MINOT, ND ( KXNET ) — With school starting soon, there will soon be more cars with kids in them on the road, and it is important to keep those kids safe. This is where car seats come in.

According to SafeintheSeat.com , kids should be in rear-facing car seats until they are four years old. This, the site claims, helps protect their spines, most of which are still cartilage rather than bone.

Four out of five car seats are not installed properly. First District Health Unit in Minot hosted one of its monthly car seat checks for parents over the weekend, so they can find out if their car seat is safe and secure — and how to fix the problem if it isn’t.

“We want to make sure we are looking at that car seat owner’s manual,” Trinity Health Taryma Registrar Amber Emerson said. “That it is installed properly, and making sure it doesn’t move side to side more than an inch. When that child is in the car seat correctly at the shoulder, knowing you can’t pinch any of the harnesses is extremely important. You have to be sure that that harness is tight as well, and that the chest clip is at armpit level.”

One of their goals is to make sure caregivers are comfortable installing car seats without inspectors over their shoulder.

“It is my first baby,” Kristina, a first-time mom said. “So, I wanted to check and make sure that I had everything in there secured right.” One thing she learned was that when a baby reaches a certain weight, it’s time to get rid of the newborn seat.

Katie Huettl, who is with the First District Health Unit, said child restraints can decrease serious injuries in children by 71%. When using a five-point harness, the car seat absorbs more of the crash to protect the child. It’s also better to use two anchors and seatbelts.

“By having them both in,” Huettl said, “your child is extra safe. But really, those seats have only been crash-tested with one or the other — not both.”

Car seats do reduce fatalities, but when a car seat isn’t installed the right way, a child can get ejected from the car seat, becoming a projectile inside or outside the vehicle.

“If that car seat isn’t installed correctly,” Emerson added, “the child can actually stay in, but the whole car seat itself could be ejected — with the child in it.”

Once a child is out of a car seat, a booster seat should be used. It’s important to make sure the seatbelt fits properly.

If you would like a car seat checkup, you can make an appointment through Bismarck Burleigh Public Health. They are available for those in the Minot community twice a month.

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