Nowadays, almost every home has a car.family. This means that a huge number of people are faced with the need to transport a child in a car. And if not so long ago, transporting children did not raise any questions, now, fortunately, this problem has begun to be approached with much greater responsibility. And largely due to the introduction of new traffic police requirements and considerable fines for violating the rules for transporting children. Moreover, we are talking mainly about such a problem as transporting children under 12 years old in a car. There are no difficulties with older children, since they can be transported in the same way as adult passengers. But you will have to tinker with little ones. And we will start the story with children's car seats.
Baby car seat
Most discussions and indignation from parents– drivers are concerned about the traffic police requirement to use special restraining devices – car seats – to transport children under 12 years of age. Drivers often try by any means necessary to avoid buying a child car seat. Moreover, you can almost always hear the same excuse: “paying a fine is much cheaper than buying a car seat.” This is partly true. However, for some reason, these parents do not take into account the fact that it is not about money, but first and foremost about the child’s safety. Again, you can anticipate a huge number of objections, and the most common one is that the child is being held by an adult. However, in order to refute this, you can do a simple mathematical calculation: if a child weighs 10 kilograms and the car is moving at a speed of 50 km/h, the child’s weight increases by about 15 times during an impact or sudden braking. And believe me – no adult can hold 75 kilograms. In addition, there is a very high risk that an adult can crush a child with his weight, which has also sharply increased several times. And what can happen as a result of such an emergency situation, one can only guess. In the best case, the child can get seriously injured, and in the worst case, even die. In the same case, if the child is in a child car seat, the risk of injury will be tens of times lower.
Infant
For the smallest children, unfortunately,Parents rarely buy car seats, preferring to hold their babies in their arms. The dangers of such transportation have already been discussed above, so the smallest babies should also be transported only in special seats - cradles. This car seat is fastened with seat belts, due to which the child is very firmly fixed in it. In the same case, if for some reason you are forced to get into the car without a child car seat, choose the safest position - transporting infants in a car always requires special attention. Sit on the back seat, located behind the driver, sideways, with your back to the passenger door. Hold the child with your back to you - this will significantly reduce the risk of injury to the child in emergency situations. However, still try to transport the child in a car seat. The child in it is in a lying position, and a soft wide belt passing through the tummy securely fixes the baby in the cradle. The child is in a comfortable position that will not harm his spine, and the child will not get tired during the trip. It is recommended to attach such car seats perpendicular to the movement of the car or, more simply, along the back seat. However, recently manufacturers of child car seats have been producing much more car seats for the little ones than cradles. These seats belong to group 0+ and are designed for a weight of 3 to 13 kilograms - approximately up to one year of age. In such a seat, the baby is in a semi-sitting position, which, if necessary, can be easily converted to a lying position. The child is fixed in the seat either with a three-point or, more often, a five-point seat belt. Such a seat will serve you and your baby for about a year, until the child outgrows it. Almost all such seats have an anatomical shape and a special comfortable headrest. In addition, it is very convenient when a car seat for the little ones is equipped with a special handle for carrying, on which you can also hang toys so that the child does not get bored on the road. Due to the fact that these car seats have a semicircular base, they can be used at home as a lounge chair or even a rocking chair, which will please the baby. It is also possible to lower the handle down and fix it in this position - you will get a kind of low chair for feeding. Agree - not such a bad option. And more expensive models of car seats for the little ones can be equipped with a frame with a chassis and easily transform into a baby carriage. Such seats can be installed both in the front seat, next to the driver, or in the rear passenger seat. By the way, this seat becomes simply irreplaceable if the child's mother is driving, and there are no other adults in the car. However, regardless of which seat of the car – the front or the back – this car seat is installed on, it can only be fastened against the direction of the car’s movement, that is, with its back to the windshield. This requirement is explained by the fact that children under one year of age have extremely weak cervical vertebrae.
