BRITAX Recall: Chaperone Infant Seats

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a safety recall involving 14,220 Chaperone Infant Car Seats sold in the U.S. due to a defect in the harness adjuster announced by Britax Child Safety, Inc. today. While NHTSA is unaware of any deaths or injuries related to the issue, the defect can result in ineffective safety harness straps.

Affected dates of manufacture are September 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011.

Read the full NHTSA press release here.

Why Is the "Bundle Me" Bad in a Car Seat?

Every child safety expert says "NO!" to using the Bundle Me in a car seat, but why?

The reason Bundle Me's are not safe is that the part that goes behind the child's back is too fluffy and thick, and does not allow you to properly secure your child in the car seat. Fluff and bulk in FRONT of a baby and under the harness would compress in a collision, but fluff between the BACK of a baby and the car seat prevents the harness from being tight enough.

While a Bundle Me does allow the harness to be directly on the child's chest, it provides only the illusion of security because of the extra "air space" in the back. "Shower cap" infant car seat covers like this are the better way to keep infants warm in bucket car seats.

And when you "graduate" your baby to a convertible, the Car Seat Poncho is the very best, easiest way to keep baby warm!

Kids in Hot Cars, Part 2

Do tinted windows contribute to hyperthermia deaths for children left in closed vehicles?

According to David Bell, the inventor of the VizKid, they certainly don’t help. Tinted windows (now standard in the second and third rows of minivans and SUVs) are great for the comfort and privacy of backseat passengers, but they also make those passengers invisible. So if the driver or other adult leaves the car in a hurried or distracted state, he or she could not see the child from outside the car. Nor could anyone passing by -- people who could literally have been a life line for that child.

Bell’s invention, the VizKid, is a visual cue to drivers and passers-by that a child is in the back seat. After seating and buckling the child, the driver lifts the VizKid upright and buckles it into the front row passenger seat. Ideally, when the driver leaves the car and takes the child, the VizKid goes down again. If the driver is distracted when s/he exits the car, but sees the VizKid before walking away, tragedy avoided. If the driver does leave, someone else could see the VizKid in the front seat and rescue the child before it is too late.

Check out the VizKid and Visible Kids LLC here.

Kids in Hot Cars, Part 1

Each year, about 40 children die from heat stroke (technically called hyperthermia) after being left behind in a motor vehicle. 

An excellent study led by Jan Null, a meteorologist at SFSU, shows that hyperthermia does not just happen on blistering hot days. Even on a relatively mild day, the temperature inside an enclosed car increases 50 degrees within the first 30 minutes. In other words, a child left inside a car on a 70-degree day could soon be suffering in 120-degree heat.

Here is the link to the study data:  http://ggweather.com/heat/index.htm#home
The full article, as published in Pediatrics:  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/116/1/e109.full

I find the maps most fascinating. They show children hyperthermia deaths in almost every state (even North Dakota or Wisconsin) and almost every month of the year. Heart breaks, each and every one.

Related posts:
Babies Forgotten In Cars
Babies Forgotten In Cars, Continued

I FINISHED MY ULTIMATE VIDEO!!!

I've always meant to make a video demonstrating the risk of a puffy coat in a car seat.  I have been madly shooting and editing so that I could release the video just before the Kids in Motion conference at the end of this week -- and it's finally done!

I hope this is helpful to CPSTs, Instructors and everyone out there who tries to persuade parents, grandparents and caregivers NOT to harness children over their winter coats. Please share it as necessary, and let me know what you think!

CBS, NHTSA: Babies Should Have Own Seats on Airplanes

As we head into the summer travel season, NHTSA issued an advisory for parents to buy their babies their own seats on planes.  There several sobering moments in this story that aired recently on CBS' Early Show, but I gasped when a mother recounted losing hold of her 2 year old during a turbulent flight, and watched his body slam into the overhead cargo compartment.  Thankfully the child did not suffer any permanent injuries.

