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 In their small study, fewer than one in five normal- and low-birthweight
babies achieved a proper fit.
Historically, the smallest children’s car seats were designed for
babies weighing between 6.5 and 9 pounds (about 3 to 4 kg) and do
not account for lower-weight infants, said lead author Julie Brown,
a senior research scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia in
Randwick.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies
children born weighing less than 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) as “low
birthweight” and says 8 percent of U.S. babies fall into this
category.
New car seat harnesses have become available for smaller infants,
but there has been little research about how well they actually fit
smaller babies, Brown told Reuters Health by email.
“Good harness fit is important for crash protection so we wanted to
confirm that these new restraints would actually provide better
harness fit,” Brown said.
Her team conducted the study with 84 normal-weight and low-birthweight
infants within a week of their discharge from a major hospital in
Sydney.
The researchers weighed each infant and the placed the baby in two
different types of car seat: a rear-facing restraint generally
recommended for younger infants and a convertible rear or
front-facing restraint in its rear-facing mode. Some of the infants
were also placed in specialized low-birthweight harnesses.
The research team adjusted the straps snugly enough so two adult
fingers could fit between the strap and the baby. Then they assessed
how well the harnesses fit the infants, including how well the
shoulder and crotch straps fit the children and where the buckles
sat on their bodies.
Only one in five normal-weight infants and one in eight low-birthweight
infants had a good overall fit in the car seat restraints, the study
team reports in Injury Prevention.
Among normal-weight infants, 84 percent had a good shoulder strap
height, while only 67 percent of low-birthweight infants had a good
score on this measure.
Additionally, only 51 percent of normal-weight babies and 42 percent
of low-birthweight babies had a good fit of the crotch strap.
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For both normal- and lower-weight infants, the rear-facing only
restraints tended to have better scores for overall fit, shoulder
strap height, buckle position and crotch strap gap, while the
convertible restraints scored five times better on shoulder strap
width.
All the low-birthweight infants achieved “good” scores for shoulder
strap height and buckle position in the specialized low-birthweight
harnesses and they were more likely to have good scores on crotch
strap gap than in regular restraints.
Rebecca Ivers, a professor at the University of Sydney who studies
infant car safety, noted that parents can help keep their children
safe by knowing what the right seat is and how to use it.
“Appropriate use of child car seats significantly reduces the risk
of death and serious injury in the event of a crash,” said Ivers,
who was not involved in the study.
“This means having straps tight enough, making sure no straps are
twisted, that the seatbelt and buckles are fastened, and that any
tether straps are correctly anchored,” Ivers advised by email.
“All parents should remember that their children will get the best
crash protection from age-appropriate restraints that are used
correctly,” Brown said. “Making sure the harness is always used and
adjusted firmly is important for all children in all restraint
systems.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/2aN5TvB Injury Prevention, online July 15, 2016.
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