Britney Spears is in trouble again I guess. Apparently this latest picture shows Sean in a front facing carseat, when in fact California's law says a child must be one year old and 20lbs before they ride forward facing and not rear facing. A lot of people (well, bored and judgemental people) are using this as yet another reason to dog Britney. I instead would like to use this incident to educate people.
I used to work in baby retail. I sold carseats and I know for a fact that currently The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that eight out of 10 child safety seats are installed incorrectly. This means you. Not just Britney.
Most people don't do it right. They either don't know the laws in their state (which change without notice) or they simply read the directions about weight on the label of the carseat and assume that when their child outgrows the seat, then they move on. What they don't know though is that the label on the seat might not match their state's laws.
Most rear facing seats go to 20lbs. But many children are 20lbs before one year old, and many states currently require that children remain rear facing until one year old (like California). But many Infant-Toddler carseats say on the label that you can use them forward facing at 20lbs, no mention of the one year limit. This can be quite confusing. If it helps any, most seat brands and states are switching over to the 1 year AND 20lbs rule for rear facing seats.
Also, a lot of people don't place the harness straps tight enough around the baby, another problem Britney seems to have. You should always place the harness straps at or below the baby's shoulders and the chest clip at the infant's armpit level to secure harness straps.
And of course you never, ever place a carseat in the front seat with an airbag, but I assume most people are smart enough to know that one. However, many people may not know that is it also reccomended that you do not use added accessories on carseats that may restrict them from acting as they should.
To find out if your child's seat is installed correctly and what your state's current laws are, you can go to a NHTSA-certified inspection center in your area. They have addresses on their website.
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