A Lesson In Child Safety Seats

By Tanjua Damon

Being a new mother can be stressful enough. Lack of sleep and adjusting to a newborn baby at home is a challenge in itself. But installing the child safety seat in the car can be the hardest thing of all.

Sergeant George Sinko from the Newtown Police Department offered some help last week to new mothers participating in a support group offered at Newtown Youth Services.

To the surprise of many of the mothers, their car seats were not installed correctly. But Sgt Sinko helped them fix the mistakes he found with the child safety seats.

Many of the car seats were not tightly secured to the seat of the car, while other seats’ harness straps were not placed properly. But Sgt Sinko understands the frustration many feel when trying to install the car seat for the new baby.

“The tighter the better,” Sgt Sinko said. “The harness straps should be a finger width from the body at armpit level.”

Many parents do not realize that their children should ride in a booster seat until they are eight to ten years old. Most children do not have bodies that are big enough to wear a seat belt properly, according to Sgt Sinko

“The seatbelt should fit across your hips, not the abdomen,” he said. “And it should go over the shoulder to absorb the impact.”

It is important to read the child safety seat manual before beginning to put the car seat in the car. There are various styles – five-point harness, T-shaped shield, and tray shield – of car seats, and each one can have different ways to be properly installed.

Sgt Sinko told the new mothers to use all the pieces that come with a car seat. For example, many may not use the metal locking clip that secures the car seat tightly to the car’s seat. The tether strap is another feature on some car seats that secures the top of a child restraint so the seat stays in place.

Children up to a year should be seated facing the rear of the car. Once a child weighs 20 pounds, a front-facing seat may be used.

Infants should never ride in the front seat of a car with air bags. It is recommended children ride in the back seat of a car until they are 13.

Sgt Sinko is willing to meet with parents who want to make sure their child safety seats are installed properly. He can be reached at 426-5841.