Can Babies Get Rub Marks on Their Arm From Carseat Straps
Car Seats Series #iv : Harnessing
Learning to employ the Car Seat Harness correctly is important considering four of the most common car seat mistakes parents make involve the incorrect use of the harness.
After selecting the correct motorcar seat for your child'south automobile seat stage (choice) and installing information technology (management, location and installation) — and preferably having that installation checked by a certified Child Passenger safety Technician, there is harnessing.
From birth to booster you lot are probable using a five-signal harness car seat. This ways the auto seat harness system contacts your child in 5 points: both shoulders, the hips and the crotch. These are the strongest points of the trunk. A five-betoken harness spreads the crash force evenly over the kid.
Kickoff affair first, which mode is your kid facing?
If your child is in a rear-facing machine seat, the harness strap should be at or below your child's shoulders. Putting shoulder harnesses too high for rear-facing children has a similar event as not fully tightening the safety harness itself. Most automobile collisions happen when the car is moving forrard, causing a rear-facing child's dorsum to be pressed against the seatback of the child restraint seat. This means that a main goal of a rear-facing motorcar seat harness is to keep the child's body from sliding upwards confronting the child restraint'southward seatback. Every tiny increment of increased distance the kid moves exponentially amplifies the forces on the kid's body. The more a child's body accelerates, the more the child'south head and chest are subjected to increased g-forces both at the beginning of the standoff and during the deceleration later the standoff.
If your child is in a forward-facing auto seat, the harness strap should be at or above your kid's shoulders. While frontward-facing the crash forces will cause the kid'southward body to be thrown forward. The harness straps should be positioned at or above the child'southward shoulders when frontwards facing to most effectively decrease the corporeality of distance the child volition travel when propelled forrad and to limit the forces on the child'due south spine and shoulders.
Make sure the harness straps are both going through the car seat — trounce and cover — at the aforementioned level and neither strap has any twists in it. When they are twisted the crash force is place on a smaller expanse of the body which can cause increased injury.
In one case your child is in the machine seat.
Pull the harness straps over your child and buckle the harness and close the chest clip.
Pull the harness straps to a snug tightness. This ways if you try to pinch the harness horizontally you cannot pinch the material together. This is the "pinch examination."
Move the chest clip to armpit level. (We recommend tightening the straps so moving the prune upward to position. If it starts high, yous could tighten the straps and pull the clip correct into the child's throat.)
That seems simple enough, right?
Except that as mentioned, harnessing mistakes business relationship for four out of ten of our most common car seat mistakes.
Those mistakes include:
ane. Not having the harness straps snug enough.
A large number of parents yet leave the harness also loose. At checkups we often hear them say something similar, "it seems likewise tight and uncomfortable."
A snug harness as: "A snug strap should non permit whatsoever slack. Information technology lies in a relatively straight line without sagging. It does not press on the kid's flesh or push the child's trunk into an unnatural position." You want the straps to exist "as snug every bit a hug."
Why is this so important? During a crash the harness straps are holding the child in the car seat. If those straps are likewise loose, the child will non be properly secured and could even come out of the straps becoming an unrestrained child.
The child should not wear bulky clothing similar a puffy wintertime coat in the machine seat harness straps. During a crash the bulky habiliment would compress so the straps would be too loose.
Crash testing shows with 3 inches of harness slack, the child's shoulder can slip out of the harness allowing the kid's caput to extend past the machine seat and strike the vehicle door in a side-impact crash.
2. The chest clip is not at armpit level.
In many automobile seats the breast clip is meant to break during a crash, so how tin can the position be so important? Well, also low and the harness straps may not be positioned correctly on your child's shoulders, particularly if the straps are as well too loose. In this case, the prune prevents the straps from separating, ensuring your child is not ejected during a violent crash. Too high and prior to breaking, it could compress on your child'south throat.
By the way, side bear on crash testing shows when the breast prune was missing but everything else was used correctly, the child's head experienced an extra two inches of side movement and a shoulder slipped out of the harness. Make sure to use the chest clip and position it correctly.
3. Harness straps are not properly positioned for the child.
For rear-facing child safety seats, if you are looking at the child sitting in the seat the straps should be going through the condom seat at the slot at or beneath the kid's shoulder. In other words, you should not be able to encounter the strap coming out of the seat higher up the shoulder, it should be hidden below the child's shoulders.
In a forrard crash — the most mutual type of crash — the starting time move is going to be the summit of the child seat rotating downward toward vehicle's flooring. If there is enough crash energy, the child'southward torso is going to try to slide toward the meridian of the child safety seat. You want the harness straps to be cradling, or at least very close to the child's shoulder, then that they do not slide "up" into and stop of a sudden or even go through the cervix opening when they finally hit the misplaced straps.
For forward-facing auto seats, the harness straps should get through the safety seat at or above the child'south shoulder. Call back about how our seat chugalug is positioned on us. Information technology anchors above our shoulder so that we lean into it in a forward impact.
Download our report: Mutual Car Seat Mistakes and How to Fix Them
4. Harness straps are non routed correctly through the car seat.
Why is this so important? The car seat manufacturer crash tested your auto seat and meant for the straps to be used in a certain configuration. If you routed the straps incorrectly, it could interfere with the performance of the car seat during a crash. If the car seat harness straps are twisted, they may non distribute the weight correctly and cause injury.
As well remember, to non have annihilation thicker than sweatshirt material between your kid and the car seat harness straps. This includes thick winter coats, blankets and those prissy fuzzy, plush car seat covers that have a dorsum section between the baby and machine seat.
A note most cleaning motorcar seat harness straps
When the straps need to be cleaned, wipe them with a moist textile. Y'all can apply a baby wipe, or a washcloth with a piddling driblet of soap. Practise not submerge or wash in the washing car, this ruins the integrity of the strap. If such a thorough cleaning is necessary, y'all should supervene upon the straps. Phone call the manufacturer of the child restraint to get new straps.
Get a visual of car seat safety rules.
5/5 of Car Seat Series; previous posts: #ane Option — #2 Management — #three Location — #4 Installation
By Amie Durocher, Artistic Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004
Copyright 2021 Safety Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. Yous may non publish, circulate, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safety Ride four Kids or share on social media.
We originally published this mail in January 2017. Nosotros updated the article for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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Source: https://saferide4kids.com/blog/using-car-seat-harness-correctly/
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