Earlier this year, I compared holding a baby on your lap in an airplane to holding a baby in your lap on a roller coaster.  Airplanes travel faster and higher than roller coasters, so what's crazy at 700 feet shouldn't even be allowed at 3,000 feet.  And if babies are required to be in approved restraints when riding on the ground, shouldn't they be even more protected in the air?

For parents who do choose to buy seats for their children under the age of 2 (individual seats are required for anyone older), but want to lighten their loads:  infant seats can be installed without their bases, and children 22-44 pounds can use the CARES Kids Fly Safe Travel Harness, which costs less than $75 and can fit in a tote bag.

Babies Forgotten in Cars: Continued

My post last week about a new invention prompted several comments here and on Car-Seat.org.  The invention is intended to prevent parents from forgetting their children in their cars, which is potentially fatal in hot weather.  Since it is a hot topic (forgive me; I could not resist the pun), I would like to continue the discussion this week:

In one post on the threat at CarSeat.org, umbrage was taken at my choice of term "offloading responsibility."  I guess in that phrase I was imagining a type of person (who may or may not exist) who gets The Gizmo and takes the attitude "Now I don't have to think about forgetting my child, because if I did, my Giz would start beeping!" Satisfied at removing one more thing off his/her checklist, he or she could then go merrily on with his/her way.  I meant it as an exaggeration, and hope/pray that this exact type of person does not actually exist.

Other people stated that, in the cases where the inthinkable has actually happened, the parent or caregiver was not in his/her usual routine (e.g., covering for the person who usually drives the child one place or the other) and it turned into a tragic mistake.  There is usually no doubt in the minds of the authorities or family that the adult would ever have intentionally left the child in the car, but was this day he or she was out of sorts, not in the usual routine, or distracted, in an atypical, unexpected situation.

My concern is this:  if these types of things usually happen in non-normal, unanticipated situations, who is this product for?  To me, it seems like a Catch-22:  Would a parent who thinks ahead enough to buy the Gizmo ever be the type to forget their child?  Or, would a parent who is in such a distracted state remember to use the Gizmo?

On Car-Seat.org, safeinthecar liked the idea of "matching" bracelets that beeped or blared if child and parent were ever more than a certain distance apart.  I like it, too.  These would be useful in all kinds of situations (in public places, in crowds, as well as cars and parking lots).  But again, when do you know WHEN to wear them?  Some people get in and out of our cars all day with our kids -- does that mean we wear them ALL the time?  How likely is it that we'll say, "I'm going to be forgetful today.  Must remember the bracelets"?

I look forward to hearing your comments.  I'm also going to send this thread to William Edwards, one of the NASA engineers who developed the keychain invention.  Maybe he will chime in or find our thoughts of use!

Background Reading:
My Original Post 
Comment thread on Car-seat org

Check out these old old car seats!

I was poking around the Cafe Mom car seat board and found this cool pictorial archive of car seats and boosters. 

Established in 1980,  SafetyBeltSafe is a national non-profit organization solely dedicated to child passenger safety.  This archive was created to help CPSTs identify old, expired and recalled seats that they may encounter during installation events.  Their terrific website has a wealth of information for parents, caregivers and CPSTs.

Is Your Toyota On the Recall List?

In October, I blogged about Toyota's recall of selected models because accelerator pedals were getting stuck under floor mats, causing uncontrollable acceleration.  Yesterday, Toyota recalled and suspended the sale of the models after reports of sticking gas pedals that were causing unexpected acceleration. The company plans to suspend the sale of these vehicles, including the best-selling car in America, the Camry, to fix the sticking gas pedals.

Toyota's suspended models:

• 2009-2010 RAV4
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Consumers who own one of these Toyota models or have questions can call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at (800) 331-4331 (AP).  Please check this list, and forward this information to anyone you know who might have any of the models in question.  Be safe!

Ride a roller coaster with your baby on your lap?

