one, we realized quickly that placing the gate on that bottom step was a sure-fire tripping hazard.  (Let’s just say, I can easily find a way to trip over something). So instead, we decided to block off the hallway that leads to our stairway – it meant two gates, instead of one, but Charlotte’s access has been blocked and we do not need to worry about falling down the stairs.

Phew – we are only ten months in and I know our adventure in parenting has only just started. It has been amazing watching the way our little girl grows and learns every day – and actually pretty fun to put into practice all of the tips that I spend every day educating others about.

When did you start child-proofing in your home?

Disclaimer: There is no substitute for adult supervision. While there are many great products on the market to help make your home safer, the best protection is constant supervision with young children.

As parents and relatives hit the stores this holiday season to acquire the hottest gadgets, gizmos and toys, safety is an important factor buyers should consider.

Every toy should have an age recommendation on the packaging, and it’s important to follow these recommendations, especially for children under 3.

Safety precautions parents can take to avoid toy-related injuries:

• Look for quality construction.
• Follow safety guidelines when playing with new toys.
• Check toys regularly for broken parts, chipped paint or sharp edges.
• Make sure all crayons, markers or other art supplies are labeled non-toxic.
• Ride-on toys often result in the highest number of toy related injuries. Make sure your child has the proper protective equipment. Always wear a helmet.

Choking is one of the main causes of toy-related injuries and deaths. Toys with small parts should be kept away from young children, and parents should supervise while children are playing.

Parents can test toys for choking hazards with a cardboard tube from a toilet paper roll, which is the same diameter as a child’s windpipe.  If an object fits inside the tube, then it’s too small for a young child.

Additional choking hazard precautions:

• Avoid marbles and balls with a diameter of less than 1.75 inches (4.4 centimeters).
• Avoid toys with cords or strings longer than seven inches.
• Purchase Mylar balloons instead of latex, and never allow children to inflate or deflate balloons.

Below is a list of other items to avoid this shopping season:

• Button Batteries – Found in remote controls, watches, key chains and musical greeting cards, these small, coin-sized batteries can become lodged in a child’s esophagus and can cause significant problems within just a few hours after they are swallowed.
• Magnets – For children under 6, avoid building sets with small magnets. If swallowed, serious injuries or death could occur.
• Projectile toys – Projectile toys such as air rockets, darts and slingshots are for older children.  Improper use of these toys can result in serious eye injuries.
• Chargers and adapters – Charging batteries should always be supervised by adults.  Battery chargers and adapters can pose burn hazards to children.
• BB guns – BB guns should not be considered toys.  Children require proper safety training for BB gun use.

What toys are your children looking forward to receiving this year?

Last spring the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released updated recommendations for child passenger safety. The biggest change in the recommendation included having infants remain rear-facing in their child restraint until two-years-old. Many parents I have talked with at car seat checks are confused and/or frustrated by this recommendation.

In Tennessee, the law states all children must remain rear-facing until one-year-old and twenty pounds. Most parents cannot wait to turn their child around so they can finally see what is going on in that back seat.  Parents often treat that one year mark as a graduation or an important milestone for their child to reach – like learning to sit up or saying those first words. Finally, their child has made it – turn that baby around.

As a new parent myself, I can relate to wanting to celebrate a milestone.  But, as a car seat technician and safety advocate, I truly believe in the importance of this new recommendation.

The AAP changed their recommendation to include rear-facing until two-years-old based on new evidence related to crash data for young children. The rear-facing position in the vehicle provides optimal support for the child’s head, neck and spine. Because an infant’s head is proportionally much larger than an older child or adult, they require additional protection in a crash situation. In fact, Swedish researchers have reported that rear-facing child restraints reduce the risk of significant injuries by 90% as compared to unrestrained children.  Data from crashes in the United States was also reviewed and researchers found that children in forward-facing child restraints were significantly more likely to be seriously injured, when compared to children in rear-facing child restraints.

The good news for parents is that many convertible car seats on the market today can help your family comply with this recommendation.  Convertible seats offer great flexibility for families – allowing children to use them rear-facing and then forward-facing. This will allow you to get many years’ worth of use out of just one seat. Most convertible seats allow children to be rear-facing until at least 35 pounds, but many more have upper weight limits of 40 pounds – some even go as high as 45 pounds! Most of these manufacturers have also increased the upper weight limits for the harness when using the seat in forward-facing mode too – which is great, because just as it is safer to remain rear-facing longer, it is safer to keep your child in a five point harness as long as possible.  We encourage every family to use their car seat to the upper weight limits for both rear and forward-facing children.

