Safe Travels
Summer and vacation…they go together like ice cream and sprinkles! Many people wonder if they will still be able to travel once they become foster parents. The good news is that in most cases, including a foster child in a family vacation is a great opportunity to allow them to have normal, positive childhood experiences and permission is often given to bring them along. In fact, we have had families get approved to bring children out of state, on airplanes, and even out of the country!
With that in mind, on June 1 we hosted a fun and interactive training all about child passenger safety while traveling. In other words, once you have permission to take your child on a trip, what do you need to know about keeping them safe on whatever planes, trains, and/or automobiles you might encounter on your journey?
Participants were given passports that we stamped together as we “traveled” from station to station exploring different aspects of travel. At one station, we reviewed the different types of child restraints (rear facing, forward facing, booster, and seatbelt) and discussed how to evaluate which one is most appropriate for a child. We used my daughter, Addie, as our model and used her age, height, weight, and developmental level to determine which type of seat was best for her. I then informed the group that even though Addie is a twin, she and her sister are currently in two different types of seats. This just goes to show that car seat safety is not a “one size fits all” approach, and will definitely vary depending on the individual child you are caring for.
At this station, we also had a special height marked on the wall: 4 feet, 9 inches. Do you know why this height is important? If you said it’s the height that your child can graduate out of a booster seat and start using the vehicle seatbelt, you’re halfway correct! Once again, there is no one size fits all approach, but 4’ 9” is the height when many children may be ready to ride without a booster. Once your child reaches this height, you can use the 5-step test to determine if they’re ready to ditch the booster. I reminded participants that the 5-step test is not only specific to the individual child, but to the seating position in the vehicle as well. Some children may pass the test in the third row of the van while not quite passing in the captain’s chairs, or pass in the sedan but not in the SUV. That is why it is important to test with every new vehicle – when it comes to travel, this can be especially tricky, so having a compact booster on hand just in case it’s needed would be a good idea.
At another station, we discussed different types of vehicles and whether or not you need to use a child restraint with them. We broke them down into four categories: Yes (vehicles that you always need to use child restraints), Nope (vehicles that you never need to use child restraints), Maybe (vehicles where you might need to use a child restraint depending on certain factors such as age or special needs) and No! No! (vehicles that are unsafe for children to ride in at all). As I warned our participants ahead of time, the No! No! category may break your heart a bit…but the good news is that the Nope category will be by far the biggest. One of the fun things about traveling is the opportunity to explore all kinds of transportation and much of it can be enjoyed car seat-free.
Here is the breakdown:
Yes (vehicles that you always need to use child restraints)
- Cars (including vans and SUV’s) – an obvious one! Every time you are riding in a car, your child should be safely restrained in an appropriate child restraint. When it comes to travel, certain countries or even cities may have different laws when it comes to child passenger safety (for example, exempting taxis from car seat laws), but just because something is legal doesn’t make it safe. Remember that the laws of physics don’t change with your destination!
- Passenger/Shuttle vans – this one hovers between the “Yes” category and the “No! No!” category depending on the van itself. Typically, a 12 or 15 passenger van would be very similar to any other type of car or minivan. Legally and practically, child restraints should always be used. The problem with some vans is their lack of features like tether anchors (making them incompatible with many forward facing car seats) and head restraints (making them incompatible with most booster seats, as well as unsafe for adults or older kids riding without boosters). Since every rider needs to have support to at least the top of their ears, if head restraints are not present in a van, it would not be a safe choice for many riders except rear-facers and particularly small kids. While safety is always important, it is especially important in these kinds of vehicles because they are higher and more prone to rollovers in a crash. When it comes to travel, a popular use of these larger vehicles is for airport transfers or larger family groups traveling together. In these situations, I would recommend trying to find an alternative option like splitting your group into two smaller vehicles, or looking for public transportation like a city bus or subway that could take you to your destination.
Nope (vehicles that you never need to use child restraints)
- City Buses – since they typically don’t have seatbelts, there wouldn’t be any way to install a car seat on a bus. However, it is perfectly fine for kids to ride without one – just remind them to stay seated.
- Trains – same as buses, which is awesome because they’re extra fun for kids!