Just imagine:  you're plunging downward with incredible speed, swerving in one direction, then another.  Some people love that feeling on a roller coaster, and get a happy rush of adrenaline -- but if you're on a plane, it's the last thing you want. 

The tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world is Kingda Ka, located at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, USA. Its top speed is 128 miles per hour (206 km/h) and it drops from a peak of of 456 feet (139 meters).  Even your average, run of the mill roller coaster travels between 70-100 mph.  To ensure the safety of its riders, hydraulically-powered steel harnesses brace over the shoulders and around the hips.  Eyeglasses and other loose objects must be removed before the ride begins, so that they do not injure their owners or other passengers should they come loose.

So, would you ride a roller coaster with a baby on your lap? Of course not.  You wouldn't even have a choice: If you tried to ride a roller coaster with an infant, you'd probably be arrested.

Now let's talk about airplanes.  The average commercial airplane travels between 160-180 mph at takeoff, and between 400 and 550 mph at cruising altitude, which is usually 30,000 feet. 

Take a moment to compare:

1. The fastest roller coaster in the world goes 128 mph, while the average commercial airplane travels faster than that on takeoff, and about triple that speed once it's in the air.
2. Riders of the tallest roller coaster in the world fall from a height of 456 feet.  Passengers in a commercial airplane are 30,000 feet above the ground.

So it's obvious that airplanes travel higher and faster than roller coasters, and that riding a roller coaster with a baby in your lap is an unwise and probably unlawful idea.

And yet, when planning a trip, parents wonder, "Is it safe to hold my baby on my lap during a flight? Do I have to buy a seat for him? She's so little, can't I hold her on my lap?" How sure are you that you could keep hold of your baby in heavy turbulence or a crash landing, at 300 miles per hour?  Heck, if I trip while walking down the street, whatever I have in my hands goes flying.  Crash tests conducted at slow-poke speeds of 30 mph have metal crumpling and bodies flying through windshields.

Airlines don't require that children under 2 years have their own seats, but remember that crazy, illegal notion of holding your baby on a roller coaster? 128 mph vs 170 mph.  Five hundred feet vs thirty thousand feet.  Even if it were allowed, I wouldn't do it.

Millions of people fly every single day.  Statistics indicate that air travel is the safest form of transportation, so maybe it's just one plane a year that has to ditch in the Hudson River, skids off the runway, has serious, head-knocking-on-the-overhead-bin-cancel-the-beverage-service turbulence, or inhales a flock of Canadian geese into its engines.  What are the chances that YOUR plane is going to be THAT plane?  Who can tell?

Cost is obviously an issue (especially for families with two or more children) but if at all possible, please purchase a seat for your baby and use an FAA approved child restraint.  Your baby is one in a million, but you don't want her to be THAT one.

Wishing All a Safe & Happy Holiday!

As we head out to our various holiday destinations (H Barry Boo included), I just wanted to send a small reminder to please drive safely and wear your seat belts -- every occupant, even pets! 

In case of a crash, your seat belt will help:

• Keep you from getting banged around the car's interior
• Keep you from getting ejected
• Keep you from colliding with another passenger
• Keep your body in optimum position if the airbag deploys

Also, take off your coats (and baby's too, obviously) and position the belts correctly:  across the hips (not the belly), and across the middle of the shoulder (NEVER behind the back). 

Thanks to everyone for their holiday greetings and treats!  Take care out there and enjoy.  'See you in a few...!

Space Bags Illustrate Puffy Coat Risk

Some people just do not believe that a puffy coat could really matter that much.  I think I have a way to illustrate the point:  Space Bags.

You know the commercial.  You know you really want one.  Put sweaters, blankets, or coats in the special zip loc bag.  Suck the air out of it with a vacuum hose.  Watch it shrink down and resemble a crumpled leaf.  Slide it under the bed and voila, no more puff.  Here's a thirty-second demonstration.

