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You are here: Home / Archives for safety

A winter coat is for playing in the snow, not in a #carseat !

October 23, 2013 by Wendy S

 

The weather in Ontario, is starting to get colder. Colder weather means warmer clothes, and soon we’ll be in winter coats.

Wearing a winter coat in a car seat is dangerous.

I took photos of Lauren in her car seat to prove my point. I tell parents to do this test so that they can see how dangerous it is to wear a winter coat in a car seat. (Lauren is squinting due to the sun.)

With your child in their winter coat, put them in the car seat and tighten it as tight as you can.

Here is Lauren in her car seat in her winter coat. I pulled the harness as tight as I could get it.

It passes the “Only 1 finger” test. It has to be tight enough, right?

UPDATE:  It’s best practice to use the “Pinch Test” to check to see if the harness is tight enough.

Pinch Test

(From: Britax)

 

Take the child’s coat off but don’t touch the harness

When Lauren takes her coat off, you can see how loose the harness truly is.

In a collision, the force will compress the bulky coat and then the harness will be this loose. As if the coat isn’t there.

Lauren shows how far she can pull the harness out and how far she can lean forward. This is very dangerous in a collision. The harness is to hold the child firmly in the seat to reduce movement during a collision.

In just her sweater, we pull the harness tight. This is safe.

Watch this segment from the Today Show(aired December 14, 2015):

(aired December 14, 2015):

 

“But my child will be cold going from the house to the car in just a sweater!”

This is the comment I hear most from parents. If you get a 3-in-1 coat that has an inner jacket and an outer shell, you can remove the outer shell before harnessing your child in the car seat.

For a child in an infant seat, you can harness them in the seat and then place a warm blanket over the top before taking them out to the car.

I hope these photos help you understand why a child should NEVER wear a bulky winter coat in their car seat.

How to keep them warm?

Here are some great suggestions from the Car Seat Lady on how to keep your child warm: http://thecarseatlady.com/warmandsafe/

swaddlingintheseat

 

Not all children will be this lucky:

Here is a story of an infant, in a snowsuit, who miraculously survived being throw from their car seat during a collision. They were ejected from the car seat because the harness was too loose.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/149235/the_important_winter_car_seat

Please comment below if you have any questions.

I am here to help your child be safe while in a vehicle.


Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: car seat, photo, safety, winter

#CarSeats and other great deals at @SnuggleBugz’s Anniversary Sale (March 1st to 9th)

March 1, 2013 by Wendy S

 photo sb_march1.gif
They have some amazing deals!!
Clek Foonf ~ $399 
 photo foonf_colours.jpg 

 Britax Parkway SG ~ $99

 photo br_e9la91x_britax_parkway_sg_maui_blue.jpg 



Diono Monterey ~ $139 

 photo MontereyColours.jpg


Skip Hop Zoo plates ~ $5.99 

 photo SkipHopZooPlate-SH-252155.jpg


Plus cloth diapers, feeding, safety and other amazing items! Check out the sale now!

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety, Oakville, snugglebugz Tagged With: safety

Keeping our families safe is a Chicken Farmer’s #1 Priority

September 25, 2012 by Wendy S

(From chicken.ca — Not John’s farm)

After his 4th or 5th time out to the barn, but not his last for the day, John Opsteen took time out of his day to talk to me about being a chicken farmer.

John Opsteen and his brother are a 2nd generation chicken farmers. In 1971, John’s parents bought their first chicken farm. In 1991, his brother bought his farm and later, in 1999, John got his own farm after graduating from the University of Guelph.

John had grand plans for this first farm which included a new barn and a lot of renovations.  However, due to an unfortunate fire at his parents’ farm, 10,000 chickens moved into John’s old boiler-heated barn.  What made things a bit more difficult was that the previous farm owners were still living in the farm house until their new home was ready.  John lived in a trailer on the property for many months, sometimes sleeping on the barn steps where it was warmer.

13 years later, John is very proud to talk about his 18,000+ square foot barn with a computer-operated heating and ventilation system and automated feeder that is home to 46,000 chickens.  My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard that number.  That is a lot of chickens!!

The safety of those chickens is John’s number one priority.  The chickens are “free run” — they are free to move about, but stay inside the barn as Canada’s weather doesn’t always lend itself to the environment that is best for the chickens.  Keeping the chickens in the barn keeps them safe from diseases and they are protected from wild animals.  As John checks the barn, each time taking up to 2 hours, he’s monitoring their food, their health, the temperature, the conditions in the barn and so many other things.  Providing a healthy, safe product to Canadians is very important to John.

To ensure that John is providing the best chickens to Canadians, a yearly audit is done.  Everything from the cleanliness of the straw and shavings to where the food comes from and how it’s stored is checked to make sure that there is no cross contamination.

There are over 1000 chicken farmers in Ontario and 4 of them are right here in Halton region.  Each farmer has a contract with a processing plant.  The processing plant has specific expectations for the farmer to meet.  This starts by them providing the chicks.

The process starts at the “hatcher” where there are hens and roosters so that the eggs get fertilized.  21 days after incubation, the chicks hatch and are delivered to John’s farm.  All 46, 000 of them!

(Oh, in case you were wondering like I was, eggs are produced at “layers” where there aren’t any roosters.)

There are two different types of chickens that John raises — Cockerel (males) and Pullet (females).  It takes 5 weeks for the chickens to be full grown.  The males will get to be 2.0kg and the females 1.7kg.

In the dark of night, when the chickens are most calm,  the processor sends the chicken catchers to collect the chickens.  About 7 hours later, 8 transport trucks roll away with all of the chickens.  John’s chickens will end up at Swiss Chalet (the males) and KFC (the females).

