When Car Seats Become Dangerous

Obie Editorial Team

All parents should know the importance of a car seat for their baby. Vehicles are designed to protect drivers and passengers over a certain height and weight limit. When a baby or a toddler is placed in a car without a special seat, the seatbelts are rendered useless. The belt will not hold them in the proper positions, and he or she could easily slip out in the event of a collision.

Until your baby is one year old and at least twenty pounds, he or she should be riding in a rear-facing seat. After that, you should buy a larger seat that protects your child more in the way a normal car seat would. When your child graduates to this larger seat, he or she will still be protected in a collision. You should never allow your child to ride in the car without a car seat, even just for a short trip.

While many parents realize the importance of a car seat while their baby is in the car, few realize how dangerous the seat can be outside of the car. According to a recent study, almost 50,000 injuries that occurred from a car seat being overturned outside of the car were treated between 2003-2007. If you let your baby sit in his or her car seat on the floor in your home or anywhere else, there is a very good chance it could overturn and cause serious injury. Car seats are specially designed to fit perfectly into a car, but are by no means balanced enough to rest safely on the floor. 

If you need a place for your baby to sit when you’re at home or at a friend’s house, make sure you invest in a proper seat or play pen. Though car seats are very safe in the vehicle, they are extremely dangerous on the floor or on other unsecured surfaces.

Safety in the car is extremely important. Even if you are the safest driver in your town, there is no way that you can predict the actions of drivers around you. For that reason, you should invest in a great car seat so that your baby will be safely secured in the event of a collision. While a car seat could save your baby’s life in the car, it could end your baby’s life on the floor. Only use car seats in the car.

Source: Shital Parikh et al: Hazardous Use of Car Seats Outside the Car in the United States, 2003-2007. The American Academy of Pediatrics Volume 126 Issue 2 August 2010