RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT)—Safe Kids Worldwide released a new report coinciding with National Child Passenger Safety Week that shows most parents do not know when to remove their children from booster seats.
According to the report, Booster Seat Use in the USA: Breakthroughs and Barriers, “four out of five parents moved their child out of a booster seat before the child was big enough, and three in four are unaware that kids need to ride in boosters until they’re at least 4-foot-9-inches tall.”
“Motor vehicle crashes are the second-leading cause of death for children ages 4 to 10,” President of Safe Kids Worldwide Torine Creppy said in a release.
Corri Miller-Hobbs has been coordinating the Safe Kids Virginia Program at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU for more than two decades.
She says that booster seats and proper seatbelt usage reduce injuries and deaths for children in car accidents by 45%.
“We know that children are small and they don’t necessarily fit into vehicle safety belt systems that were designed for adults, and so booster seats allow the child to be lifted up in the seat and then the safety belt fits them correctly, offering them better protection,” Miller-Hobbs said.
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As a pediatric ICU nurse, Miller-Hobbs saw first-hand what can happen when children are not properly secured.
“Children need to be 4′9″ tall to correctly fit in a safety belt system, and most kids don’t typically reach that height until about 11 years,” Miller-Hobbs said. “Therefore, parents are taking them out of a booster seat, or out of a car seat, too soon.”
She advised constantly checking the manufacturer’s height and weight guidelines on the side of each child seat and moving children out when they reach the limit.
If any caregiver is still unsure, they should perform a safety belt fit test.
“They’re going to sit in their vehicle seat with their back up against the seat and their bottom up against the back of the seat,” Miller-Hobbs said. “Their knees need to bend over the front edge of the seat, and their feet touch the floor for stability. Also, so they just don’t get uncomfortable and slide down. The shoulder belt needs to cross the center of their shoulder and the center of their chest, and that lap belt needs to remain low on those hard hip bones, not riding up on the soft abdomen.”
When a child has passed the safety belt fit test and height requirement, it is time to move out of the booster.
“The law in Virginia says that all children have to be in an appropriate child safety seat or booster seat up through the age of seven,” she added.
It is also essential to check the expiration date of your child’s seats.
For anyone needing to change their car seat or booster seat, Target is having a trade-in event through Sept. 28.
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Read More: Safe Kids Worldwide: Most parents don’t keep kids in booster seats long enough
