Car seat for children isn’t just a fad. It saved this toddler’s life!

The Illinois mum’s message is nothing but emotional and the subject of her gratitude is a car seat. Rolling your eyes? Well, I stopped rolling my eyes as soon as I read the whole of her Facebook post.

According to this report, almost three weeks after a harrowing car accident, Andrea Murray put up a message to the car seat company. After all, their car seat saved her toddler’s life. In the post, she talks abut how her family thought she going overboard trying to decide on a car seat. Ultimately it’s JUST a car accessory, right? Clearly, the same family must be thanking their stars for Andrea’s obsession with getting the right accessory for her little one. Read her post here:

Scary, isn’t it? Imagine all that could have gone wrong had this mother not been that cautious about everything to do with having a safe car seat for her little one! Often parents are so bogged down by thousand and one responsibilities that at times all they want to do is to tick off yet another item from their to-do list.

Let’s be honest here, how often have the following thoughts crossed our minds - 'As long as there is a seat in the car for my child and she is buckled up, she is going to be fine’ or ‘as long as my child is sleeping in a crib, she is safe’?

Thing is, sometimes just getting a crib in place or installing a car seat in the car is NOT enough. As parents, we have to go that extra mile to make sure that what we have got for our child is actually good enough.

Here are some tips to get that perfect car seat for your little one:

• Do your research: Are you buying a new car seat or going for a pre-loved one? In case, of opting for the latter, make sure it comes with instructions and a label with the date of manufacture and model number, isn’t nearing expiry or is more than 6 years old, has no visible damage or missing parts and has never been in a crash, even if moderate.
• Choose the right spot for the car seat: The ideal spot for it is the back seat, away from the air bags. If the car seat is placed in the front seat and the air bag inflates, it could hit the back of a rear-facing car seat — right where your child's head is — and cause a serious or fatal injury. Even a forward-facing car seat can meet a fatal impact by an air bag. If at all, the child has to travel in a car with only one row of seats, deactivate the front air bags or install a power switch to prevent air bag deployment during a crash.
• NEVER replace a car seat with a crib: If either of the two could replace each other, there wouldn’t be two different products, to begin with. Or so says logic. A seat for the car is designed to protect your child during travel and a crib cannot do that no matter how similar they look.

You know that no matter how short the drive, it’s essential to safely secure your child in the car seat. As long as you follow these seat safety tips, you are good to go. However, we’d always suggest you consult a specialist and do your own research as well before you narrow down on a car seat for your precious bundle.

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[Image courtesy: Pixabay]