Before buying a stroller it is important to look for features mentioned in this article. However, the foremost of your concerns should be a stroller’s safety features. These days strollers are much safer than they used to be. However, due to unsafe features, poor manufacturing quality and parents’ carelessness, thousands of children die or get injured in stroller accidents every year. By following the tips given below you can ensure that you buy a stroller that is safe for your child and use it safely afterwards too.
- Safety Belt: Always purchase a stroller that has a safety belt with a crotch strap and get into the habit of using it whenever you put your baby in the stroller. Infants might not seem very active but using a safety belt is always a good measure because it saves the baby from many accidents. A seatbelt should fit securely around the sides and front of your baby’s waist. For this purpose a buckle design in the form of a T is most suitable. The T is attached to the crotch strap with the right and left waist belt parts buckling into that T separately. The most effective seat belt to restrain a child from climbing out, standing up or slipping out of a stroller is a five point strap that does not only include a crotch strap and waist belt but two straps that fit into the buckle after passing over the baby’s shoulders.Some strollers have belts that fasten across the stroller rather than around the baby, leaving a gap on the sides that might enable a toddler to get out. Always choose a stroller with buckles and restraint systems that secure a child tightly.
- Stroller Balance: Always choose a stroller that has a wide, long wheelbase and a seat that is mounted deep into the frame. This gives it more stability and the stroller resists tipping backwards when pressed lightly on the handles. For ensuring safety, never hang baggage with the stroller handles, it makes it more likely to tip backwards. Do not use a stroller for two children unless it has two seats and is meant to be used so. Putting any baggage over the canopy is also dangerous as it can collapse and cause injury to your child.
- Brakes: When purchasing a stroller make sure you buy one that has the rear wheel locking mechanism that works by engaging sprocket arrangement at the wheels rather than solely relying upon the breaks pressing on the tire. Pressing breaks are generally unreliable because they can permit unwanted rolling of strollers backwards or forwards even when the break is in contact with the tire. But, whichever breaking mechanism the stroller may have, do not rely on it to hold a stroller stationary on an inclined surface.
- Frame Safety: The frame of the stroller should not have any hazardous sharp edges. The small fingers and toes of your child can get stuck and hurt between metal parts and coils of uncovered springs. X-joints, where two tubes of the frame come together, can be particularly dangerous as they can act like scissors and can trap a child’s fingers or toes. Make sure the plastic caps at the ends of the handle are also tight and secured to that the baby does not remove them or choke on them.
- Secondary Safety Latch: When you set up the stroller there is a locking mechanism that keeps your stroller open and prevents it from collapsing. Many strollers have one locking mechanism. Some offer two locks or an automatic safety catch which means that it would take two locks to be released to fold the stroller. So even if the main lock fails, there is a secondary lock to prevent the stroller from folding and causing serious injury to your child.
Some strollers, especially older models, have unsatisfactory metal slip rings that slide down over the overlapping edges of the frame’s tubing to hold the handle erect. These can easily become mispositioned or slide out of place causing the unit to collapse. These designs of strollers are not recommended from a safety point of view. - Your Child Near a Stroller: When your child is near his stroller exercise caution in handling it. Do not open or fold the stroller near him, the scissoring action can trap small fingers and cause injuries. Do not let children play with strollers either. It is dangerous to let children give each other rides in strollers and treat them as toys. Be careful when adjusting the reclining backrest and exposing the bracket which is shaped like a rooster comb when your child is in or around the stroller.
- Your Child Inside a Stroller: Do not try to carry a stroller with your baby in it. There is a big chance of tripping, hurting yourself and your baby. Avoid trying to carry the stroller with the child up or down the stairs. The stroller could easily fall with the child and cause serious injury. When shopping in malls, instead of using the escalator with strollers (in fact strollers are prohibited on escalators in many places) use elevators. Do not reverse the stroller handle while your child is in it. There is a chance that when you move the handle from front to back or back to front your child’s fingers, hands or arms may get caught between them. Always check that the locking mechanism of the handle is securely engaged.
- Using the stroller according to the baby’s age: If your baby is younger than seven months do not let him sleep in a stroller unattended as infants can slip through the leg opening, causing entrapment or possible strangulation. Stop using the stroller when your child weighs more than 36 pounds. A child usually weighs that much around 3 years of age. He then becomes too active or too tall for safely using a stroller.
- For Multiple Occupancy strollers follow the correct entry and exit sequence: For a multiple occupancy stroller (a side-by-side design or tandem style) follow the manufacturer’s instructions for loading and unloading children. If these instructions are not followed there is a chance of misbalance in weight and the stroller becomes more prone to toppling over and causing injury to your child.
- Never leave your baby unattended in a stroller.