Mom Shares Warning About Car Seat Accessories That You Need to Read
Car seat safety is one of those things that is constantly evolving. New recommendations come out every year, seats are getting safer and more advanced. Parents learn new and important information about how to keep their little ones safe every single day. Sometimes, however, those lessons are incredibly scary. One mom is sharing her story about car seat accessories in the hopes that it saves at least one family from going through a frightening ordeal.
There are tons of after-market car seat accessories you can buy. But are they safe to use? You might want to read this mom’s story before deciding.
Hannah McKinney Pope was driving her minivan with her 2-month-old daughter strapped into her car seat in the back. Pope and her daughter were involved in a very scary car accident. The van flipped twice front to back before coming to a rest on its side. Pope’s daughter Robin was ejected from her car seat during the collision.
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Luckily, Robin only suffered a hairline fracture in her arm and a few cuts and bruises. It’s honestly a miracle, considering she was thrown from her seat! Usually when we read stories like this, the injuries are much more severe. Or worse, parents are left grieving the loss of their precious child. And typically, when a baby is thrown from a car seat like this, it can be attributed to improper installation or the child not being buckled in correctly. But that wasn’t the case for Hannah and her daughter Robin.
When the car seat Robin was sitting in was inspected, it was found to be securely attached to the base. The straps were still buckled and tightened. The car seat did the job it was supposed to do. So what happened?
Hannah had used sheepskin car seat strap covers, which are really common and are supposed to make the straps more comfortable for babies. But, says Hannah, “with the force of the vehicle the sheep skin slid against her shirt and made her go flying out.” According to Car Seats for the Little Ones, parents should be wary of the after-market car seat accessories they use. On their website, the organization says, “There is no way to know how a mirror, harness pads, seat protector, or anything else that doesn’t come with the seat will change how it performs during a crash. There’s no crash test performance standard or benchmark for testing, so while companies do claim to test items like harness pads or inserts, we just don’t know which seats are being tested with which items, or how, and what the results of the tests were.”
We’re so glad little Robin only sustained minor injuries. It sounds like it could have been so much worse. And Hannah’s story is a major wake-up call to parents everywhere. If it didn’t come in the box with the car seat, don’t use it on the car seat.
(Image: Facebook / Hannah McKinney Pope)
