http://www.babysafetyzone.com/infant-safety/infant-safety-tip.html An infant safety tip helps us to start thinking from the point of view of the baby, which infant safety tip will you implement first? en-us Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:39:05 EST Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:39:05 EST Weblog Editor 2.0 When we are expecting our first baby, it can be a crazy time. There is so much preparation to be made and so much to worry about. The first question that many people ask themselves is, "How can I make this house for a small human who is going to be running around in just a few months?" It is hard to pinpoint all of the potential dangers to an infant, so we must turn to the more experienced for help and to get a good infant safety tip or two. There are a lot of great infant safety products on the market today, but some parents really go nuts and shell out a lot of money for things that they really do not need and will probably never use. An infant safety tip or two for you It must be known that the #1 killer of children under the age of 14 is a car crash. The worst part of this statistic is that many of the accidents could have been prevented if the child had been properly secured in the car seat. An alarming amount of adults do not read the instructions carefully enough to place the car-seat in the correct way. That is the first of the infant safety tips concerning car seats - make sure that the seat has been installed properly. This means reading all of the instructions no matter how tedious it is, you will only have to do it once and it is worth it. Then follow the instructions as the manufacturer sets forth. Here are a few universals when it comes to child car seats: Every child should be rear facing until they reach the age of one and are 20 pounds in weight. They need to be both of these things before you turn it around to face forward. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that they stay in the rear facing position until they reach the rear facing weight limit of the child restraint. The vast majority of the accidents that happen are head-on and that means that the child who is rear facing is 71% safer than all the other people in the vehicle. Harness straps should be 1 finger tight at the collarbone and the plastic chest plate should be at armpit level. Buy your car seat new and make sure that the manufacturer's instructions are included. None of us should underestimate the power that even one little infant safety tip has. We are the ones responsible for every aspect of infant safety. cc Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:39:05 EST