Where the Rubber Meets the Road with Safe Ride 4 Kids saferide4kids

Episode 14: Along with transitioning too early (episode 13), many parents move their child to just the seat belt too early. Whether it's because they are following their state law (usually a minimum standard, episode 7) or their child is complaining because "none of my friends have to", a child should remain in a belt positioning device until they can pass the 5-step seat belt fit test.
Want it in writing? Read Take the 5-Step Seat Belt Fit Test for more details.Watch a video here to see proper seat belt fit with a child who passes the 5-step seat belt fit test.
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Our Tip of the Week: Even if your child passes the 5-step seat belt fit test, keep them in the back seat until they are at least 13 years old.
Parenting Tip Bonus: Choose your battles. You could fight about every little thing with your child but who wants to live like that? Pick just a few of the most important things to you that you want your child to be accountable for.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.

Episode 13: It's not a graduation and nothing to celebrate. In fact transitioning to the next stage of car seat is actually a reduction of some degree from the previous stage. Listen as we describe how each transition is a step down and why you want to wait to make those transitions and NOT make them too early.
Want it in writing? Read Going Forward Facing Too Early — Way Too Early for why we wait for the first car seat transition from rear facing to forward facing.
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Our Tip of the Week: Most state car seat laws are minimums, follow best practice as much as possible.
Parenting Tip Bonus: As our friend Veenu from Veenu Inspires says so eloquently, "Our kids inner voice reflect our outer voice." What we say to them becomes what they say to themselves. Think before you speak.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.

Episode 12: The fifth step in properly restraining your child is using the harness correctly. In this episode we talk about making sure the car seat harness straps are at the right level for your child, keeping the straps threaded correctly and properly tightening the harness for safety.
Want it in writing? Read Using the Car Seat Harness Correctly
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Our Tip of the Week: Wipe harness straps clean when dirty. Follow manufacturer's instructions for cleaning the car seat.
Parenting Tip Bonus: Ask questions. Just like our children expect us to have a reason, they have one too. You can learn a lot about your child and his or her thought process by asking questions.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.

Episode 11: Installing your child's car seat seems like it should be easy but isn't always. And what may seem like the right thing to do, may not be. In this episode we walk you through the two methods of installing car seats, which to use when and tips to make sure you do it correctly.
Want it in writing? Read Properly Installing Your Car Seat
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Our Tip of the Week: Do the one inch test and more importantly, have your car seat checked by a certified child passenger safety technician.
Parenting Tip Bonus: Flexibility wins the game. When it's not necessary to be steadfast, sometimes being flexible will provide a win-win for you and your child.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.

Episode 10: Where is the safest location in the car to put a car seat? While this matters, what matters more is whether you can get a correct installation in that that position. If not, then another position in which you can get a correct install would be better. There are a lot of details that go into choosing where to put your child's car seat. Listen to find out what you need to consider.
Want it in writing? Read Where Should You Put Your Car Seat?
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Our Tip of the Week: Most cars do not allow you to use a lower anchor from the passenger side and one from the driver's side to install the car seat in the middle seat using the LATCH system. Read your car manual and car seat manual to determine if you can.
Parenting Tip Bonus: Follow through is super important. Don't make promises, or threats, and not follow through.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.

Episode 9: Part of selecting the right car seat (as we talked about in our last episode) you need to know which direction your child should be sitting. So which direction should you put your child's car seat? Is your child still rear facing or is it time to start forward facing? Best practice is to keep your child rear facing for as long as possible.
Want it in writing? Read Keep Your Child Rear Facing for as Long as Possible on our website. If you are interested, you can also read Rear-Facing Recommendations, Are They Changing?, Going Forward Facing Too Early — Way Too Early, or Rear Facing Versus Forward Facing Car Seats.
 
Plus:
Our Tip of the Week: Park on level ground when checking the angle of the rear facing seat.
Parenting Tip Bonus: Start with the end in mind.
Stay tuned or visit our website for more information about car seat safety, driving during pregnancy, traveling with children and more child safety subjects. We look forward to helping you Make Every Arrival a Safe Arrival™ with your family.