By Jon Sumroy

I am mad

Bangkok, Thailand. Six of us crammed into a two-seat Tuk-Tuk (a three-wheel rickshaw). My wife, four children and me; careering through the traffic, the pedestrians, the lights and the fumes. Wind in our faces, legs out the sides, bags piled on laps. It’s part of the culture, the experience, the vacation. But it’s crazy!

We’re never so reckless at home: never allowing more people than seatbelts, always fastened, luggage stored correctly, respecting the laws of the road. Why do humans so easily excuse ourselves, ignore common sense, justify our actions and take ridiculous risks?

Everyone is mad

Yet we do this every day, with our children.

Fifty percent of US kids don’t have the correct booster seat when carpooling^[1]. One in five parents whose children carpool say they “bend the rules”, allowing children to ride without belts, booster or child restraints. Two-thirds of parents say they notice other carpool drivers bending the rules, too.^[2]

And it’s not just in our own cars. Taxis are exempt from the car seat laws, but this does not make them safe. Rental car companies extort $5 a day, for a seat; covered in another child’s dinner or worse. On vacation, when the airline won’t allow extra hand luggage. With a friend, relative or neighbor for a quick journey round the corner. Even with safety seats, you can’t fit three in a row, so it’s “scissors/paper/stone” to see who takes the risk. And then we have big kids. Not big enough to graduate to adult seatbelts, but big enough to fell babyish compared to their peers who have. How many parents succeed in the daily fight; or just give in.

Five Top Tips for Car Seat Sanity

So what to do? Well, it comes down to planning and discipline.

Carpools

You always have carseats for your own children but not for others in the pool. Set up a routine: leave your child’s seat with school bags overnight, ready for the next day when the carpool arrives. Lobby schools to provide storage so seats will be available for the journey home.

Relatives

It’s about time-management. Build time into every plan to juggle the boosters from car to car. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report more than 20 percent of parents rarely talk about the type of restraint their own child uses in another person’s car. Whenever someone else takes your child, have the ‘carseat’ discussion.

Vacations

I was mad in Thailand, but you don’t need to be. Consider you carseats as valuable luggage. Wrap it well, check it in, add ‘fragile’ labels, examine for damage and use it on every journey.

Rentals

I had a long conversation recently with a leading rental agency employee. He confided that, in the cut-throat world of car rentals, margin are so slim that they can make more money renting the booster seats than they do the cars. A typical booster cost $30 and they can rent it out for $5 a day for six months. Do the math! It’s not surprising that they are dirty and disgusting. Take your own carseats! You know its history and you know where it’s been.

Three-in-a-Row

We all have to make sacrifices. And this is one. There are very few cars, even large ones, designed to accommodate three carseats in a row. Manufacturers add space and comfort to the side seats at the expense of the middle. Don’t take the risk! A child who needs a carseat, needs a carseat. In a collision, the injuries a child sustains when only using the adult seatbelt can be horrific. Please … just don’t do it.

The future

Now is the time for some future gazing. Would’t it be great is there was a booster seat that was so small, yet so safe, it would be easy for a child to have it with them at all times. Something so advanced, compact and portable, it could be stored almost anywhere. That way children could always be safe, no matter whose car they were in. Watch this space http://igg.me/at/mifold/.

About the author: Jon Sumroy is the inventor and CEO of mifold – the Grab-and-Go booster seat, the most advanced, compact and portable booster seat in the world. mifold is more than 10x smaller than a regular booster seat and just as safe.

^[1] Carpooling and Booster Seats: A National Survey of Parents – PEDIATRICS Vol. 129 No. 2 February 1, 2012 pp. 290 -298(doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-0575)

^[2] Many kids using safety belts should ride in booster seats – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute – Status Report, Vol. 49, No. 9 | November 6, 2014

The post Crazy Risks with Car Seats appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Most people are probably familiar with the old adage which states that it’s not so much the destination as the journey that’s most important. And for those of us who have children, it is exactly the importance of the journey that cannot be emphasized enough.

