Nedra
Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I've never used the child safety locks in my vehicle. When the kids were babies they certainly couldn't reach the door handle and, until now, my kids have always been rear-facing and so I don't think they can reach it -- or if they can, they have never done it. I didn't even really realize that the car had them.
Until today. When I hopped into the back seat to give my daughter a beverage and got trapped there.
After the whole experience was over, I thought about writing a blog post about it and started to do some research about how many adults get trapped in their back seats by their own child safety locks like I did.
What I found was that my experience must have been fairly uncommon, because nobody else seems to think it is dangerous to have your vehicle door be completely locked from the outside. Instead, there was lots of discussion about what age is appropriate to turn *off* the child safety locks. Many parents were discussing the appropriate age as being 5, 7, or even 10 years old, despite the fact that their child thought that they were responsible enough to go without them.
Is this the norm? Is using the child safety locks on the car part of the standard child protection toolbox? I assumed it was only for behavioral issues where the child was old enough to be able to reach the handle but not mature enough to leave it alone.
I ask because I was going to write up a little PSA and post it online to warn people about the dangers of getting trapped by a child safety lock and provide tips for how to get out if you find yourself trapped. But my #1 tip was going to be to avoid activating the child safety locks unless your child actually needs them. Is this irresponsible of me?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Until today. When I hopped into the back seat to give my daughter a beverage and got trapped there.
After the whole experience was over, I thought about writing a blog post about it and started to do some research about how many adults get trapped in their back seats by their own child safety locks like I did.
What I found was that my experience must have been fairly uncommon, because nobody else seems to think it is dangerous to have your vehicle door be completely locked from the outside. Instead, there was lots of discussion about what age is appropriate to turn *off* the child safety locks. Many parents were discussing the appropriate age as being 5, 7, or even 10 years old, despite the fact that their child thought that they were responsible enough to go without them.
Is this the norm? Is using the child safety locks on the car part of the standard child protection toolbox? I assumed it was only for behavioral issues where the child was old enough to be able to reach the handle but not mature enough to leave it alone.
I ask because I was going to write up a little PSA and post it online to warn people about the dangers of getting trapped by a child safety lock and provide tips for how to get out if you find yourself trapped. But my #1 tip was going to be to avoid activating the child safety locks unless your child actually needs them. Is this irresponsible of me?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk