The Stay at Home Mother

It has just become mandatory effective July 1, 2008, that children between the ages of four and eight in British Columbia, will have to use booster seats in the vehicle. All parents know that their baby needs to be in a proper infant seat, but I guess it becomes a bit hazy when the child gets beyond 40 pounds - because some parents start using the seat belt for their child.

However the danger is that a seat belt is designed to hold the hips of an adult - not a child, and therefore winds up across the abdomen of a child. In addition, without a booster seat, the shoulder belt crosses the child's neck or just gets pushed out of the way by the child.

Four out of five children in BC are not properly restrained in their vehicle. A study that was done by the BC Automobile Association found that 55 per cent of parents thought that they were well informed about child restraints - when in reality - only 6 per cent had the correct information.

As my son is now just over the 40 pound mark, I have already been using the booster seat for him and he is quite happy in it. His older seat went to his 16 month old sister, who now weighs just over 21 pounds. I am pleased that they are mandating this, and that all parents will need to incorporate the booster seat in to their vehicle for their children.

Did you know that car crashes are the leading cause of injury and death to children in BC? According to Solicitor General John Les, an average of 860 children between the ages of five and nine are seriously injured each year - and five are killed.

I wish they offered "seat checks" through out the Lower Mainland on an annual basis for parents to come down and have their cars checked to ensure they have their child seats installed properly and that their children are wearing them correctly. I would definately be one of the parents to take advantage of such a program - not to mention offering a one hour class to new parents on installing and using the baby seat correctly.

There may not be any instructions when you have a child - but there are with car seats, and having a program in place that would serve as a reinforcement to these safety concerns, would be amazing.