If you are a parent, child safety is of paramount importance. If you are not a parent, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, lets be honest. No judgement of course.

In the United States, we love to watch TV. Inadvertently, we develop assumptions and fears about child safety that really, aren’t very likely to happen. Thank goodness. While dramatic dangers to children grab the news and scare us out of our wits, we as parents can often miss the real dangers to children right under our noses.

Car accidents and choking are the leading cause of young children in the United States by far. Some easy childhood car safety tips can help greatly reduce these causes of death.

The most significant thing we can do to increase car safety for kids is to make sure children under 8 years of age are seated in proper car seats when in the car.

Here are some info from Safe Kids Worldwide regarding car seats and children’s car safety:

• 33% of children who die in car accidents aren’t using a car seat.
• 2 to 5 year olds who may be buckled in but not in car seats are four times more likely to suffer a serious head injury in a crash than those in car safety or booster seats.
• 31% of children 12 and under who died in vehicle crashes in 2011 were unrestrained altogether.
• Children should ride in the back seat until they are at least 13 years old.

When you purchase a car seat:

• Avoid older models as they actually have expiration dates. Yes, expiration dates. That’s why I used the word “actually”. Certain plastics lose their elasticity and strength over time. Better brand car seats have longer expiration dates.
• Avoid purchasing a used car seat. There is no way you can be sure that the used car seat you are purchasing has never been in an accident. Car seats should be immediately replaced after an accident, even a minor one. We were actually in a minor fender bender about a year ago, and the other driver’s insurance company told me to go get a new car seat on their dollar. I did have to turn in our old one, which was at that point pretty child nasty.
• Make sure you keep the manual, or download one and keep it on your phone or computer. As your child ages and grows, you will need to adjust the seat to fit them.

Limit eating while in the car!

Choking is the second common cause of death for children in the United States. When discussing car safety, it’s essential to urge parents to wait until they get home to feed the kids. This is especially important for smaller children.

If a child begins choking in the back, we are unlikely to notice. They can’t make noise with a severely blocked airway. They can’t get your attention. Children are much more sensitive to the lack of oxygen than adults, they can go unconscious very quickly. By the time you notice, it can be too late.

Supervising an eating child in the backseat presents an opportunity for adults, and let’s face it, everyone is happy when children are eating!

If you or a child in your car begins to choke, please – pull over. Get out of the car and perform abdominal thrusts on your child. Georgia CPR teaches these skills 3 times a week in our CPR First Aid classes.

If we as a society can get the overwhelming majority of children in car seats while riding in the car, and simply wait until getting to our destinations to feed them, we can greatly reduce tragic outcomes. With accidents leading to a significant number of child deaths, emphasizing car safety for children is crucial.