The Fundamentals
The Basics of Child Safety Seats
2a - Infant Seats
Our concern here is the head and neck. The head on an infant is proportionally large and heavy. If an infant is facing forward with its body strapped down, in a crash, remember we are talking about forward-facing crashes, the body would be restrained but the head is not. The muscles in human beings are never strong enough to hold onto the head and in an infant the bones can't do it either. To deal with this, the infant seat is turned around (facing the rear) so the back of the seat can support the head along with the rest of the body. The other thing it does is spread the crash forces out across the entire back of the body and not just where the harness straps are.
The other consideration for infants is the angle at which they ride. If infants were nothing more than tiny adults then the safest way for them to ride would be fully upright. However, they aren't tiny adults; for example, an infant can close its airway off by simply touching its chin to its chest, but this is not the case with adults. Of course when they are very young they can't lift their own head and even older kids when asleep won't lift their head up. With this in mind, the safest way to ride would be lying down. However, this isn't safe. This would not only take the crash forces off of the back and put it back onto the shoulders but it would also put the weight of the head back on the neck. The compromise is to put the child at a 45° angle. Infant and convertible seats (in rear-facing mode) are designed to do this but sometimes need some help by way of a towel or other soft material under the seat (refer to "installation techniques" and/or the seats owners manual).
You probably noticed above that 12 months is an important age. However it's not the age at which you turn your child around, but rather the age a child must be before it can be turned around. There are also weight considerations. All child safety seats have weight limits and they cannot be violated. So if you find yourself with a child that is only 10 months old but over the weight limitation of the seat what do you do? You get a different seat. You cannot turn the child around. With that said if you find yourself with a child that is 12 months old but well under the weight limitation of the seat what do you do? Leave the child rear-facing. Your child is safer rear-facing and should be left that way as long as possible.
Please remember that you must pay attention to all of the guide lines (weight, height, etc…) of the seat you are using.
| Copyright © 2008 MyCarSeat.com | |
| Previous: | 1c- What Happens in a Crash - How Child Safety Seats Work |
| Next: | 2b - Convertible Seats/Rear-Facing |
| Back to The Fundamentals Directory | |