Reader Mail

In her final installment for us on car seat safety, CBB reader Andrea gives an overview of when it is safe to transition your child from a harnessed seat to a belt-positioning booster seat.  She also offers guidance on when your larger child can safely use the adult seat belt, only. 

by CBB Reader Andrea, Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST)

Once your child moves to a belt-positioning booster seat, he or she should use it until the adult seat belt fits properly.  With a booster seat, the shoulder belt should be snug against the child’s chest, resting across the collar bone.  The lap belt should lay low across the child’s upper thigh area.

Seat belts are designed to protect adults and older children, and they must fit correctly in order to do that.  According to SafeKids USA, looking at current vehicle designs, child growth patterns/charts, and general lessons learned through observation, many advocates have concluded that vehicle safety belts don’t fit until kids are 8, 9, 10 or even 11-years-old.  The child in the picture at the right is 7-years-old, seated in a popular family vehicle, and the seat belt doesn’t even come close to fitting properly.  The next picture illustrates how a booster improves the fit of both the lap belt and the shoulder belt.

Children who use seat belts before they fit properly are at risk of internal organ and spinal column injuries.  Children in a 2001 PCPS study who were ’suboptimally restrained’ were at greatest risk for injuries known as ’seat belt syndrome.’  These injuries can include severe bruising as well as serious injuries (including laceration) of the intestines, kidneys, stomach and other organs.  A shoulder belt that crosses a child’s neck also puts the child at risk of neck injuries.

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We received so much positive feedback following our recent posts on car seat safety (read about rear-facing as long as possible and basic car safety tips), as well as so many questions about the appropriate time to move kids up to a booster seat and/or adult seatbelt, CBB reader Andrea has graciously agreed to provide us with some additional information.  In part one of a two-part series, Andrea cautions against the dangers of using a booster seat before a child is truly ready.

by CBB Reader Andrea, Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST)

Child passenger safety advocates recommend keeping children in 5-point harnessed car seats until at least 4 years and 40 lbs.  With more and more car seats now accomodating children past 40 lbs. many children are able to stay in 5-point harnessed car seats until age 6 or even longer (see picture at left).  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ride in a forward-facing car seat with a harness until the seat is outgrown.

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Update: Anya has been front-facing since she was about 18 months old, but reading Andrea’s missive about the importance of rear-facing your toddler AND watching that video, I would like to have her rear-face again. However, as she’s been front-facing for a year, I’m afraid it will be a challenge now that she’s gotten used to front-facing. Since I figured many of you may be in the same boat, I asked Andrea for suggestions on turning Anya back to rear-face. Here’s what she said:

First, make sure she’s within the rear-facing weight limit of the car seat and that she still has at least 1" of hard shell above her head (measure as shown in this picture). If she’s within the limits, switch the harness so that it comes out of the slots at or below her shoulders, then install.

As for keeping her happy rear-facing, my best suggestion really is giving her some special toys or books that she only gets in the car. If you ride with another adult when Anya is first rear-facing, sit in the back with her so that you can entertain/distract her. I bet she’ll get used to it quickly. Allie is almost the same age as Anya (11/4/05 birthday) and LOVES rear-facing. Whenever I open the car door, she climbs right up into her car seat and starts to buckle the chest clip.

by CBB Reader Andrea, Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST)

Most parents know the importance of keeping children in rear-facing car seats until the minimum of 1 year AND 20 lbs. But many are never made aware of the benefits of rear-facing past that age. The truth is, the “rear-facing until 20 lbs AND 1 year” guideline is truly just the bare minimum. Once a child outgrows the infant seat, he or she should be moved to a rear-facing convertible seat. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it’s best to leave a child rear-facing until the maximum weight allowed by the seat. (This has actually been their recommendation since at least 2002.) And you don’t need a high-priced car seat to rear-face past 1 year and 20 lbs. – the most affordable convertible car seat on the market has a rear-facing weight limit of 35 lbs.  For most current seats, the weight limit for rear-facing is at least 33 lbs.

Pictured: Andrea’s daughter Allison, rear-facing at 17 months and about 23 pounds.

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Yesterday we announced our new questionsATcelebrity-babies.com email box (just replace @ for the AT). It’s a way to ask us questions but you can also think of it as Letters to the Editor. Feel free to email us with your reactions to stories a la Op-Ed pieces. Here’s one such opinion letter we received this morning from CBB Reader Jennifer.

