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Sending preschooler on van



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amother
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Post Fri, Jul 01 2016, 4:13 pm
In brooklyn, is it OK to send a preschooler on a van without a carseat?

Daycamp is pretty annoyed that I am making them use our car seats for my 2,3 year olds. They asked for easier to install boosters.
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MyUsername




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Jul 02 2016, 4:30 pm
No, it is not safe at all.

I know the daycamp might be annoyed, but in the event of an accident, I'd rather have an annoyed daycamp then injured or even dead kids.

Did you know that car accidents are the leading cause of children's death in the USA? Car seat use reduces the risk for death to infants (aged <1 year) by 71%; and to toddlers (aged 1–4 years) by 54% in passenger vehicles. Those are not small numbers.

New York State law is that all children under age 4 must ride in a federally approved child safety seat, and children under 4 are only permitted to ride in a booster seat if they are over 40 pounds (and fit the manufacturer's recommended minimums to ride in the seat - this may include weight, height, and other factors). So if your kid is under 40 pounds AND under 40 inches (these are the minimums for most booster seats on the market), then they can't ride in a booster seat period, both in terms of safety and the law. Furthermore, even in taxis in New York State, the driver must allow, by law, installation of a car seat for a child under 4 if the parents desire. But even if you happen to have very large children, it is still unsafe for younger children to ride in a booster seat:

Do you know that in Europe, not only do they still keep kids this age in car seats, but they keep them in rear-facing car seats until age 4? Even in the US, where the recommendation is keep them rear-facing only until age 2, children over 2 are supposed to be kept in car seats and not moved to a booster until they are able to sit upright in a booster for the full length of the trip without falling asleep and have to be big enough so that the booster properly positions both the lap and shoulder portions of the belt in the right place and lies flat in those places - most kids are not capable of all this until age 6 on average. 2 and 3 year olds are definitely not. Even if you can find a booster that technically fits them at that age (which will be hard, since most are designed from age 4 or 5 and up), if they are not sitting upright the whole trip in a booster, they will not only not be protected in the event of a crash, they could incur serious injury from improper placement of the seat belt. In the USA, the recommended age to keep children in a car seat is up to age 5 (CDC recommendation), before moving to a booster. Booster seats are designed to be used in children age 4 or 5 and up and younger children should never ever be put in safety equipment not designed for their age. Part of the reason why this is the age for booster seats, is because at age 4, the vertebrae in the neck/spine of children becomes much more stable because there becomes more bone vs. cartilage (and that's why 4 is the cut-off for changing from rear-facing to forward-facing in Europe) and this makes it strong enough to withstand certain types of impact that a younger child's neck/spine cannot withstand (and by cannot withstand, I mean incur serious injury like paralysis or even death). Sweden, where children are in rear-facing car seats until age 4, has the world’s lowest highway fatality rate for children under 6 in the world, with almost no fatalities in any given year. In the USA, car accidents are the NUMBER ONE cause of death of children. And I've driven in Brooklyn - it's not exactly the safest place to drive.

Most importantly, any car seat, including forward-facing car seats, are significantly safe than a booster seat for any child, even older than 4 or 5. Keep in mind that seat belts were designed for adults - fully grown and with certain proportions are bone structures that don't correlate to children's size, proportions, or structure - a five-point-harness is far, far more secure for any child than a seat belt, even guided by a booster, meant for an adult.

Please, please, please do not put young children in a booster seat. Keeping them in their car seats could save their lives - just make sure it is installed properly each and every time. You are responsible for your kids' safety, and if the camp is watching them, then they too are responsible for your kids' safety. So go ahead and annoy them. Your kids are worth it.
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