0299 – Getting Children Into Car Seats Safely

Those of you out there that have children will understand what I mean when I say that my whole outlook on life changed when my kids entered my life.  All of a sudden, it wasn’t just about me any more.  A little person was dependent on my judgement and actions for survival.  It was a big responsibility that resulted in a big shift.  I recently got an email from Michelle that illustrates this point exactly.  Today we are going to take some time to look at how we can keep our children and ourselves safe while we are focused on an important task, putting our kids in their car seats.

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Admin:


Michelle’s Email

I am a student of Ian Kinder at Live Safe Academy and he referred me to you. I had a question about placement of infants in car seats. What is the best way to minimize vulnerability for the parent and baby?

Thank you,

Michelle

Plausibility Principle (www.ICETraining.us)

It isn’t enough to prepare for only the probable events.

It would be impossible to prepare for all the possible events

We must identify the events that are plausible and train for them as resources become available.

Avoidance and Prevention

As in any other safety and security topic we need to spend time preparing for the situations that are plausible for us to encounter in our lives.  The simple fact is there are folks out there that want our possessions like our vehicles and also an even scarier thought, they may want us or our children and are willing to hurt or kill to achieve their goals.  Our energy is best spent in avoiding and preventing these types of interactions.  Once we find ourselves in a life and situation we face the consequences of that scenario.  We can come out on the short end no matter how well trained, how strong, how fast or how well armed we are.  So we must work to avoid and prevent these situations all together.

Choose where you spend your time

I don’t prescribe to the idea of safety based on good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods, but we can look at some patterns and do our best to choose where we spend our time.  Where we live, work and go to school all tend to be what they are we mustn’t forget that we control our own destiny and if we don’t like our surroundings it is within our power to effect change in our lives.  There are decisions that are even more under our control such as where we shop and where we spend our recreational time that we have even more control over.

  • Choose wisely
  • Understand that no choice completely relieves your susceptibility to danger.

Park wisely

  • Open areas
  • Near Cart Corals
  • Well lit
  • Well traveled
  • Avoid suspicious vehicles

Prepare yourself and your child

  • Do as much work as you can inside a secure location
  • Have your keys at the ready
  • Have your tools accessible
  • Have your vehicle prepared

Getting Your Children Secured Efficiently

Locate your car seats for efficiency

In a door row

With an open door seat

Otherwise accessible from in the vehicle

“Key Fob Follies”

Single Child Infant

Single Child Toddler

Single Child

Infant and Toddler

Two Toddlers

Child and Toddler

Two Children

Keep priorities in mind

1 reply
  1. Michelle Oliveri
    Michelle Oliveri says:

    Paul, this was exactly the information I was looking for. I wish I had an impenetrable bubble for my child. I know child abductions from strangers are few and far between but if it has happened to just one parent, it’s enough to keep me up at night. The safety of my family is something I am very worried about and I look forward to taking more classes on the topic to increase my knowledge. As my daughter gets older I will absolutely introduce her to self defense classes for children to increase her awareness as well. Thank you again for the information!

    Reply

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