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Drive safe with the little one
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Few people in India are aware of child seats and how important they are
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It is surprising to see so many cars on the road with a family inside and the child, usually, a baby or a kid that’s less than a decade-old, is seated in his or her mother’s lap. Most families do not realise the risk and danger they are p
utting their young children in by not providing them with the required seats. Imagine, if the driver had to suddenly brake hard? The mother would be flung forward and the child would get squashed between her and the dashboard.
The seatbelt in a car, engineered to restrain you in the event of a crash, is designed for adults. While in many countries, child seats are mandatory, in India, many people aren’t even aware of the concept. Read on for a guide on child seats and how you can protect your child.
For infants
Infants should always be given a rear-facing seat; this is because a rear-facing child seat will offer better protection for their back, neck and spine. In fact, make use of the child seat as soon as the baby gets out of the hospital. The baby should be in a rear facing seat till he or she weighs at least nine kilos.
Keep your child in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible as this offers more protection than a forward-facing seat.
The two types of seats you can get are infant-only seats and convertible seats. The infant-only seats can be used from birth to when the child weighs nine kilos. The convertible seats can be used as rear-facing seats for infants and then they can be converted into forward-facing seats when the child is older. The seats are best kept at the rear and never put a child seat in the front passenger seat especially when there is a passenger airbag.
Toddlers
When a child weighs nine kilos, he or she can be seated in a forward facing seat until he or she weighs 18 kilos. This means that roughly, a child can use this seat from nine-months to four years of age. The best way to know when your child has outgrown this kind of seat is when his or her head is higher than the top of the seat or when the child has exceeded the maximum weight threshold of the seat.
Four to eight years
If your child has outgrown a child seat, he or she now needs a booster seat. These seats are designed so that the lap and shoulder seat belts fit properly.
Such seats are ideal for children under the age of eight, weighing 18kg or more, but less than 36kg, and who stand less than 4 feet, 9 inches tall. Your child’s head should be supported by the top of the booster, vehicle seat or headrest, the shoulder strap should lie across the child’s shoulder (not the neck or face) and middle of the chest, and the lap belt must cross low over the hips (not the stomach).
Youth
A seat belt is made for adults and older children and if the seat belt is not fitting your child appropriately, he or she should remain in a booster seat until the adult seat belts restrain them properly.
When the child reaches a height of 4 feet, 9 inches is when he or she usually is able to use seatbelts the way they should be used.
Basically, a child is ready to move forward from the booster seat only when he or she can sit all the way against the vehicle seat back with legs bent comfortably over the edge of the seat, and with the shoulder belt flat across the shoulder and chest.
Before you buy a child seat however, make sure you have the necessary knowledge required to get the best seat available and one that is most appropriate for your child given his or her age and weight.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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