Car Safety for Kids

Wearing your seatbelt is the law, but what happens when you're a small baby or toddler? Do you know the rules for keeping your children safe when they are in booster seats, forward facing car seats, or rear facing car seats? At Bledsoe's Towing, we want to keep all of your passengers safe, from the largest to the smallest and everyone in between. Here are a few things to keep in mind when buckling your kids up for their next ride.

Quick Glance at Types of Car Seats

Every age requires a different form of safety for your child, so it's important to know what the requirements are before getting them in the car.

Infants & Toddlers - Rear facing or rear facing convertible car seats only
Toddlers & Preschoolers - Convertible car seat or forward facing with harness
School - aged Children - Booster Seats
Older Children - Seatbelts

Safety for Infants

The AAP recommends that ALL infants ride rear facing beginning with their first ride home. As surprising as it may seem, they should continue to ride rear-facing until they are at least two years of age, or until the reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car seat.

Before bringing your baby home, you will want to read the manufacturer's instructions for both the car and the car seat to learn the best way to get it secured in the vehicle. You can have them secured down with the Latch System, or with your seatbelt.

Safety for Toddlers & Preschoolers

When your child has grown too large for their rear-facing seat, you can then transition them into a forward facing seat. They should use a forward-facing seat with a harness, and you should keep them in that harness as long as possible, hopefully, four years of age.

Safety for School-Aged Children

Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat, it's time to upgrade to a booster seat! Most of the children will not fit in most vehicle seat belts without a boost until they are ten to eleven years old, and all children younger than thirteen should ride int eh back seat. There will be instructions that come with your booster seat to let you know what the height and weight limits are. You can get a high back booster seat or a backless booster seat. This all depends on what your child would like.

Safety for Older Children

After your child is at least eight years old, weighs at least 80 pounds or is taller than 4'9" they can upgrade to just a seatbelt. The should belt should lie across the middle of the chest and shoulder, not the neck or throat, and the lap belt should be low and snug across the upper thighs. Be sure that your child doesn't tuck the should belt under their arm or behind their back. 

Caring For Your Child's Safety

We care about your children's safety just as much as we care about your when you're out and about in your vehicle. Even small fender benders can make a huge impact when a child is not strapped in properly in their seat. Bledsoe's Towing is proud to be the best auto mechanic at the Lake of the Ozarks, so when you have a car problem, we are here to help. Do you need towing at the Lake of the Ozarks? We can help with that too, and we provide 24-hour towing so no matter what time you need us, we're there.

Serving the Lake of the Ozark with all towing at automotive 

needs - big or small!

www.BledsoesTowing.com

322 South Business Route 5

Camdenton, Missouri 65020

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