Child car seat safety is a crucial issue that many parents tend to take for granted. Many of us think that simply buying an expensive seat and buckling up will do the trick. I learned that this just isn’t enough. The lesson was a big wake-up call that made me look into child car seat safety procedures.

When my daughter turned 12 months old, I immediately turned her car seat to face forward. This is common procedure and I really didn’t think twice about making the change. I really didn’t think too much about child car seat safety because I simply took it for granted.

I figured that I put the car seat in correctly when it was facing the rear of the car. I could easily figure out how to put it in facing the front. Who needs directions when they have already completed the task? Evidently, I do as well as many others who take child are seat safety less seriously than they should.

To my horror, I found my 12 month old leaning to the middle of the seat while I was taking a sharp bend. This sight shook me to my foundation and I found myself calling my husband to find us and reinstall the baby car seat in the vehicle. I also had child car seat safety on my mind so I asked for him to bring the directions along, too.

I made one little error in the installation and this led to potential disaster. I shudder to think of what could have happened because I was just too lazy to follow the directions provided for ultimate child car seat safety. This episode inspired me to do a little more research into the subject.

This research led to some discoveries bout child car seat safety that I didn’t know. First of all, the seat should be installed in the middle seat if at all possible. I had my daughter’s car seat in the back passenger side. I was also surprised to find out that many people don’t know that the kids should always sit in the back of the vehicle.

I also discovered that stores like Babies-R-Us offer educational programs about child car seat safety. These stores also offer to install your child’s car seat for you if you would like. This is a great way to make sure that your little one is safe and sound while you are on the road.