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Do you need a car seat?

My husband has said for years that he doesn't trust statistics. "Statistics," he says, "can be skewed any way you wish to prove whatever point you wish to make." We came to blows over 'statistics' when it came to deciding to keep our son rear-facing - a discussion I am very pleased to say that resulted in our son rear-facing to the full 33lbs rear-facing weight capacity of his seat (and beyond his 4th birthday).

Today, Good Morning America did a piece on the new book 'SuperFreakonomics' and highlighted one of this pair of gentlemen's contentions that a 2 year old fairs no better in a seatbelt alone than when using a car seat. Firstly, let's get beyond the sensationalism of that statement and deconstruct what the actual message this pair makes. I don't want to rework some of the fantastic work already done by Darren of Carseatblog.com on this piece and I will cut right to the chase on this subject.

The bottom line on this discussion is that upwards of 85% of car seats are installed or used incorrectly - the video piece in GMA proves my point so eloquently and I am sure, unintentionally, showing an infant seat using a JJ Cole BundleMe and a child in a puffy winter jacket, chest clips positioned too low that they will not keep a harness on your child's shoulders in a crash, and children with seatbelts cutting across their necks. All classic examples of misuse. The real issue at hand is how to ensure that our children are restrained in their seats correctly (whether that restraint be a car or booster seat), and that their child restraint be correctly installed.

There are resources available to parents to help you do this - make an appointment with your local child passenger safety technician TODAY - don't put it on your 'to do' list. Between today and when you get to making the appointment, that crash (which could result in serious injuries, or worse) can happen. These people are trained to assist you and volunteer their time and effort to helping YOU learn how to correctly install and use your restraint.

Ensure at your appointment with your technician that you KNOW how to correctly install your seat. The last person to install the car seat and to secure your child in their restraint should be YOU - not the technician. Do not leave the appointment until you are comfortable with your skills. If you have follow up questions at a later time, contact the technician. They will LOVE to answer them for you.

The foundation will always answer your questions about installation or usage. We have a team of advisory technicians on staff who love to help you keep your children safe. Email us at info@kyledavidmiller.org today. We are here to help!

Interesting thought on this sensationalist piece.....did anyone ask these gentlemen how they restrained their children when they were 2 years old? Mmmmmm......thought not! ;) Don't believe the hype.

Dressing for winter and safety

The first snowflakes fell today in my town, though I know for many of you, you've had some snowfalls already. Not too sure about this global warming - brrrr!

As I secured my sons into their seats this morning, I made mental note that it was a good time to have a little virtual chat with you all about how to dress your children both warmly and safely in their child restraints.

You've probably heard from your car seat technician, or read online, that you should not secure a child in their seat while they are wearing thick bulky layers. The reason behind this is, in a crash, those puffy layers which made it difficult to secure the harness tightly, will compress in a crash and make the harness too loose to correctly secure your child. This could lead to injury or even ejection of your child from their seat. Don't believe me? Watch this YouTube Video:




My youngest son wears a Car Seat Poncho which is a wonderful, purpose designed poncho that keeps children both safe and cozy in your vehicle. The double zip function makes it easy to push aside the material in the front while you secure their harness underneath. The poncho then sits over the harness putting nothing bulky between your child, their seat and the harness. I love this product and it is my #1 child christmas/birthday gift. Donna Eng, the owner of this company, very generously gives a donation of $3 to the foundation on the purchase of these two styles of ponchos.

My oldest son wears a polar fleece jacket from LLBean which is very thin in terms of layering, but keeps him nice and warm.

When my youngest was still in his infant seat, I used a shower cap style of car seat cover to keep him warm, like this one from Lands End

PLEASE PLEASE do NOT use the JJ Cole BundleMe product in your infant car seat. This product is not safe to use in a car seat. It gives a bulky layer between your child and their seat. interferes with the harness and it is NOT crash tested (despite their claims) - there are no crash testing standards for items like these to comply to.

Other options available - use a blanket and place it over your child and their harness after they are secured into their seat. Or, secure your child into their seat and put their coat on backwards.

If you have a thin jacket that you are wondering is safe for your child to wear under the harness in their seat, there is a simple test you can do.

1) Secure your child while wearing their jacket into the seat. Check the harness passes the pinch test.
2) Without loosening the harness tightness, unbuckle the harness and remove the coat from your child.
3) Rebuckle the harness (but do not tighten in any way) and perform the pinch test once again.

If the harness passes the pinch test, the coat is fine to wear. If not, the coat is too thick.

Please vote - only two days left!

Would you please lend a moment of your time to vote for the foundation? We are currently in 6th place. If we win, the prize is $10,000! That would help a LOT of children get safe car seats! You can vote once per email address here: http://www.ilovechristiecookies.com/contest/form.asp Select the Kyle David Miller Foundation from the drop down list.



Thank you so much!

Meet the Payne family!

This adorable 4 year old is 42lbs and we were delighted to be able to donate a Radian XT to her (in pink!). Many thanks to Bill Craig, CPS Technician for eduating the family on the installation and usage of this seat.

Bill writes of the installation: "I appreciated Mrs. Payne’s knowledge of car seats and the installation process, which made it enjoyable and stress-free. [Her daugher] was patient girl, too. I do like the Radian and have worked with one before with a family who needed to seat three young children in a back seat of an early-90s-model sedan. The Radian was a perfect solution. In Mrs. Payne’s situation, the Radian was installed in the third row seat of a ’98 Dodge Caravan next to a baby in an infant carrier, and a child with a booster. The Radian fit like a glove.