Once the chickens are gone, John cleans and disinfects the barn in preparation for the next crop of chickens.  But they don’t come right away because allowing time for the barn to sit empty will make sure that nothing is transferred from one crop to the next.  It is a 9 week cycle, so the barn sits empty for 4-5 weeks.

John isn’t sitting still during those weeks though. Part way through that month, his brother’s chicken barn will be emptied and ready for cleaning.  They work together, especially at cleaning time.

During our conversation, I asked John what happened to his parents farm.  They still own the farm, but without a barn, they don’t have any chickens.  What keeps them busy is a huge, charity garage sale that they organize, using one of their garages as storage for the items that people donate.

Also, I found out that John also gives back to his community by educating others about chickens and chicken farming.   He won an award for the great work that he has done!

I’m sure that after we got off the phone, John headed back out to the barn to check everything one more time.   Thank you John for the hard work that you do and for caring so much about providing safe, healthy chickens for us to eat!

Want to meet a chicken farmer from Nova Scotia?? Read Lynette’s post!
 
And a farmer from Saskatchewan!  Read Stacey’s post!

I am proudly participating in the Chicken Farmers of Canada program by ShesConnected.  I received compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Filed Under: Ambassador, Chicken Farmers Tagged With: chicken farmer, chicken safety, safety

You’ve Come a Long Way Baby — celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ontario’s car seat law!

September 20, 2012 by Wendy S

Monday, September 24th, at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, is the kick off event for this year’s Ontario Provincial Seatbelt Campaign.
2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Ontario’s child car seat law. 

To spotlight the anniversary, the theme for this year’s campaign is ‘You’ve Come a Long Way Baby’. This year’s campaign runs from September 24th to October 6th.

Today, Transport Canada survey results show that 96 per cent of all Ontarians buckle up. Ontario was the first province to require all drivers and passengers to wear a seatbelt in 1976. Since the law first came into effect, the number of people killed and injured in motor vehicle collisions has steadily dropped and it is estimated that seatbelt use has saved over 8,000 lives. However in 2009, approximately 1 in 6 drivers and passengers killed in motor vehicle collisions were not wearing a seatbelt.

On Monday, September 24th, 
at Yorkdale Shopping Centre from 6am to 9am,
there will be a drop in Car Seat clinic!  

Come early!

What Happens at a Car Seat Clinic?
Click here to find out!


Some of the events that will be going on at this year’s launch:

  • Toronto Police Service will have a Breathalyzer station setup
  • OPP will have the Rollover simulator
  • Toronto Fire Department will be performing a vehicle extrication
  • CAA will be demonstrating the car-fit program
  • DRIVEWISE will be demonstrating a virtual driving simulator
  • Half-car demonstrations

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: safety

What happens at a Car Seat Clinic?

September 19, 2012 by Wendy S

Many times on the news you’ll hear that you should get your car seat checked.

Get your seat checked?? What exactly does that mean?

What happens at a Car Seat Clinic?Certified Car Seat Technicians who are very familiar with the tricks to getting each seat installed properly can help parents understand their vehicle, their child car seat and how the two work best together.

Because there are so many different car manufacturers with different vehicles and many different car seat manufacturers with different car seats, it can be very difficult for parents to get each car seat installed properly in each vehicle.

Looking for a car seat clinic near you?

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-seat-clinics-1058.htm

What happens at a car seat clinic?

There are 2 types of clinics: by appointment and drop in.

  • By appointment has a schedule day and time for you to arrive; you are guaranteed to get your seat checked
  • drop-in clinics are open for a period of time but are first come, first served.  We always recommend that you come early and be prepared to wait. There is no guarantee you will get your seat checked if we run out of time to see all the people

Before you arrive:

You need to read the owner’s manual for your vehicle and for the car seat.  These two documents together show you (a) how the car manufacturer allows the car seat to be used in the vehicle and (b) how the car seat manufacturer allows for the car seat to be installed.

When you arrived at the clinic

You’ll meet the technicians who will be helping you with your car seat(s).

You’ll need to fill out some paper work about your child and your vehicle.

While you’re doing the paperwork, the technicians will be doing a quick check of how the seat is currently installed.  They will point out things that you have done well and things that will need to be fixed.

The technicians will then remove the car seat, check to see if it is expired and if it is suitable for the child who will be using it.

You will learn about the safety features of your car seat, proper use of the seat for your child (based on their height, weight and age) and how to install it in your vehicle.

Seeing the technicians from start to finish could take up to 30 minutes or more.

Common errors seen at the clinics?

  • seat is too loose
  • harness straps are too loose
  • hanress straps are in the incorrect position
  • harness straps are twisted
  • tether strap not used
  • tether strap not used properly and/or hooked in the wrong spot
  • rear facing child seat touches the front passenger seat(s)
  • incorrect seat for the size of the child
  • child moved into a bigger car seat too soon
  • child moved forward facing too soon
  • UAS and seat belt used to install seat (only should use one)
  • UAS is upside down
  • third party add-on attached to car seat
  • loose objects in the car
 
If you have any questions about the different types of car seats
and how to instal them, please see these articles I have written:
http://www.mapsgirl.ca/p/car-seat-info.html

Looking for a car seat clinic near you?

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safedrivers-childsafety-seat-clinics-1058.htm


Please note: I am a certified Child Restraint Technician in Ontario, Canada. Please check your local laws about car seats and always read your vehicle owner’s manual and car seat manual before installing your child seats.
 
This data will be updated as required.

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: safety

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mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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