Injury prevention is one of the most important topics that we, as pediatricians, discuss with families.  Here in the United States, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children over 1 year of age, and car crashes are always in the top two causes of these injuries across all pediatric age groups, along with SIDS/infant suffocation, drowning, suicide, and firearm homicide.

 

Let’s use this week to review the restraint techniques at different ages and make sure we’re doing our very best to keep our kids safe in travel. We’ll discuss safety at each age separately as the week goes on. Today let’s start with the overview:

• Rear-facing as long as possible!
• Forward-facing car seat with harness until they outgrow it!
• Boosters when kids are too big for the car seat, but too little for the seat belt to fit correctly.
• Back seat until 13!
• Never leave your child unattended in the car – even for a second!
• And finally, make a habit of checking the back seat before walking away from the car.

We will also discuss tips for teen driver safety.  For anyone that wants to read ahead for the week, we’ll be pulling our tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics Healthy Children site for parents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the National Safety Council.  Feel free to engage us in conversation, and share your stories and pics with us on our social media.  We always love to hear from you. Car safety, families! Let’s Do it – EasyPeasie :)