After the holidays I swear I'm going to get some at Bed Bath & Beyond and record my own demonstration.  If anyone else gets to it first, please let me know and link it to my Facebook or to the comments section!

I Am Now A Certified CPS Tech!

After much encouragement from CPS techs and instructors around the country, I attended the NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Training Program this week.  Today, I was officially certified as a technician!

The program consisted of three days of classroom work, hands-on training activities and tests, then one day of installs.  We were given different "dummy" children and asked to choose and install the appropriate seat for their height, weight and age.  We were given different child/restraint scenarios and asked to identify installation errors and misuse.  Finally, we conducted installations for the general public while being observed and evaluated by CPS instructors. 

During one of my installs, I advised a mom against using the Bundle Me in her infant's car seat.  In another, I advised a mom to take off her son's puffy jacket.  When she looked at it, she was aghast at the puffiness in the back AND the front, and how much slack that would generate under a harness.  Both of these things I knew before going into certification, but now, since we had discussed it in class, I had relevant authority in my advice.

Whew! It was a grueling week -- but totally, absolutely worth it.  Along the way, I met some really great people -- police officers and emergency responders from all over the state.  We got to know each other pretty well, had some good laughs over lunch, during breaks.  And now we're certified!

Rear-Facing Advocate Is a Fan of the Car Seat Poncho!

Jim Peralta, aka "Grandpa Jim" is a fan of the Car Seat Poncho.  He purchased several for his grandchildren, and posted a link to our store on his website.

Jim is also a vocal advocate of extended rear-facing, because his grandson, Joel, was critically injured in a car crash.  The impact of the collision threw his body forward, and his car seat did its job of restraining him. But at 18 months, his skeleton was not mature or strong enough to keep his head from being thrown toward the front of the car.  Joel's neck was broken.

As Jim posted on Car-Seat.Org, "Some of the doctors put it in very simple terms...his skull, internally, became detached from his body... and was basically held on with his skin."

Babies and toddlers are not protected from neck and spinal cord injuries in the forward-facing position. The head is the heaviest part of the body at that age, and even at "low" speeds like 30 mph, a child's head would be thrown forward and pull the rest of the spinal cord with it. It's a very graphic term, but it's technically known as internal decapitation.  The American Association of Pediatrics recommends at least 2 years rear-facing, even better would be to rear-face to the height and weight limits set by your car seat's manufacturer.

Watch the news video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcG_CKT1j7c
Keep up with Joel's progress:  http://www.joelsjourney.org/index.html

Why Is the Bundle Me Bad in a Car Seat?

This questions comes up several times a year on parenting and safety boards across the internet:  Why do safety people tell you NOT to use the Bundle Me in a car seat?

The answer is that the portion that goes behind the child's back is too fluffy and thick, and does not allow you to properly secure your child in the car seat.  Fluff and bulk in FRONT of a baby and under the harness would compress in a collision, but fluff between the BACK of a baby and the car seat prevents the harness from being sufficiently tightened. 

While a Bundle Me does allow the harness to be directly on the child's chest, it provides only the illusion of security because of the extra "air space" in the back. In order for the harness to completely compress away that air space, it would have to squish down on all the baby fat, flesh and bone to an obviously ridiculous level.  No one would ever do that to her baby, so the extra space remains.  And THAT'S why the Bundle Me is bad for car seats.

To really illustrate the point, I want to highlight the excellent Bundle Me thread on BabyCenter's "Car Seat Questions" board that was posted early in 2009, by lullabymama.  She tested a real Bundle Me, a real car seat and a real baby to see if the fluffy back panel really made a difference, and took photos to document each step:

• Step 1: Put Bundle Me on car seat, seat child and fasten harness to appropriate tension.
• Step 2: Remove child, remove Bundle Me, re-seat and re-fasten child.
• Step 3: Test harness tension by pinching harness straps above chest clip, near shoulder.  If more than 1" of strap can be pinched, the harness would be too loose to safely restrain a child in a collision.

