Urban kids have all the fun! At least if you’ve got kids like mine who love big machines. When we lived in a rural area and traveled, getting to and from museums and parks was half the fun of the trip. We rode on subways, light rail, city buses, and even ferries — they were all part of the adventure. Now that we live in a big city, we get to ride these awesome vehicles to get to doctors appointments, school, play dates, and even the park!
On July 27, 2016, Transport Canada announced a recall on Little Tikes branded booster made by Diono.
On August 5, 2016, Transport Canada announced a recall on the Kids Embrace Friendship Series Combination Booster Seat. The affected seats were manufactured between January and November, 2015 and include Cinderella, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leo and Spiderman.
For much of North America a big yellow bus means kids are going to school (and for parents in late August that can be a big relief!). Putting a school age Little on the bus for the first time can be stressful for lots of reasons, but in general parents can rest assured that yellow buses are a very safe way to get kids from home to school and back again.
All major health and safety organizations strongly recommend that kids under age 2 ride rear facing. Scientists, statisticians and child passenger safety advocates agree on the immense safety benefit of rear facing to very young spines.
Combi has issued a recall for Coccoro convertible car seats manufactured between January 2009 and June 2016. When used forward facing and installed with a lap belt, the affected seats may not adequately protect the child from crash forces. Caregivers with affected seats should contact Combi for a fix for their seats.
“Longest lasting seat on the market!”
“The last seat you’ll ever need!”
These phrases are music to a frazzled parent’s ears: researching and choosing a car seat is confusing, time-consuming and the idea of doing it all over again in a few years (or months!) can make even the most calm and collected of parents want to sell their car and move to the city. But sadly, car seats are not one size fits all, and marketing claims aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Kiddy has announced a recall for some of their Kiddy World Plus combination seats. On the affected seats, the buckle on the shield may not fully engage, meaning that a parent or caregiver might think the child was properly buckled into the seat when she was not. The issue only affects the seat when used with the shield. Seats used in booster mode only are not impacted by this recall.
Parents want to keep their kids safe, and as CPSTs it’s our job to help them do just that. Parents often ask us to point them to the safest seat on the market. There’s no simple answer to that question: the safest seat is the one that fits your child, fits your car, and that you use correctly every time. Age, height, and weight all matter when choosing a seat that fits your little. Research shows that children under age 2, no matter their size, should be in rear facing seats, and older children need boosters until they pass the 5 step test.
Both of these warnings are so ubiquitous that maybe you haven’t stopped to read them (or, maybe, your kids are so loud and busy that you haven’t had the chance). These federally mandated warnings say the same thing: the vehicle’s back seat is the safest place for children under age 13 to ride. Sometimes, this warning reads “12 and under”, but the recommendation remains the same: kids should ride in the back seat if at all possible before they turn 13.