- Cruise Ships – perhaps a silly one, because where would you even install a car seat on a cruise ship? (I’m picturing a poor kid strapped onto a deck chair.) But joking aside, definitely think through your cruise vacation in terms of times where you may need a seat off the ship: port excursions, airport transfers, etc. This is something I have recently thought through since I will be taking my twins on their first cruise this year. I purposely picked a port we could drive to, but I plan to leave their seats in my vehicle for the duration of the trip which means that once we’re on the ship, we won’t have the ability to travel on any vehicle except those on the “nope” list. This is a calculated risk I was willing to take based on our itinerary (planning to either stay on the ship or do walking-distance excursions at all of our ports) but if I was wanting to have more flexibility to do something like, for example, take a taxi, I would have to think about carrying and storing seats on the ship.
- Subways/Light Rail – just like city buses and trains, no car seats are needed. However, it is worth pointing out that the majority of injuries related to subways have to do with people falling onto the tracks. Therefore, it is important to remember to keep a close eye on your children and remind them to stand far back from the tracks for safety.
- Ferry Boats – ferries can be a fun way to get from Point A to Point B while on vacation. Locally, New York City and Cape May-Lewes are two examples of places where ferries can be a convenient (and scenic) method of transportation. Car seats are not needed, just be sure to listen to all safety rules and know where the nearest life jackets are located in case of emergency.
Maybe (vehicles where you might need to use a child restraint depending on certain factors such as age or special needs)
- School Buses – for most school-age children, school buses are perfectly safe to ride in without the use of child restraints. This is because buses are designed with a feature called compartmentalization, which takes advantage of specially designed flexible seat backs to help manage crash forces for occupants and minimize injury. The exception to this is children who are younger than school age, and children who have special needs. For those children, the school district will ensure that they have bus-approved restraints offered to them. These are typically included in the child’s IEP.
- Airplanes – airplane seatbelts are designed to begin fitting occupants at 40 pounds, so many young children can safely ride in an airplane seat without their car seat. The tricky part about this, though, is what they will ride in at their destination. If you need a car seat at your destination, the safest and best option is to bring your own and use it on the plane. Keeping the seat in your physical possession at all times ensures that it is not lost or damaged by the airline. Just be sure that your car seat is approved for airplane use – it will have an FAA sticker on the shell of the seat. There is one kind of child restraint, though, that can’t be used on the plane: booster seats. That is because booster seats require a lap and shoulder belt, which airplanes do not have. Booster riders can stow their booster seats under the seat in front of them or in a backpack/carry on bag to be used at their destination. A final note on airplanes applies to babies under 2. Even though airlines typically allow these children to ride as “lap babies,” it is strongly recommended that they have their own seat and are safely buckled into a car seat every time the fasten seatbelt sign is on.
No! No! (vehicles that are unsafe for children to ride in at all)
- Motor Homes/RV’s – this one is admittedly a heartbreak, as the idea of a house on wheels is just SO fun for families! Unfortunately, there are several important reasons why it is never safe to transport a child inside an RV. First of all, the rear seats in motor homes are not the same as the seats in your car. Rather than being factory mounted and crash tested, they are often simply screwed into wood frames. Even if you are buckled up in a car seat, it won’t help much if the vehicle seat itself isn’t secure. Many of the seating positions are rear or sideways facing, which makes them prohibited locations to install a car seat (your car seat manual will specifically state this) – and even if they are forward facing, they are unlikely to have LATCH systems for installing car seats. Finally, one of the scariest risks of an RV is the projectiles. RV’s carry everything including the kitchen sink, and in a crash all of your appliances, luggage, furniture, and décor could become extremely dangerous. Before you become totally heartbroken, there are two potential options for families who like to travel by RV: first, you could have one adult drive the motor home while the other follows along in a regular vehicle with the kids. This will not only keep the kids safe until reaching the destination, it also gives you the option to have more freedom to move around AT the destination – no having to maneuver a giant RV just to go out to dinner. The second, similar option if you are currently in the RV-buying (or renting) process is to consider a “fifth wheel” or an RV that is towed behind your vehicle.
- Golf Cart – another heartbreak for some, but golf carts are generally considered a no no for young children. In fact, many golf cart manuals forbid children under 12 from riding in them, and prohibit car seats from being installed in them. Note: Just a few days after originally posting this article, I received a newsletter from the PA Traffic Injury Prevention Project introducing a new product called the "Lil' Caddie" that was designed to help position young children in golf carts. Because the product is brand new, I don't know much about it but it sounds like it is a step towards giving families a safer option for transporting children in golf carts. Hopefully we will hear more about this in the future - stay tuned!
Do you have specific questions related to an upcoming trip or unique travel situation? We are always happy to troubleshoot with you! Feel free to reach out to emily.anthony@use.salvationarmy.org or Nicole.hirschman@use.salvationarmy.org.
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