Even I was surprised that the amount of slack!  I am going to bookmark that thread and refer to it whenever the question arises.  A picture is worth a thousand words, as well as the safety of your child.

The Maclaren Stroller Recall

On Monday, Maclaren recalled every stroller it has ever sold in the US, because of a mutilation hazard presented in the hinges.  Fingers on or near the hinge flex points can be severely pinched or even mutilated.

From what I've seen, one of the major places this can happen is on the main frame of the stroller, perhaps referred to as the "side bars".  Others refer to it as the "elbow hinge."  When the stroller is folded, the top and bottom bars of the frames "V" open.  When they are almost in line with each other, they snap into the elbow hinge with a clear click.  I'm not sure if there is a spring coil and that snaps the bars into the hinge, but when the stroller is opened, there is a noticable snapping sound.  This is the moment when a little finger (or a carrot) can be crushed (as demonstrated by a British news segment).

Here is a feature on ABC news, showing the area of hazard and potential injury.  Owners of Maclarens can contact the company for hinge covers.  They are made of black nylon and attach to the frame with velcro loops.

There are a lot of comments out there about how silly this recall is, e.g., "Who lets their kid stand so close to the stroller anyway?"  I can see exactly how and why.  While a mom is trying to keep a bag from falling off her shoulder, close the trunk, and unfold a stroller, she also has to make sure her toddler does not wander away.  Since she can't hold the child's hand AND do all of the above, she'll say something like "keep your hand on the stroller, sweetie."  That's also something moms say to their older children when they are putting a younger baby into a stroller, basically, "anchor yourself to something tangible until I can take your hand again."  Also, moms and kids do the in/out stroller routine so often, I could see how the child might be halfway seated in the stroller, or lowering him or herself into it, just before that final "SNAP."  So quit snickering, you know who you are, it could happen.

Personal anecdote vindicating purchase decision:  About 6 years ago, when my husband and I were shopping for strollers, we were pointed to the Maclaren, which was, at the time, the premium brand.  (This was before Bugaboo mania.) 

My top criterion was that the stroller be one-hand foldable, and Maclaren did not fit the bill.  When the salesperson demonstrated the whole "kick it with your foot, fold it forward, then collapse it to the ground" maneuver, I gave it a big thumbs-down.  I guess all that manipulation is required because of all the hinges, which allow the stroller to fold up so compactly.  Much more than I knew I'd be able to handle -- not to mention I'm somewhat of a tightwad, and would never spend that much on a stroller anyway.  We ended up with a Graco Citilite (since discontinued), which I could fold and lift into the trunk with one hand, in less than five seconds, while holding my baby in the other arm.  Used the heck out of that thing for five years, and it was under $100.

More links:
The official announcements by Maclaren USA and the CPSC PSA
A British news segment, featuring buggy as veggie snapper

Can car seats be any safer?

I posted the following to the Car Seat Questions board on Babycenter, and am interested to know what you think:
On a recent Babycenter thread, I cheekily suggested a seat that fills with foam upon impact (which might not be all that safe, I know), but what else could there be?

With higher rf weight limits, higher weight FF seats, and SIP becoming the standard for new car seat models, what other safety features could manufacturers consider adding to car seats?

One thing that I could see is emergency locking retractor belts in car seats -- the kind that are sensitive to rapid deceleration, and have an inertial mechanism device that pulls the seat belt taut upon impact? I think the Safeguard seats had them (correct me if I'm wrong), but that seat was so expensive, and I believe Safeguard is no longer making that model.
Other ideas?

More Safety Peeps Love the Car Seat Poncho!

