Whether you are driving your baby to the pediatrician, school, or a friend’s place, you’ll want to adopt the best measures to ensure that they are safe. Babies are not agile or strong as adults or teenagers, so the chances of them choking on something in the car or sustaining an injury when your car jerks, gallops or comes to an abrupt stop are high.
It is your duty as a parent to ensure that your baby is protected from all potential dangers during your trip. And, to do that effectively, you may want to consider these tips.
1. Don’t Leave Coats or Blankets in the car.
If you have studied a baby well, you’ll understand that their hands are always busy, trying to hold on to whatever is around them. Because of this habit that most babies exhibit, we advise that you remove all coats, blankets, etc., close to your kid. You can decide to keep it far away from your baby or remove it entirely. If you must lay a blanket across your kid, do it in a way that makes it hard for them to lift it over their face to prevent suffocation.
2. Lock the Power Windows
Kids can be adventurous and naughty at times. To ensure that your baby doesn’t try any adventurous acts while in the car, you should lock the power windows. If you don’t, your kid may decide to poke their head out of the window while you are not watching. Or they may activate the window unintentionally, shutting their hands, fingers, or even their head in the process.
Over the last two decades, at least 70 children have been killed in power-window accidents. To ensure that your kid is safe from the dangers of these windows, you should wind them up and lock them while driving. Provided the AC is on and they have a couple of toys to play with, they’ll be fine.
3. Use the Appropriate Car Seat
Obviously, placing your baby in your car seat is a bad idea. The seats aren’t designed for babies. So, to ensure that your baby is comfortable and secured while on a car trip, you’d want to make provisions for an infant car seat.
When it comes to baby car seats, we recommend going for a rotating convertible car seat like a nuna revv baby car seat. This car seat can convert from rare to forward-facing. We recommend that you convert the seat to rear-facing if you are driving with a newborn baby. And it should stay that way till your baby turns 2.
Rear-facing car seats are designed to absorb crash force and support your kid’s head, neck, and spine. Plus, before purchasing a baby car seat, ensure that it fits your car. You can find out by carrying out research.
4. Turn on the Child Safety Locks
When driving with your baby, ensure that the child safety locks on your car doors are activated. As we mentioned earlier, babies are adventurous and curious.
Your kid may decide to play with the car’s locks while on speed (or stationary), thereby opening the door in the process.
In addition, before driving with your baby on board, ensure the child safety locks are activated. Can’t find them? Check inside the car doors. They are usually turned on by flicking a switch. Check your car’s manual if this doesn’t help; its location should be there somewhere.
Conclusion
Babies don’t think like teenagers or typical adults, so they often don’t know when their actions may lead to danger. As a parent, it is your job to ensure that they lack the opportunity to take actions that’ll put them at the risk of harm. Hopefully, these tips will help in doing that.