Always have your baby’s car seat professionally installed in the back seat of your car. Call the local police or a child care resource and referral agency to find out where to take your car to have the car seat correctly installed. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should always sit in the back seat. Many cars have front air bags. If these air bags are inflated, they can hurt or even kill children. Keep your baby in an approved infant car seat which faces backwards in the back seat until he is one year old and weights at least 20 pounds. More information on approved car seats and car seat safety can be found in the article, Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families at the American Academy of Pediatrics web site: http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/carseatsafety.cfm
You may have seen other family members hold babies on their lap either in the front seat or in the back seat, but this is not safe. We are learning new things about babies all the time. The information in this newsletter might be different from what your parents or neighbors were told when their children were little.

Browse related Faqs by tag: parenting