When traveling with a child in the car, parents must ensure that they follow strictly and comply with child safety seat regulations for the maximum safety of their kid. The state governments of the US require the strict observance of these regulations, knowing that the young children can suffer the most injuries in case of accidents. Traveling with the kids without these measures strictly followed would reflect some gross irresponsibility for the children by their parents.
A child restraint system secures the kid with an infant safety seat while the family is traveling on the road. There is a standard design for this used in most states with the child facing to the rear of the car. Regulations of different states differ only in terms of the penalties imposed for non-complying parents. There are some variations also in the ages of children in allowing them to face to the front from the mandatory rear-facing positions required of the smallest infants.
The seating of a child, whether facing to the front or to the rear of the car, is most vital considering that the most harm can happen to the kids when they are facing in the wrong directions when accidents happen, like frontal car collisions. A small child seating in the front seat will be open to harm from a deploying air bag. Hence, parents must see to it that the child faces to the rear for as long as possible as they grow in weight and size.
There are many models of these infant safety seats in the market. Parents are free to choose the types that they want. The common characteristics of these seats are that they have harnesses and straps that conform to the baby's small body measurements, depending on the baby's age.
While some models can be of the convertible type (babies seat facing to the rear, or facing to the front), most are made and designed for attachment to the rear portion of a car seat with the baby in a position facing to the rear. Babies, especially those less than a year old, should seat facing to the rear. The rear-facing position is the safest for them.
One other advantage for a rear-facing position is that it is in this type of sitting arrangement that neck injuries to the child can be avoided, since the back of the seat can be a good support to the infant's head when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, as what happens on impact in a vehicle frontal collision incident. A child facing to the front risks the head snapping forward without any support and this could cause a severe injury to the neck.
A parent should not travel/drive singly with the infant, even if the baby is in an infant safety seat. Since the baby is positioned at the back of the car's front seat and facing to the rear, another adult must be at the back seat to monitor the baby's condition all the time. A young infant would certainly need the care and attention of a human being, very much more than what an infant safety seat can provide.
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