The Car Seat Poncho gets the thumbs up from the Kyle David Miller Foundation, in their recent blog entry, "Dressing for Winter and Safety:"

... [The Car Seat Poncho] is wonderful, purpose designed poncho that keeps children both safe and cozy in your vehicle. The double zip function makes it easy to push aside the material in the front while you secure their harness underneath. The poncho then sits over the harness putting nothing bulky between your child, their seat and the harness. I love this product and it is my #1 child christmas/birthday gift.

I'm thrilled to be mentioned in their post, because keeping children safe is the super-duper, primo numero uno mission of the Kyle David Miller Foundation.  KDMF is a wonderful non-profit organization which seeks to increase awareness high-weight harnessing and donates high weight capacity 5 point harness car seats to low income families across North America.  It was founded in in December 2006 after the Miller family lost their 3 year old son Kyle in a motor vehicle crash on May 2005. The seat belt holding his booster seat failed and he was ejected from the vehicle and killed.

To support the goals of the foundation, H Barry Boo LLC donates $3 from the proceeds of every Pink Camo and Gadget poncho sale.  We call these Kyle's Ponchos.  When parents purchase either of these styles, they are not only keeping their children safer, they are helping an important cause and honoring the short life of a sweet little boy who was taken much too soon.
 
And while we're at it, why not throw in a BLOG SPECIAL:  From now until midnight Sunday, November 8, 2009, purchase either of Kyles's Ponchos and get a FREE MATCHING HAT.  Quantities are limited, so don't miss this chance to score a fetching, car seat safe winter ensemble for your little one.  Feel free to pass this info around to birth boards and Facebook friends!

WARNING: No drawstrings at the neck!!!

I often get emails from customers, telling me about home-sewers who market "car seat safe" ponchos.  I was alarmed, though, by recent posts on popular parenting boards featuring ponchos with drawstrings around the hood and neck.  That is a tremendous, tremendous safety NO-NO.  Drawstrings are extremely dangerous on children's clothing because they can get caught and snag very easily, resulting in strangulation, dragging, and/or serious injury.

In 1996 the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning to all parents to remove drawstrings of all types from children's clothing 2T-12, and prohibited the sale of children's clothing with drawstrings around the head, neck, and waist (just to be extra cautious, I suppose).

I absolutely shudder to think about the child I saw in one thread whose poncho had a drawstring AROUND HIS NECK.  Could you imagine this child being carried to and from the car, in and out of the car seat, walking around, riding in a shopping cart, drawstrings flapping and dangling the whole time...!  How ironic that he's wearing something his mother made to keep him safe, but is now at risk to a whole new set of dangers when he wears it.


I am proud to say that the Car Seat Poncho has been scrutinized up and down and every which way by CPST's and safety professionals all across the country, and given the thumbs up.  When the product was exhibited at LifeSavers in 2008, techs gathered around my booth and exchanged "what-if's" and "what about's" regarding the design, the parts, the materials, etc., over the course of three whole days.  It got a very thorough inspection and, I'm proud to say, emerged with glowing reviews!

If you made your own poncho (with or without a drawstring), and wish you had a Car Seat Poncho, post to this thread.  Tell your story, and receive a $10 coupon for the purchase of a bona fide Car Seat Poncho!

Toyota/Lexus Recalls: Floor Mats & Accelerator Pedals

Important news for drivers of Toyota and Lexus vehicles:  Toyota is recalling 3.8 million vehicles because the driver's side floor mat could cause the accelerator pedal to become stuck, and lead to unexpected high speeds and dangerous crashes. The automaker and federal officials are urging owners to remove their driver’s side mat while Toyota works out a solution.

Specific models and model years are:  2007 to 2010 Camry; 2005 to 2010 Avalon; 2004 to 2009 Prius; 2005 to 2010 Tacoma; 2007 to 2010 Tundra; 2007 to 2010 ES 350; and 2006 to 2010 IS 250 and 2006 to 2010 IS 350.

For detailed information from the manufacturer:

Toyota press release
Lexus press release

And please pass this information on to anyone else you know who might own or drive these vehicles!