I visit your site daily and love it.

My only issue is the comments people write about C-Sections and breastfeeding. Particularly, Giada De Laurentiis‘ daughter’s birth and the debate that when on discussing her hair, make-up and C-Section. I find that people can be cruelly judgmental towards C-Sections when they don’t have the history of why someone has to undergo that procedure. It’s not always elective and to assume it is and pass judgment is wrong.

I had to have an emergency C-Section and have a beautiful healthy daughter. Giving life is what is precious and beautiful. It was nice of Giada to be open and provide the birth of Jade to the public and I was very disturbed on how the debate on why she had to have a C Section seemed to take prominence. That is a private matter. Everyone has their own experience and reason for doing things. Don’t judge celebrities or other people for that matter when you have not walked in their shoes.

Any statement that is negative is passing judgment in my opinion.

Thanks.

What is your reaction to Jennifer’s letter?

People have a tendency to write only when they have a complaint so it’s such a breath of fresh air to receive positive feedback. CBB Reader Marcia sent the following email to our new questionsATcelebrity-babies.com box (replace AT with @) and it made my day.

Great website.  Your comment policy and the standards you maintain are the number one reason I am a faithful visitor to your site.  That is also the reason I feel so comfortable recommending your website to my friends and family.

So many other celebrity websites are mean spirited, obscene and crude. These websites or blogs seem to appeal to the lowest common denominator in society in terms of intelligence.  This is clearly reflected when you read their comment section.

CBB reader Samia sends us this picture of The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, 30, that she snapped while out in NYC. Elisabeth was on her way to the Mercedes Benz fashion show. Elisabeth and husband, Tim Hasselbeck expect their second child on November 11th. Their daughter Grace Elisabeth is 2.

Thanks for sharing your photo with us, Samia.

CBB reader Sheila D. from Kirkland, Quebec was one of 10 winners of an autographed CD from Chantal Kreviazuk, given away as prizes after our exclusive interview with the songstress in May.

Just wanted to write and thank you so much for the Chantal Kreviazuk CD, ‘Ghost Stories’, which I received in the mail today!I was having one of "those" days with the kids (ages 2, 4 and 6) and feeling particularly pudgy (I am 14 weeks pregnant with #4) when we checked the mail…and there it was!

We danced to it all afternoon and my "bad day" vibe just melted away. What a cool contest and what a cool artist to give you an interview and the autographed CDs to give away….so,  thanks so very much from the bottom of all of our hearts!

We passed her email on to Chantal, who said,

Thanks so much for this.Reading the contest winner’s words really brings into focus the powerof music, and the gift that is my career.Many thanks, it has been so much fun. lots of love,chantal k.

CBB reader Joanne was out of town when her prize from the Third Annual Celebrity Baby Blog Reader Survey came in the mail, but now she’s back and emailed to let us know what she did with her Sofia Bean Value Combination Box.

I wanted to let you know how excited I was to be the winner of the Sofia Bean Gift Box.   I received my “box” a couple weeks of ago and I was out of town.  I just returned and there is was … It is such a unique gifting idea!! 

I have a son who would just barely fit into the items, but they were so beautifully made and adorable that I gave them to friends of mine who had just became parents through the gift of adoption.  They loved it just as much as I did.  The box is so cute that she is using it in her nursery.Sofia Bean will be my gift of choice for baby showers!!

Thank you to you and Sofia Bean!!  I read your site many times a day … I LOVE IT!!

Our readers come from all over the world, as evidenced by this email from Swedish CBB Reader Emma.

I would just like to tell you what an amazing website you have. It gives me much pleasure every day and I am a constant visitor. The greatest thing about is that you are not here to gossip or judge celebrities and their children but to simply report and show all the cuties out there. I love it and frequently tell my friends and family about your site. Thank you and keep on with the good work.

Do you live outside of the US?

Our writer Raye received her first reader mail from a longtime reader, Candace, who loves her talk show summaries.

I am a longtime reader of CBB and have never contacted a staff member, let alone commented before, but I just want to say I love your (and everyone else’s!) work, especially your talk show entries. I know you’ve been writing them for some time, and I’ve always been impressed with your writing and the speed in which you post them. For instance, I watched Leno last night, showered, went online for one more round of web surfing before bed, and I knew a Victoria entry would already be up on CBB and it was!

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