United Christian Parish Preschool

January 2016 - Special Safety Edition 
SAVE THE DATE
February 4
Ice Skating at Reston Town Center

March 7 & 8
Parents Day 8:30 am
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Parents, 
We love your children very much.  Their health and safety is very important to us.  Please read an consider this information seriously.  
                   Jane
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
CAR SEATS & WINTER COATS (& ALL YEAR LONG)
An Important Safety Message for Parents
A news report about the dangers of wearing winter coats in car seats was aired in December. We would like to call parents' attention to the information below from American Academy of Pediatrics and Consumer Reports about car seat safety. The Consumer Reports article answers the question you might have about how much "puffiness" in a coat is a safety problem.

Our Preschool staff is most concerned already about these issues:
  • Seats must be properly installed. A seat should not wiggle more than an inch when shaken.
  • The child should match the height and weight specifications of the car seat manufacturer. This is extremely important for our little ones here at Preschool, since not many of them are large enough to have moved from the 5 point harness seats to the booster seats. If you are using a booster seat for convenience, make sure that the child fits the height and weight requirements.
  • The chest clip should be at armpit level.
  • The Harness straps should be located at or above shoulder level.

As pointed out in the Consumer Reports article, bulky coats are just one reason for straps being too loose. Please adjust straps and tighten them as needed.


Please be assured that if your child arrives in car line without a coat, the teachers are willing to help him get on a coat. On most mornings, the child will not need to be totally zipped and "mittened" in order to get the short distance to the front door.
 
The next Safety Seat Saturday sponsored by the Fairfax County Sheriff's Department is February 27, 8 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
at the Fairfax County Public Safety Center Public Parking Garage, 10550 Page Avenue, Fairfax, VA
See http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/news/safetyseat.htm
  
WINTER CAR  SEAT SAFETY
Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics
     Winter is a tricky time for car seas.  As a general rule, bulky clothing, including winter coats and snowsuits, should not be worn underneath the harness of a car seat. 
      In a car crash, fluffy padding immediately flattens out from the force, leaving extra space under the harness. A child can then slip through the straps and be thrown from the seat.
     These tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will help parents strike that perfect balance between keeping little ones warm as well as safely buckled in their car seats.

How to Keep Your Child Warm and Safe in the Car Seat:
Note: The tips below are appropriate for all ages. In fact, wearing a puffy coat yourself with the seat belt is not a best practice because it adds space between your body and the seat belt.
  • Store the carrier portion of infant seats inside the house when not in use. Keeping the seat at room temperature will reduce the loss of the child's body heat in the car.
  • Get an early start. If you're planning to head out the door with your baby in tow on winter mornings, you need an early start. You have a lot to assemble, and your baby may not be the most cooperative. Plus, driving in wintry conditions will require you to slow down and be extra cautious.
  • Dress your child in thin layers. Start with close-fitting layers on the bottom, like tights, leggings, and long-sleeved bodysuits. Then add pants and a warmer top, like a sweater or thermal-knit shirt. Your child can wear a thin fleece jacket over the top. In very cold weather, long underwear is also a warm and safe layering option. As a general rule of thumb, infants should wear one more layer than adults. If you have a hat and a coat on, your infant will probably need a hat, coat, and blanket.
  • Don't forget hats, mittens, and socks or booties. These help keep kids warm without interfering with car seat straps. If your child is a thumb sucker, consider half-gloves with open fingers or keep an extra pair or two of mittens handy - once they get wet they'll make your child colder rather than warmer.
  • Tighten the straps of the car seat harness. Even if your child looks snuggly bundled up in the car seat, multiple layers may make it difficult to tighten the harness enough.
  • If you can pinch the straps of the car seat harness, then it needs to be tightened to fit snugly against your child's chest.
  • Use a coat or blanket over the straps. You can add a blanket over the top of the harness straps or put your child's winter coat on backwards (over the buckled harness straps) after he or she is buckled up. Some parents prefer products such as poncho-style coats or jackets that zip down the sides so the back can flip forward over the harness. Keep in mind that the top layer should be removable so your baby doesn't get too hot after the car warms up.
  • Use a car seat cover ONLY if it does not have a layer under the baby. Nothing should ever go underneath your child's body or between her body and the harness straps. Be sure to leave baby's face uncovered to avoid trapped air and re-breathing. Many retailers carry car seat bundling products that are not safe to use in a car seat. Just because it's on the shelf at the store does not mean it is safe!
  • Remember, if the item did not come with the car seat, it has not been crash tested and may interfere with the protection provided in a crash. Never use sleeping bag inserts or other stroller accessories in the car seat.
  • Pack an emergency bag for your car. Keep extra blankets, dry clothing, hats and gloves, and non-perishable snacks in your car in case of an on-road emergency or your child gets wet on a winter outing.
Source:
THE DANGERS OF WINTER COATS AND CAR SEATS
How to keep your child warm and safe
from Consumer Reports News

As temperatures start to dip we bundle our children up to prepare them for the elements, but even with good intentions, a bulky coat and a car seat is a dangerous combination.
We all want to keep our children warm while traveling in the car, but there are ways to safely transport children in the cold weather while still keeping them warm.
As a general rule, winter coats should not be worn underneath the harness of a car seat. A bulky coat under a child seat harness can result in the harness being too loose to be effective in a crash. Here is a simple way to check if your child's coat is too big and bulky to wear under their harness:
  • Put the coat on your child, sit them in the child seat and fasten the harness. Tighten the harness until you can no longer pinch any of the harness webbing with your thumb and forefinger.
  • Without loosening the harness, remove your child from the child seat.
  • Take the coat off, and put your child back in the child seat and buckle the harness straps, which are still adjusted as they were when he was wearing the coat.
  • If you can now pinch the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, then the coat is too bulky to be worn under the harness.
 
 
If you find that the coat can not be safely worn under the harness, here are a couple things you can do to keep your child safe and warm in his/her child seat:
  • After securing your child in his/her child seat, turn the coat around and put it on backward with their arms through the arm holes and the back of the coat acting like a blanket
  • Lay a blanket over your child to keep him/her warm.
  • One of the most common misuse conditions seen in child seats is that the harness is too loose and wearing a big winter coat under the harness is just one of the potential causes.
  • It is very important that the harness is tight enough that you can't pinch the webbing between your thumb and forefinger. Extra slack in the harness can be very dangerous; it can lead to too much excursion or even ejection during a crash.
These tips should help keep your precious little ones safe and warm this winter.
Source: Consumer Reports News: December 06, 2014 10:00 AM