One of the most common questions we get is if the child is too long to keep rear-facing because their feet touch the vehicle seat.  This is okay!  Make sure you are following your child restraint manufacturer’s recommendations about height limits.  Each seat will have those limits clearly marked on the seat and in the instruction manual.  In many cases, a child’s feet may touch the vehicle seat back well before they actually outgrow the length of their car seat.  You may encourage your child to sit with their legs crossed (think “criss-cross-applesauce”) if that makes them more comfortable.  Convertible seats are typically deeper than traditional infant carriers – so may also help better fit the length of your child.

Remember, children should remain rear-facing to help prevent significant injury – head, neck or spinal trauma.  Injuries to the extremities, which may occur in any crash situation, are typically less severe.

I know it is difficult when you cannot just look in the rear view mirror to see what is going on with your baby.  Those major baby melt downs can be incredibly stressful when you are driving by yourself – I get it. But keeping that sweet baby safe in the car is critically important.  Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for children in Tennessee and across the country.

Rear-facing is simply the safest option for young children.

This week we join car seat techs and safety advocates across the country celebrating National Child Passenger Safety Week.  This is a great time to make sure your car seat is properly installed by visiting one of the free car seat checks that Children’s Hospital is hosting on Saturday, September 22^nd. 

Click here to read more information about child passenger safety and the car seat services offered at Children’s Hospital.

Sarah Haverstick serves as Safe Children Program Manager for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and mama to 5-month-old Charlotte.

Confession – I am crazy about car seats. As a certified child passenger safety technician (CPST) and technician instructor, I have spent the better part of the past five years teaching about, researching or installing car seats. It has become a passion.  And now, as a new mom, I’m able to take a step back and view the field from a new perspective.

It started with that first time we placed the baby in the car seat.  One of the most important steps we remind parents about is tightening the harness straps. We techs make it sound so easy – the straps should be snug enough that you cannot pinch the harness straps together.  Well, there I was, the new parent, attempting to place my tiny, squirmy, sleepy newborn into her car seat without pinching, squishing or causing her to scream. We were successful, but it took me about ten minutes to get her situated.  (Point of reference – it took less than ten minutes to install the car seat).  The whole process became much easier once we were a little less afraid of breaking the baby.

Another common education point is about the “aftermarket” products that parents so often place in their car or on their car seats – mirrors, toys, mats, etc. We techs generally discourage these products because they have not been crash tested by the car seat manufacturer. There is no way to know how the products will interact with each other in a crash.  I have talked with many parents about the need to remove the little mirrors on the headrest in front of a rear-facing infant.  It all makes perfect sense to the car seat tech in me.  And then my baby had her first full-fledged meltdown in the car, while I was driving by myself on the interstate.  At that moment, when she was screaming at the top of her lungs, I finally appreciated why everyone is so crazy about those mirrors.

A few other safety points about car seats:

• They are one of two baby items that should absolutely be purchased new (cribs being the second).
• They have an expiration date – typically six years from the date of manufacture.
• They should not be used after most crashes. When you purchase a used car seat you may not get the full and complete history of that product, so will not know if it can be relied on in a crash.

If you are ever in doubt about the installation of your car seat or the fit of your child in the car seat, call on a car seat technician. You are not alone – studies have shown that nearly 85 percent of car seats are not properly installed.  There are nearly 35,000 techs all across the country.  We all care passionately about the safety of children in vehicles and want to help our communities.

Car crashes continue to be the leading cause of injury death for young children, and research has shown the effectiveness of properly using child restraints.  Proper use of child restraints can save lives!

Learn more about about child passenger safety and the car seat services offered by Children’s Hospital.

I will never forget the day that my little baby, Charlotte, was finally big enough to sit by herself in her Bumbo seat.

She was just over 2 months old and finally had enough head control to give it a try.

I pulled the seat over to the floor where we were playing and put her in.

She was a little uncertain at first, but all of a sudden pulled her head up and showed off a big, gummy smile!  You could just tell she was so proud of herself and so interested by this new position.

We have used the Bumbo on and off for the last few months, helping Charlotte become more comfortable sitting upright.  It has been a great tool – and now, at 5 months she is very close to sitting on her own. Such a big girl!

But a Bumbo recall notice yesterday because of a fall hazard reminds us that this seat should be used with caution.

The Bumbo should only be used on the floor – never on elevated surfaces, like countertops, kitchen tables or coffee tables.

Many children have unfortunately been injured in falls from these surfaces.  And like all children’s products, a Bumbo should only be used with adult supervision.

Even when placed on the floor, it is possible for a baby to fall out of the seat – so caregivers should always be within an arm’s reach.

Four million of these seats have been sold in the United States – please share this information with your friends and family to help keep babies safe while they learn and play.

Click here to learn more about the recall and the free repair kit that consumers can request, which includes a restraint belt with a warning label, installation instructions, safe use instructions and a new warning sticker.

Did/do you use a Bumbo with your child?

Sarah Haverstick serves as Safe Children Program Manager for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and mama to 5-month-old Charlotte.