Whether it is a short trip to the grocery store, a one-tank road trip or traveling across the country for a destination vacation, the safety of our children is a constant among all the possible variables on the itinerary.

Not only must the journey be kept in mind as far as the safety of each and every child, but ensuring the continued safety of our children once the destination has finally been reached is also something that needs to be taken into consideration.

To this end, companies such as Britax USA are making it easier for parents, whether traveling for vacation or simply on-the-go, to ensure the safety of their children by providing a remarkably comprehensive lineup of car seats, strollers and other accessories for both the inside and outside of the vehicle.

Britax was actually formed back in 1939, and for the last 70+ years, the company has been pioneering the child seat industry worldwide. Indeed, when Britax entered the American market in 1996, it only took a year for the British company to launch the very first convertible car seat in the U.S., the Roundabout.

Since its early beginnings in the child seat industry, Britax has become one of the most trusted car seats in America, as well as garnering the accolade of best-selling car seat in Europe

Indeed, it is from this very first introduction of convertible car seats that, in 2010, Britax redesigned the line to create safer convertible car seats, such as the Boulevard 70-G3.

The new series of car seats, like the Boulevard 70-G3, is outfitted with Britax’s patented SafeCell technology, where the SafeCells, an engineered structure designed to compress in the event of a crash, counteract the forward propulsion that can take place with typical car seats.   

The Boulevard 70-G3, then, weighing in at 19.5 pounds, is an exemplary model of what car seat safety can embody. The Boulevard supports up to 70 pounds of weight, thereby ensuring that, as your child grows, the Boulevard will still provide adequate safety and comfort for your child just as it did at the time of purchase!

An added comfort for your child is the fact that the Boulevard offers an option for both rear and forward facing reclining. This feature, as well as the extra layer of padding included from High Density Comfort Foam, will support your child with the ultimate amount of comfort.

The Boulevard 70-G3 also comes with Britax’s energy-absorbing Versa-Tether, which is located on the back, upper part of the child seat. This latch system, essentially a strap that hooks onto an anchor in your vehicle, allows the child seat to be comfortably tethered to the vehicle in either the forward-facing or rear-facing position.

The Boulevard 70-G3 also comes with an easy-to-remove cover (with 8 different fabric options, including Silver Birch and Aztec, available), matching comfort pads and an infant body pillow. These convenient features allow the Boulevard to be cleaned easily without uninstalling it or even disassembling the child seat.

In addition to the wonderful advancements that Britax has made with redesigning the line of convertible car seats, is the plethora of accessories that can be purchased to accompany the car seats. These products also speak to the company’s dedicated focus on child safety and innovative technology.

One such inventive accessory is the Britax Back Seat Mirror, which is not only compatible with most vehicle head restraints, but also provides a view of your child at any angle while the car seat is in the rear-facing position. Likewise, the Britax Vehicle Seat Protector is designed with non-slip material and raised edges to catch spills and debris, making the vehicle seat protector a breeze to cleanup. The seat protector is also waterproof, while a front seat guard helps to defend the front of the vehicle seat from your child’s shoes.

Britax also makes convenient car seat covers, such as removable covers to keep out the rain, sun and bugs.

To ensure the ultimate amount of fun once the destination is finally reached, Britax also provides stroller accessories. Strollers can be purchased with rain, mosquito and sun covers as well, while useful accessories, such as pouches and organizers for holding assorted items, as well as a cup holder set for children that can be attached to strollers, are also available. There is also the option of purchasing the Britax B-AGILE Child Tray, a useful accessory to match the cup holders and to ensure storage and eating opportunities for your child while on the go.

Regardless of the accessories, however, it is clear to see that Britax USA stops at no cost to ensure the safety of children. With such devotion and care for consumers, it’s no wonder that parents purchase these products with not so much the cost involved in mind, but the equal care and concern for the safety and well-being of future generations: http://www.britaxusa.com/   

The post Britax USA: A Compassionate Company in Child Seat Safety appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.