Children from a year and older
The next group of child car seatsis designed for children weighing from 9 to 18 kilograms. In appearance, these seats resemble the above-described ones, but they can be fastened both in the direction of travel and against it. Such car seats require especially careful selection. First, before going to the store, be sure to weigh your baby - the seat must correspond to the child's weight. Otherwise, not only will the child be uncomfortable, but there will be no protection as such. By the way, the child's comfort is also an important factor in the so-called passive safety. If the child experiences discomfort during the trip, he can be actively capricious almost all the time. And it does not matter at all who is driving - the child's mother or father, the driver will still be involuntarily distracted by the whining baby. This is why it is so important to put the child in the car seat before buying. Look if the baby's spine is curved, if his head is comfortably positioned, if the seat belts are tight. In addition, do not forget that children very often fall asleep in the car, so the best car seats allow you to move the child to a lying position. As mentioned above, the child in the car seat is securely fixed with special five-point or U-shaped belts. They protect the baby's tummy and chest from those typical injuries that babies usually get in a car accident. However, you also need to pay special attention to these seat belts - the buckle lock must be equipped with a special soft fabric padding, which is designed to protect the baby's crotch from injury in the event of emergency braking or a collision. This point is especially relevant for those drivers who have a male child. Recently, online shopping has become increasingly popular, including children's goods. However, experts say that a child seat is one of those products that is better to buy during a personal visit to the store. Firstly, it has already been said above that before buying it is advisable to put the child in the car seat and make sure that the child feels comfortable. And, secondly, before buying a car seat, be sure to make sure that it is the right size and method of fastening for your car. If the seat is not fastened properly, there can be no talk of any safety for the child. Moreover, an incorrectly and unreliably fastened child car seat can injure the child even more. In addition, remember that you will have to take out and fasten the seat quite often, so this should be done without any difficulty.
Optional Accessories
In addition to the child car seatYou can purchase various additional accessories that will make mom's life much easier and help provide additional safety for the baby. Below we will tell you about some of them:
- Collar for sleep
Surely all parents know that children are veryfall asleep quickly in the car. And a special collar that securely holds the baby's neck and head during sleep will come in very handy. If the baby falls asleep in a semi-sitting position, the head falls onto the chest during sleep. And with sudden braking, under the influence of inertia, the head is thrown back sharply. This is very fraught with damage to muscle ligaments and fragile cervical vertebrae. And the collar for sleep is put on in front, like a bib, thus securely holding the sleeping baby's head in an absolutely safe position for him.
- Cover for baby legs
Another good thing is the foot cover.child. It will especially please those drivers who are very careful about keeping the interior clean. This cover is exactly the same as a stroller cover - it fits on the baby's legs and does not allow the car upholstery to get dirty.
- Baby feeding table
Often, special ones are available for saletables that are attached to the car seat. This is a very convenient thing for long trips – you can feed your child comfortably. However, you should only feed your child when you stop. Firstly, the child will not choke or spill, and secondly, it is recommended to remove the table while driving so that the plastic does not injure the child in the event of an accident.
- Front seat pocket
A special one can be no less usefula pocket with multiple compartments that is attached to the back of the front seat. You can put a whole bunch of little things for the child there - pencils, toys, etc. However, in fairness it should be noted that these pockets have their opponents, who say that these items can also injure the child in an emergency.
Children over the age of six
Children also need to be mentioned separately.older than 6-7 years. In this case, the rules for transporting children in a car are violated much more often than with toddlers. Often, parents mistakenly believe that to ensure the safety of a child, it is enough to put either a rolled-up blanket or a pillow under his bottom and secure him with a standard seat belt. However, this is not true at all! By securing a child in this way, you expose him to even greater risk than if he were not fastened at all. In the event that the driver is forced to resort to emergency braking, the pillow, which is not secured with anything at all, will very quickly move forward significantly under the influence of inertia. And the lower part of the child's body will also move forward after the pillow. The child will automatically slide down, which means that the seat belt will end up right on the child's neck. Agree, it is not difficult to imagine what can happen in this case - the risk that the child will not receive a serious, and often fatal, injury. That is why such children who are already quite capable of sitting independently, but still cannot be properly fastened with a standard seat belt, must be transported using a lifting seat. Such a seat is called a "booster", and it costs much less than a regular children's car. This seat raises the child to a height that allows him to be properly fastened with standard seat belts. The service life of the booster is quite long - it is suitable for both six-year-old children and twelve-year-old teenagers. This booster can serve the child until his height reaches 150 centimeters - this is the lower limit specified in the traffic rules. When buying a booster, parents should pay attention to the fact that it has special limiters that are put on the straps of the standard car seat belt. And the booster is installed, of course, only in the direction of travel of the car. In principle, this type of car seat does not limit the freedom of the child in any way. Parents also often argue about where to install a child car seat - in the front seat or in the back. The traffic rules do not prohibit either one. This means that it is up to the parents to decide. But do not forget that the safest place in the car is behind the driver's seat. But the most dangerous is the so-called "suicide bomber's seat" - the front passenger seat. And in no case do not forget about the need to turn off the airbags located near the place where the child car seat is attached. Moreover, you should turn them off not on your own, but at a car service center. If parents approach the issue of transporting children responsibly and purchase car seats, the risk that the baby will receive one or another injury in an emergency on the road is reduced tenfold. And nothing can be more valuable than the life of a child!
