Gift of a mother's love

There is no greater love than the love a mother has for her child. On Feb. 14 we celebrated Valentine’s Day to honor those we love, and what better way to do that than to keep them safe.

This Valentine’s Day, Safe Kids’ Hot Springs County Chapter, Public Health and Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital will start one family off on the road to safety. As part of the Gift of a Mother’s Love Program, sponsored by Safe Kids Wyoming, Wyoming Department of Health and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, the first baby born on or closest to Feb. 14 at HSCMH will be presented with a brand new infant child safety seat and other safety devices to help ensure their safety.

Deb Gerharter, coordinator for Hot Springs County Safe Kids, said that in today’s traffic conditions, vehicle occupants of any age are in constant danger. There are more vehicles on the road that are traveling at higher speeds and more distractions for the driver, such as cell-phones, GPS navigation systems, and on-board music and DVD players just to name a few. These increased risks affect not just the driver but everyone in the car, especially our children.

Safe Kids Wyoming states that the primary goal this year is to remind all parents and other adults that in Wyoming children younger than 9 years old need to be in a child safety seat or booster seat, unless the lap and shoulder belt fit properly across the collarbone, chest and hips of the child and does not pose danger to the neck, face or abdominal area in event of a car crash or sudden stop.

Gerharter said that as children grow, how they sit safely in a car, truck, van or SUV changes. The following 4 Steps for Kids can help:

•Use rear-facing infant seats in the back seat from birth to at least two years of age.

•Use forward-facing toddler seats in the back seat from 2 years old to about age four and forty pounds.

•Use booster seats in the back seat from about age four to at least age nine, and

•Use safety belts in the back seat at age nine and older.

Remember, all children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat.

Some parents or caregivers may regard car seats as a hassle to use or a pain to convince their children to use. But Gerharter said that protecting the ones you love means getting past the temporary complaints and perceived hassles. “Use a child safety seat because you love them,” she said.

For more information about Child Passenger Safety call Public Health at 307-864-3311, or visit safekidswyoming.org. Hot Springs County Safe Kids works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading killer of children 14 and under.