You know that one device that is meant to keep your child safe in a car accident? Yes, the car safety seat. Did you know it doubles as a device of torture? How many times have you buckled your child in only to hear that incessant crying and screaming all the way to your destination? Not too many, I hope!

Pay close attention to your child’s growth. Children almost double in size every year for the first few years of their life. The car safety seat manufacturers know this and have made allowances for this growth by having multiple shoulder belt slots all the way up the back of the car safety seat. It us up to us, dear parents, to know which slots to use at which stage of the child’s life. Once you seat your child in the car seat look at the shoulder belts. Do they disappear below and behind the shoulder? This means you need to move the belts up to the next slot you big meanie. If the shoulder slots being used are lower than the shoulders then by clicking the seat belts into the buckle you are using the slots as leverage to pull the shoulders down forcefully, compressing the child’s torso, and making it hard for the child to breathe, hence my equating it to torture. The child has to endure this restrictive, “breathtaking” pose for the length of the car ride. If the last slot available is still below the child’s shoulders, then get a bigger car seat. Your child has outgrown the seat.

Another thing to take into account is the weather.

• WINTER: Chances are good that your child is bundled up, effectively making him/her “bigger”. Again, check the shoulder level and adjust the straps accordingly.
• SUMMER: Your child is probably wearing shorts and a T-shirt. This means that their inner thighs are exposed to the searing plastic and metal safety seat buckle between their legs. Places like Arizona can get up to, and above, 110 degrees F, and ever hotter inside a parked vehicle. Hold the portion of the buckle that will be in contact with your child’s thighs. You’ll be able to tell if the buckle is too hot, but “you” have the ability to pull your hand away from the pain. Your child has no choice but to endure the pain. Cool the buckle down with a damp cloth before putting your child in the seat.

Most people have great difficulty pulling the car seat in and out of the car to be able, or want, to continuously fiddle with the shoulder straps, or move the seat from one car to another. We own 3 vehicles, and 2 car seats. Every time I decide to use my truck, and have to take my daughter to day care, I have to pull the car seat out of one of the other vehicles and install it in the truck. I have shaved some time off this procedure by having a plastic clamp in the vehicle (a large binder clip would do the trick too). I pull my truck’s seatbelt out as far as it will go, then attach the clamp to the car’s seatbelt right before the shoulder swivel. The clamp keeps the belt from yanking itself back, thereby making it easier for me to fiddle with getting the correct tension on the portion of the belt that goes through the child’s safety seat.

 
That completes my public service announcement. If I’ve made you stop to think about your child’s car seat and, at least, check the straps for the correct shoulder height then I’ve done some good being an advocate for those who still can’t speak for themselves.