How to Keep Your Kids Happy (and safe)

Warmth: Keeping the baby warm is very important. Unfortunately some products designed to keep the baby warm can also make the baby unsafe in the car. Products that have a layer that goes UNDER the baby's body can make the baby unsafe. This is true even if the product is designed with slots for the harness straps to fit through. Remember that snug harness straps are like the baby's parachute in a crash, helping the baby to land slowly and gently. You wouldn't put thick padding underneath a parachute harness, because if you did that the harness wouldn't hold you tight. Don't put padding underneath your baby in the safety seat!

Does the product say it was "Safety Tested?" BUYER BEWARE! In order to sell a child safety seat in the US, the seat has to pass rigorous crash test standards to prove that it is safe. However, in order to sell a product for use with a child safety seat---but one that does not come with the seat---there are NO standards or crash tests required! Despite what such "aftermarket" products may claim, the child safety seat manufacturers feel that using such products may be unsafe and violates the warranty on the child safety seat.

There are many ways to keep your baby warm and safe! See our Car Seat Lady Approved product page for a list of fleece covers that will keep the baby warm and toasty.

Remember, kids get uncomfortable when dressed in bulky layers because they feel restricted and soon overheat when the car warms up. If it's cold outside, you can dress your child in several thin and tight layers. Once you've buckled him into the car seat, cover him with blankets to keep him warm. When the car warms up, you can pull the blankets off.

Toys: Lightweight objects can become deadly missiles in a crash, where an object or person will weigh their weight MULTIPLIED by the speed of the crash! For example, a 5 pound DVD player will weigh 150 pounds in a 30 mph crash (5 x 30 = 150). Therefore, it is important to make sure that toys and other objects surrounding the child are soft and lightweight. If you have an infant carrier that allows the handle to be up while riding in the car, then you can attach toys to the handle. Never attach a toy to the straps of the child safety seat!

Not sure if a toy is safe? Do the Ouch Test. Hit yourself in the head with the toy or object. If you have to say ouch, it will hurt your child in a crash.

Have you found a toy that is sold for the car seat but which fails the Ouch Test? Wonder how products like this can make it to the store shelves despite posing a danger to your child? While there are extremely strict standards including crash testing that child safety seats must pass, there are NO standards or crash testing for products sold to be used with a child safety seat (but that don't come with the safety seat.) Buyer Beware!!

Mirrors: It is best not to use a mirror. The mirror is a risk to the baby's face (it fails the Ouch Test.) The mirror is also a risk to everyone in the car, as it encourages the driver to take their eyes off the road to look at the baby. Many parents worry about not being able to see their child in the car. But no parent can or should watch a child 24/7. Just as you can't watch the baby while you are sleeping, so too you can't watch the baby while you are driving. Besides, what is the mirror going to show you that you don't already know? It will show you that the baby is crying---but you already know that, since you hear the baby crying! Or it will show you that the baby is sleeping--but you already know that because the car is very quiet. Are you worried that the baby spit up and is choking? Gravity will take care of getting the spit up away from the baby's mouth. Are you worried that the baby god forbid stopped breathing? As a pediatrician, I can tell you that this would be an exceptionally rare occurrance in a healthy baby. If your baby has medical needs that require close monitoring, there needs to be an adult in the vehicle to tend to the baby, so the driver can tend to the road.

Sun Shades: Many parents install sun shades on the rear windows of their cars. Unfortunately, many sun shades are dangerous. Some block the view out of the rear window so much that the driver can't see out clearly. Others have hard plastic rollers that in a crash can fly around and hit the baby. If you use a sunshade, it should be lightweight and allow drivers to see through it easily, like this one from The First Years. Another option is this sunshade which attaches to the child's safety seat--and has no hard parts or sharp edges.

Motion Sickness: An adult’s experience riding rear-facing – usually on a train – is very different from that of a young child riding rear-facing in a car. When rear-facing on a train, you are forced to look out the side windows as the scenery passes by very quickly. Ask any adult who gets motion sick, and they'll tell you looking out the side windows makes them the sickest! They'll be quick to point out that looking out the front window is the best thing to do, since the scenery goes by much more slowly, making them much less likely to feel sick. A rear-facing child in a car seat can easily see out the rear window, where the scenery goes by more slowly than the side windows--just like the front window. The only difference between being rear-facing and forward facing in a car is whether you see where you have been or where you are going. A study of several hundred children in rear-facing and forward facing car seats supports this conclusion – finding identical rates of “car sickness” – about 2%.

Interacting with Your Child: While your child can’t see you when you're driving, even very young babies can recognize the voices of their parents. Talk to your baby – or play music and sing to it. You don’t necessarily need to listen to “baby” songs – kids like music with a beat, so many of your favorite songs might become the baby’s favorites too.

Irritability: It's developmentally appropriate for infants and toddlers to dislike the car seat and other forms of restraint (like high chairs or strollers). These restraints limit a child's mobility and freedom; most kids would much rather be crawling around exploring the world around them instead of strapped into a car seat.

But while its disconcerting to hear a baby cry, it's also important to realize that it's unlikely that the baby is crying out of pain. Crying is the baby's only form of communication. He might be trying to ask "Are we there yet? I want to get out and play!" As any pediatrician can tell you, the crying baby is the most reassuring baby, because you know his airway is open.