Holiday Travel Do’s and Don’ts Featuring the Safety 1st Advance SE 65 Air + Convertible Car Seat & Giveaway – ends 12/31

Everything Mommyhood received the product mentioned below in exchange for our honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are those of our own.

Hosted by: Everything Mommyhood
Sponsored by: Safety 1st

We are very passionate about car seat safety and have actually worked up a great post on how to travel with your car seat during the holidays. Holiday Travel Do’s and Don’ts Featuring the Safety 1st Advance SE 65 Air + Convertible Car Seat with your precious little ones, so make sure you read below There’s a lot of great information that you won’t want to miss!

Here are some quick tips you will want to remember about car seat safety, no matter what car seat you use. When traveling on long road trips, it’s even more important that our children are the safest they can be.

Holiday Travel Do’s and Don’ts (and any time for that matter!)

1 – Find a car seat that fits your child well, whether that is rear facing, forward facing, or a booster.

2 – When using a harness, the straps may NEVER be twisted.

3 – When using a harness, the straps must ALWAYS be tight, snug as a hug, with no extra slack.

4 – When rear facing, straps must be AT or BELOW the shoulder for it to fit properly.

5 – When forward facing, straps must be AT or ABOVE the shoulder for it to fit properly.

6 – A chest clip must ALWAYS be at armpit level. It is a chest clip, NOT a belly clip.

7 – Do NOT allow your child to wear puffy jackets in their car seat, this will compress in the event of an accident, and your child could fly out of their seat. (We will be elaborating on that in this post, so read on below!)

8 – A car seat MUST be installed correctly for it to keep your child safe. Install it using LATCH or a seatbelt, but not both. The car seat should NEVER be able to move more than an inch side to side. If forward facing, make sure you tether the car seat to an anchor point as well.

9 – Car seats DO expire, make sure you check your seat and know when you need to replace your seat. Most are good for 6 to 8 years depending on the manufacture. Car seats also need to be replaced after an accident, your insurance will cover it.

10 – State laws are the minimum of what’s required for your child, please do the maximum for your child. They only have one life.

Now since it’s Winter, and I don’t see many blog posts promoting a very important topic, or parents following a very very important rule that must be followed when putting your baby/toddler/child in a car seat, I wanted to elaborate on it here at Everything Mommyhood. Car Seats and Winter Coats. They DO NOT mix together! Your child should never ever have on a bulky Winter coat/jacket/clothing while buckled in a car seat.

I know what you’re thinking, my baby will freeze, or that’s not right to treat my child that way, etc etc. There are many ways around it, to keep your child safe, that’s why I’m here to help!

I did a little comparison here to show you why, so check out this first image!

As you can see in the first image, my daughter has on a bulky Winter coat over her clothing in her car seat, and you can see her straps are nice and snug with the chest clip at armpit level, just like it should be. So what’s wrong?

What’s wrong is this – In the event of an accident, that bulky jacket/coat/clothing will compress which will make extra slack in the car seat straps and your child could very possibly be ejected from their seat. That’s very scary, and something that can easily be avoided. We want to protect our children!

Now in these images, the big bulky coat was removed, and the straps were not moved/tightened/loosened.

Just look at how the straps are hanging, the chest clip is hanging and how much room there is in there, which your child has enough room to quite possibly fly out of in the event of an accident. This can all be avoidable, very easily!! Refer to the tips up top on keeping your child’s straps snug as a hug, chest clip at armpit level, etc. Please do not place a bulky coat/jacket/clothing on your baby/toddler/child in their car seats.

Here are some tips on how to keep your child warm without a bulky Winter coat in their car seat:
1 – When it’s cold outside, go ahead out and start your vehicle about 10 minutes before you leave, that way it’s warm inside my vehicle and you won’t have to worry about your kiddos being cold.
2 – Put your children in thin fleece jackets over top of their clothing.
3 – Have them always keep a blanket in the car next to their car seat to place over them.
4 – After strapping your child into their car seat, put their Winter coat on backwards over top of your child.

Here’s a perfect example of how your child should look in their car seat:

Now you can place a blanket over top of your child, or even a heavy/bulky jacket on over top of the harness to keep them warm!

I really hope you take information from this informative post and share it with your friends and family, you never know, you may save a life.

Now the Safety 1st Advance SE 65 Air + Convertible Car Seat has a lot of awesome features:

The Advance 65 Air+ Convertible Car Seat features Air Protect + to keep children from 5lbs-65 lbs safer in the car. Air Protect + combines the advanced protection of the Air Protect® cushion system with patented GCell HX™ foam designed with hexagonal shapes for superior protection around the torso. TOGETHER they provide full body side impact protection. In addition to Air Protect +, the Advance 65 Air + uses a steel-reinforced metal frame for extra stability and includes a 4-position recline for an optimal fit to your vehicle. They’ve also included color-coded belt paths and installation labels to help you install it quickly and correctly, which means less time getting it into your car and more time to enjoy the ride.

• Super-extended weight range
• Rear-facing 5-40 pounds
• Forward-facing 22-65 pounds
• Featuring Air Protect +
• Air Protect® advanced cushion system protects your child’s head, where it’s needed most
• GCell HX™ patented foam with hexagonal shapes inside the seat provides superior body protection
• TOGETHER they provide full body side impact protection
• Easy to identify color-coded belt paths and installation labels
• Steel reinforced metal frame
• 10-position headrest grows with your child
• No re-thread harness
• 4-position recline for optimal fit to your car
• LATCH equipped
• Integrated cup holder
• Meets or exceeds Federal and ASTM Safety Standards

This is a car seat that can grow with your child and has a lot of great features for your precious cargo!

Now for the giveaway!
One Lucky Winner will receive a Safety 1st Advance SE 65 Air + Convertible Car Seat, valued at $189.99.
Open to US only, 18 and up.
Void where prohibited
One entrant per household/IP Address
Winner is subject to eligibility verification
Giveaway ends 12/31/2014 at 11:59pm CST

Disclosure: Everything Mommyhood received the above mentioned product for the posting of this giveaway.  All opinions are 100% our own and were not influenced in any way.  Everything Mommyhood is not responsible for prize shipment, Safety 1st is responsible for prize fulfillment/shipment. Only one entrant per household, per address may enter. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond. Failure to respond in a timely manner, a new winner will be chosen and you will forfeit your prize. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, and any other social media are not affiliated with this posting or giveaway. This disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. If you have any questions, please email EverythingMommyhood@gmail.com.