Car Seat Safety (Part 3 of 3)
October 18, 2021
Front Facing Car Seat Tips
With all of the bells and whistles on the various brands/models of car seats on the market today, it can be confusing on what you REALLY need to know about car seats & safety. Today, Meghan Tullos, a physical therapist assistant at the Pediatric Movement Center as well as a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, is going to break down the information we need to know about front facing car seats!
Quick Facts on Front Facing Car Seats
- Front facing car seats should only use the LATCH system if the total weight of the child plus the car seat is 65 pounds or less (most CPSTs will elect to switch to the seat belt as soon as the seat turns forward facing to prevent having to remember to switch after the LATCH system weight limit is exceeded).
- When using LATCH in front facing, the belt should be threaded the belt path labeled as front facing. after that, front facing seats should be secured using the car’s seat belt and threaded through the car seat’s front facing belt path.
- The top tether of the seat should ALWAYS be used with front facing seats
- The top tether prevents excessive forward motion of the seat during a car crash and keeps the car seat from rotating forward into the head rests of the front seats
- Kids should NEVER wear a winter coat under the straps of car seats (forward facing or rear facing). You can put the coat on backwards over top of the straps or use a blanket when in the car. Winter jackets require the straps to be looser than they should be and in a car crash the coat will compress and increase injury to your child.
As always, if you have specific questions about how your child’s seat is installed or how to position your child in their seat, please reach out to Meghan Tullos at mtullos@pmchag.com. Meghan is a certified child passenger safety technician and will be happy to assist you with your child’s car seat needs.
Exposing children to food through various activities like cooking, coloring and sensory play/projects enhances their understanding of food, leading to healthier eating habits. Try a sensory project, like making snacklaces!
A Fun Way to Introduce Your Child to Food!
Our Registered Dietitian (RD) has some practical tips to incorporate into mealtime for a more successful, enjoyable child-food relationship. The goals of these interaction are to create a positive relationship with food, enjoy happy meal times, reduce anxiety, reduce battles surrounding food, and fitting all types of food into a healthy lifestyle.
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder. Childhood apraxia of speech is a rare, but lifelong disorder that makes it difficult for individuals to move their mouth muscles in order to speak. The important thing to note about Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is that the child knows what they want to say, but may struggle with connecting the brain to the muscles that must accompany speech.
If you have a child who is a selective eater, learn about some time-tested eating tips including: nutrition guidelines, tips for parents during meal times, and types of food children tend to enjoy. Try a combination of these tricks and find what will work best for your family.
In a world often filled with uncertainty, Liam, a courageous six-year-old boy, has proven that faith, resilience, and the unwavering support of family can overcome even the most daunting challenges. His journey began on December 11th, 2023 when Liam fell down the stairs. What was thought to have been a seemingly innocent incident, quickly spiraled into a life-altering spinal stroke. Within moments, Liam went from a lively child full of energy to being paralyzed from the neck down, which left his family in shock, grappling with fear and confusion as they navigated the unknown.
