Nanny Diaries

I’m going to go as in my work I regularly transfer different car seats, often within a day, so it’s vital I don’t slip up with the fitting of one. I am, after all carrying the most important person in a parents life. Safety is the first thing I must pay attention to.

Terrifyingly, two out of three car seats are fitted incorrectly. That’s a pretty scary statistic.

What’s even scarier are these facts, that at just 5 mph a child could suffer fatal injuries if not secured in a car seat.

Over 4,000 children are killed each year in Road traffic accidents.

Rear facing car seats can make children 95% safer.

That’s an astonishing statistic yet one often ignored. I understand why, it’s not illegal to have them travel forwards and children don’t LIKE travelling backwards (neither do I to be fair), they can’t see as well and some get car sick. As a parent it’s a difficult choice to make. Because we all drive carefully and we want our children to be happy don’t we?

But it isn’t about us. It’s the other people that aren’t so careful that put us at risk. We can’t control that. But we can control how safe our children are.

I hear some people say “in my day we didn’t have car seats and there were fewer accidents!” Yes. But there was also fewer cars, we travelled less and not as far or as fast.

So I recommend in car entertainment, something you can safety store away when not in use. I have a “car kit” of toys and activities that are JUST for the car. That way they’re always there and children don’t get as bored of them. We also have CDs to sing along to.

Car seats are the safest way to transport children in cars. Yet if they’re not fitted correctly, been involved in a crash or not tested adequately they’re next to useless.

So take advantage of events like the Wigan Council one or if you can’t make that Halfords often do them. Ask at your local store.

It might just save your child’s life.