By Rick Ryckeley
Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services

"What about the instructions?" My wife asked.

"Don't need to read the instructions," I replied. "I'm just switching out the bathroom sink faucet; it's simple to do, and it'll take ten minutes." ("I've seen it done on TV before," I thought, "and besides, men only read instructions when all else fails.")

With that assurance, the wife went to take a short nap and I started on my ten-minute project. Fifteen minutes later, she was awakened from her nap by loud banging noises, came walking down the hallway and turned the corner only to find the bathroom sink, cabinet, old faucet, and me (with the new faucet in one hand and the instructions in the other) all on the floor in the middle of the hallway.

In shock, she asked, "Rick, you said it would only take ten minutes. Just what are you doing?"

I answered, "Reading the instructions."

Four hours later, I also had the linoleum up off the floor and the wallpaper down off the walls, all without any instructions. (Dad said that tearing out things was one thing that you did not need instructions for... babies were another.)

"Babies don't come with instructions," Dad said to me about fifteen years ago. "Babies will let you know when they are hungry, when they need to sleep or when they need to be changed, but everything else you'll have to find out on your own. There are no instructions that come with your new baby."

Dad was not exactly right There are some instructions that come with babies and reading them could mean the difference between keeping them safe or not. Parents will spend any amount of money to ensure that their child will enjoy a happy and safe childhood, but what new parents (and some old ones) don't know can hurt, or even kill, their newborn.

When baby arrives, parents are expected to know what to do right from the start: everything from feeding, bathing, and transporting the child. Some hospitals help out in the transportation area by giving the new parents a car seat complete with instructions. Instructions (usually found on the back or bottom of the seat, along with an H-shaped metal clip called a locking clip) have important information about the car seat such as how to install it along with the height and weight limitations of the seat.

But car seats, just like babies, are not all the same. There are some for newborn, for infants under 20 pounds and 12 months, for children between 20 and 40 pounds, and still others are good for kids between 30 and 80 pounds. With all these different car seats, what is a new parent to do? No worry ­ just like with babies, there are some simple rules. The first is to read the instructions.

Babies should always ride in the middle of the back seat, be rear facing from birth to 20 pounds, and until they reach one year of age. This type of car seat is called an infant carrier or convertible.

Then the child can be turned around, but can the car seat? Check the instructions to make sure it can be used forward facing. If not, you will have to purchase a new one (car seat - not baby). Just ask the new Dad to buy it. Dads love buying stuff. (Just make sure he reads the instructions first so he buys the right one.) The only thing that dads like doing more than tearing up stuff is buying new stuff to replace the old stuff they tore out.

I told the wife, "The boy and I are leaving to buy some more stuff to fix the bathroom; we'll be back in a little while." As we were walking out to the truck, she asked, "Does a little while mean ten minutes? Just make sure that whatever you buy comes with good instructions. Do you think you might need to call Mitch for help? You know he's an expert when it comes to fixing things."

I replied, "I don't need an expert to help me. All I have to do is read the instructions and besides, Mitch is too busy." With that, my son and I were off to the big hardware store with the orange roof, where four out of five dads love to shop.

With four out of five car seats installed incorrectly and all the new laws that have gone into effect, you may think you need an expert on car seats just to install them. (But you don't, you can just read the instructions.) It's recommended by the experts that children stay in a high-back or belt-positioning booster seat until they reach four-foot-nine and are between eight and ten years old (about 80 pounds).

Where do you go to find experts on car seats? And which is best for your vehicle and child? Well, one place to find car seat experts by the boat load are SAFE KIDS coalitions.

Members of the Fayette County SAFE KIDS and Coweta County SAFE KIDS hold car seat checks most every weekend free of charge. Members will educate you on the installation of car seats, explain metal locking clips, check to see if your old car seat is on a recall list, and answer questions you might have about new laws. If you can't find them in the phone book (there are over 35 SAFE KIDS coalitions in Georgia), then e-mail me, and I will get you in touch with them. If you have more than one car or car seat, bring them both so you don't have to make more than one trip.

It took five trips to the place with the orange roof, over $700, one flooded hallway, four sets of instructions, two weeks and six calls to Mitch, but our bathroom is now finished. If, after reading the instructions on your new car seat, you still don't know what to do, don't call Mitch. He's too busy helping me put our kitchen back together. Just call an expert from SAFE KIDS. They will be happy to check out your seat er, car seat.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed by the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. He can be reached at saferick@bellsouth.net.]

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