Convertible car seat?

My son is almost at the limit of his infant car seat, so I am going to purchase a convertible seat (he won’t be old/big enough to be forward facing for a few months). I’m looking at the “Safety 1st Complete Air Convertible Car Seat” or “The First Years True Fit Convertible Car Seat.” Both have received good reviews from buyers. The “True Fit” got 4 out of 5 stars from the NHTSA… but I like the idea of the “Complete Air”. Any suggestions?

Both seats are a great choice, but what you really need to do is go to a baby store (babies r us) and try both seats out. Take your son with you and practise putting him in and out of the seat, then ask a person works there if you can try the seats in your vehicle. A lot of seats just don’t fit in all cars, so better to try it out before you buy. Also actually install the seats in your car so that you can see how easy/hard they are to install.
Make sure you take your time deciding because for the next few years you are going to be using this seat almost everyday and you want to be sure that it is easy to get an uncooperative toddler in!
Happy Shopping

Children & Car Accidents; the Alarming Statistics

By far the most common type of injury accident involving children are those that also involve motor vehicle collisions. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), nearly 250,000 children are injured every year in car accidents.

This means that on any given day nearly 700 children are harmed due to accidents on our roadways. Of the 250,000 kids injured each year, approximately 2,000 die from their injuries. Children make up about 5% of total fatalities due to car accidents. In fact, for children between the ages of 2 and 14, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death.

Car accidents are also the leading cause of acquired disability (e.g., brain injury, paralysis, etc.) for children nationwide. And approximately 20% of the children who die in a car accident each year are killed in accidents involving a driver who is legally intoxicated. Nearly half of these children were killed while riding as passengers in an automobile driven by an intoxicated driver.

The failure to wear a seat belt or use a child safety seat is a contributing factor in more than half of the cases involving children who die in car accidents. Not only is an unrestrained child a potential distraction to the driver of the vehicle, but also the failure to wear a seat belt dramatically increases the chance that a child will suffer much more serious injury and death.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), at least 72% of the 3,500 observed child vehicle safety restraints were being used incorrectly. When that happens, the risk that the child will suffer an injury or more severe injury rises even more. NHTSA estimates that a properly installed and used child safety seat lowers a child’s risk of death by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4.

Every state requires the use of approved child safety seats for children under the age of 5. According to NCSA there is only a 90% compliance rate with respect to using approved safety seats for children under this age. Notably, a recent study found that a key factor influencing the increased risk of harm to children in accidents is when the child is prematurely moved from a child restraint system up to an adult seat and then allowed to sit in the front seat too soon (source: Partners for Child Passenger Safety Fact and Trend Report, 2006.)

About the Author

Christopher M. Davis is a Seattle attorney focusing on personal injury and car accident cases. He is known for his special focus on cases involving children and has written the the book ‘Little Kids, Big Accidents’ as a resource for parents of injured children. You can learn more about Mr. Davis by visiting his website at http://www.DavisLawGroupSeattle.com.

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