The Car Seat Lady: Surpising Information About Car Seats & Safety

Given that car crashes are the leading cause of death and serious injury in children, it’s hard to imagine a time when babies and small children rode in cars without car seats. But what seems unimaginable today was the norm up until the 80’s in this country. (Editor’s Note: My mother held me in her arms on my first trip home and my sister used to sit on the arm rest in the front seat of the car - dubbed, the ’sunshine seat.’) Thanks to people like Debbi and Alisa Baer that is no longer the case. Debbi, a labor and delivery nurse, mother of two and the original Car Seat Lady, became involved in what, at the time (the early 1980’s), was a grass roots movement to raise public awareness and pass legislation requiring children to ride in car seats.Debbi went a step further than many safety activists, becoming certified in car seat installation and then teaching thousands of parents, caregivers, nurses, policemen, firefighters, and doctors in car seat safety and proper car seat installation. In addition, she set up a car seat installation station on her driveway for parents. Over the years, it’s estimated she has taught thousands of parents how to install more than 15,000 car seats.

You might think it would be a natural progression for the Car Seat Lady to pass the mantle to her child. Of course, you would be overlooking the ‘oh so uncool’ life of The Car Seat Child. Mom giving safety talks at school and to neighbors. Mom approaching random unbuckled motorists with a sign asking them to buckle up. Not to mention the supreme indignity of having to ride in a booster seat until you were 8 and a half.

However, in spite of those childhood “traumas,” Alisa Baer, Debbi’s oldest daughter, did indeed catch the car seat safety bug. After becoming certified in car seat installation herself, Alisa took the car seat safety crusade to New York City where she attended undergrad and med school. Since arriving in the Big Apple, Alisa has performed more than 5,000 car seat installations in addition to lecturing to parents groups, pediatric residents, nurses, firefighters, and policemen. She has been featured on TV and in numerous publications. Her website www.thecarseatlady.com has information and video clips on proper car seat installation and usage.

Clever Parents caught up with Alisa to discuss safety tips, a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that many people don’t know about, and what it’s like to grow up as the Car Seat Child.

Clever Parents: Tell us what it was like growing up with The Car Seat Lady as your mom.

Alisa Baer, the Car Seat Lady: When your mom is The Car Seat Lady and she comes to talk to your 3rd grade class about safety, it’s not exactly the coolest thing. In fact, from the cool factor, it probably doesn’t get much worse. A routine walk in the neighborhood often included a couple of fifteen to thirty minute car seat consultations – during which my sister and I would sit on the sidewalk and twiddle our thumbs. Running errands in the car wasn’t much better as there was undoubtedly at least one unrestrained motorist necessitating a flash of the “Please Buckle Up” sign. Looking back, I realize that what I took away from this is not embarrassment, but rather the realization that my mother is an amazing role model in voluntarism for me.

As I became a little older I realized there were these cute kids coming over to my house and I started going outside to play with them. It wasn’t really until the end of high school that I got involved. During my senior year in high school, I worked in the nursery of a Baltimore hospital where it was my job to teach the new parents how to install their car seats and properly secure their babies in the seats.

My mother was, and continues to be, an amazing role model in voluntarism for me. That, in addition to the countless lives she has saved, are the truly special gifts she has given to me and the community at large. Debbi, who now charges a nominal $15 fee, performed installations pro-bono for more than a decade.

Clever Parents: Tell us about your fitting stations. What sort of certification is required?

The Car Seat Lady: The National Transportation Highway Safety Association (NTHSA) offers a 32 hour course that has been around since the mid-90’s. There are two levels of certification: 1) a technician is someone who has taken and passed the course, 2) an instructor, in addition to being a technician for at least a year shows advanced proficiency in the field and is certified to teach the course.

Clever Parents: What are some common mistakes that people make with regards to car safety seats?

The Car Seat Lady: The key ones are: 1) either picking out a seat that is inappropriate for the child’s age/weight/height/maturity or using a seat in a way that is inappropriate for that child. The recent Britney Spears incident is a good example of the above mistake. She bought a fantastic seat, but she installed it forward-facing for her son who was only 8 months old. An 8 month old’s head and spinal cord can not tolerate the whiplash motion that you experience when you are forward-facing; had this baby been in a crash, he would likely have suffered head or spinal cord injuries simply because the car seat was not facing the right direction given his age. 2) The child is too loose in the harness straps. In my experience most parents, even those who think they are making it too snug, are actually making the straps too loose. You can think of snug harness straps like a parachute that cushions your landing – if your straps are loose you will be jolted to a stop which can lead to more injuries. 3) The seat is installed too loosely in the vehicle. The car seat shouldn’t move more than 1 inch in any direction when you test it at the seat belt or LATCH belt path.

Clever Parents: It is estimated that 80% of children riding in car safety seats are at risk because they are not buckled in correctly. In your mind, what has to happen to reduce these numbers?

The Car Seat Lady: Non use of car seats for kids older than three is a big issue. Another one is not using the appropriate restraint. To reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities, everyone should use a car seat or booster seat or safety belt that is appropriate for their age, weight, height and maturity level. Also, parents need to keep kids rear-facing longer. A new study of nearly 1000 side impact crashes with kids under the age of two reports that rear-facing children are four times safer than forward facing children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain rear-facing until they are too big for rear-facing – which is either too heavy (usually 30-35 pounds for most convertible car seats) or too tall (there is less than one inch of space between the top of a child’s head and the top of the car seat). Note that the length of the child’s legs or the fact that they touch the back of the vehicle seat are not a safety issue or a comfort factor in terms of keeping a child rear-facing. Last, every child that needs a booster seat (approximately age 4-10) should use one. Booster seats are 59% safer than using lap and shoulder belts.

Clever Parents: What are some car seat safety tips for parents?

The Car Seat Lady:

• Most parents underestimate how snug the harness straps should be. View a how-to video on securing a child in a 5-point harness.
• Children should stay in booster seats much longer – until they pass the 5-step test – which is usually not until they are 8-10 years old.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children stay rear-facing longer than just the bare minimums of one year and twenty pounds. They should ride rear-facing until they are too heavy or too tall for the rear-facing position in their convertible car seat.
• The car seat is possibly the most important vaccine of all.

Read more about The Car Seat Lady, view how-to videos, and much more on The Car Seat Lady website: www.thecarseatlady.com

A recent graduate of the NYU School of Medicine, Alisa is a pediatric resident at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. While she will most certainly educate parents about the importance of childhood vaccines, she will continue to raise awareness about perhaps the most important childhood vaccine of all – the car seat.