I appreciate the Foundation sending the Payne family a new car seat, and for allowing me to help in this process."

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children like the Simons' boy safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!

Davis family donation

Meet the Davis family!

This cutie is 3 years old and 53lbs - a perfect match for a Britax Regent. A top tether anchor had to be retrofitted into the family's vehicle which is a Ford. We had excellent assistance from Kelley Campos-Adams of Ford who had the part sent overnight to the family's local Ford dealership.
Many thanks to James Cameron, CPS Technician, who went above and beyond to ensure that Ms. Davis vehicle had the tether anchor fitted. He made sure that Ms. Davis understood how to correctly install and use her seat (and the height of the chest clip in these pictures - too low - has been brought to Ms. Davis attention).

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children like the Simons' boy safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!

Please help the foundation win $10,000!

Would you please lend a moment of your time to vote for the foundation? We are currently in 6th place. If we win, the prize is $10,000! That would help a LOT of children get safe car seats! You can vote once per email address here: http://www.ilovechristiecookies.com/contest/form.asp Select the Kyle David Miller Foundation from the drop down list.



Thank you so much!

Rivera Family donation (and why we ask for pictures)

Meet the Rivera family!

These adorable boys received two Britax Regent seats from the foundation in July. Usually I am quick to post pictures we receive of our donated seats, but this time, I hesitated....and the reason will become clear. These two boys are 3 and 5 year old, 39.5 and 58.5lbs. We shipped their seats to a local child passenger safety technician.

Things look like they are going well here, with Dad being shown the features of the seat and we see the recline bar has been installed. Looks good so far!
Then we come to this picture. Hmmmm...something definitely NOT right here - the harness is in slots which are way too high for this child. Well, we think, sometimes we have seen techs leave the harness in the top slot if they feel that there is a danger of the harness not being moved to a higher slot when appropriate. We'll give benefit of the doubt, or at least reserve our comments at the moment.
And THIS is the final product!?! The child in the rear of the picture looks like his harness has been moved down since the picture above...that's good, but let's check out the child in the foreground. His harness is definitely one slot too high. Both harnesses are WAY too loose and the chest clips need properly placed at armpit height.
We immediately contacted the family and the technician to whom we had shipped the seat. Turns out that due to scheduling issue, the tech we had engaged (and provided all installation guidance and support) had passed the seat to the local fire department for installation. All issues on these seats as outlined above have been communicated to both the family and the technician we requested install the seat and we were assured that the corrections would immediately be made. We have been unable at this time to verify if indeed this has happened.

85% of all seats are either installed or used incorrectly. The foundation ships seats to CPSTs in order to try to combat these potential issues. This is a prime example of why the foundation requests pictures following an installation. We love to be able to share with our donors where their money is going - they can see their hard earned cash in action saving lives. The flip side to this is we also get to catch any errors of installation or misuse.

Always read your vehicle and car seat owner's manual so that you are also informed on how to correctly install and use your child restraint.

Friend family

Meet the Friend family!

This adorable blue-eyed boy is safe in a new Britax Boulevard that the foundation helped this family with. His uncle is a Child Passenger Safety Technician, so we had him install the seat and teach his family how to correctly install and use the seat. Here's a note from his Mommy:

"I am still so thrilled to have this seat! He is a BIG boy! At 8mos, he now weighs 24bs! 'R' LOVES his car seat! He never fusses when getting into it or while riding, no matter how long the trip! It was so easy to install! I love that we can switch it back and forth between our cars and not worry about it being in wrong! 'R' will be rear-facing until he out grows this seat's rear facing weight! Thank you SO MUCH!!! This was a HUGE blessing for our family!"

Can you help us keep more children like 'R' safe?

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children like the Simons' boy safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!

Helotie family donation

Meet the Helotie family!

This family received two Britax Regents from the foundation for their two youngest children, ages 6 and 4 years old, 43 and 33lbs. Child Passenger Safety Technician, Joy Miller, taught the family how to correctly install and use these seats - our deepest thank to Joy!

We received a lovely note from Ms. Helotie in thanks for the seats that we would like to share with you:

"I wanted to let you know that Ms. Joy Miller came out to our home and installed our two new Regents today. We were impressed with her professionalism, her willingness to show me how to adjust and install the seats in my truck for my children, and her cheerfulness in dealing with excited little people! We highly recommend her for anyone else in our area!

[My children] are most thankful for their gifts! [My son] cannot undo his buckles now without help, which will keep him safely seated when in the truck. His autism does not always allow him to think clearly about safety issues, so this is a huge blessing.

Soon after installation, I took everyone for a quick ride…and both of my little ones claimed that they were too cozy to get out of the truck! Even in our 95’ heat today, they wanted to stay IN their seats, and not get out!

Thank you so very much for choosing our family to receive this wonderful gift of love. Our children are safely buckled and comfortable….and that is a peace of mind that no money can buy.

Blessings!
Lucette Helotie"

Each seat the foundation donates costs approximately $200. We have a waiting list of ~100 families at any given time - all consisting of children who are at risk whilst they await our ability to assist. Please consider a donation to the foundation of any size you can afford, to help keep more children like the Simons' boy safe. You can donate using PayPal to the right of our blog, or you can donate using Debit/Credit/Check. Details are here. Thank you so much for your support and dedication to keeping children safe!