Little Kids 1–4 Years

We were delighted recently when our partners at Safe Kids China asked us to visit and conduct a child passenger safety certification course in Shanghai. Our goal was to teach and certify health and safety professionals in Shanghai about the benefits of using child safety restraints in the car.

Only an estimated 2-3 percent of the population in China have or use car seats. But things are starting to change. A newly passed law will go into effect soon in Shanghai that will require children under 4 to ride in car seats. This is huge step in the right direction.

My dad is an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, and although we’ve moved several times I can’t remember ever living more than 50 miles from the ocean. One would think that having a father in the Coast Guard and living so close to the water would mean that I have plenty of experience with the ocean, but in fact the opposite is true.

Every 10 days, across the United States, a child dies while unattended in a hot car. It only takes a few minutes for a car to heat up and become deadly to a child inside. As summer temperatures rise, more kids are at risk – the death toll this summer has already exceeded 20.

As parents, we often have conflicted feelings about safety: On the one hand, we can sometimes be too cautious, overestimating our child’s level of risk of a particular danger. And at the same time, we can completely dismiss certain hazards, assuming our child would never be affected. This is especially true of one particular kind of accident.