What Goes into Making a Good...
Car Seat
Parents in the market for a car seat have many options to choose from—whether it’s an infant carrier for their newborn, a convertible car seat for their toddler, or a combination booster or booster seat for their school-age child. The best practices such as keeping children rear- facing forward as long as possible, and car seat features like side impact protection, a five-point harness or an anti-rebound bar, may sound foreign to a parent new to the car seat world. That’s why it’s important to make sure they’re adequately informed to invest in the car seat that will offer a correct fit and the greatest protection for their child.
There are four types of car seats parents should look for at various stages of their child’s life:
- Infant carrier: Depending on the manufacturer, these accommodate babies from birth up to 32 pounds and can only be used in the rear-facing position. They have a carry handle and come with a base that stays in the vehicle.
- Convertible car seats: A convertible car seat can be used rear-facing and then “converts” to be used forward-facing. Some convertible car seats allow children to remain rear-facing, the safest position for a child, up to 35 pounds and forward-facing from between 40 and 65 pounds.
- Combination booster seats: Combination booster seats can only be used forward-facing and feature a five-point harness that can later be removed, turning the seat into a belt-positioning booster. Some combination seats can keep children harnessed up to 85 pounds.
- Belt-positioning booster seats: Belt-positioning booster seats are for older children who have outgrown their five-point harness. They rely on the vehicle seat belt system to keep the child restrained, but ensure that the vehicle seat belt is properly positioned across the child’s shoulder and lap. Some booster seats, particularly those with backs, offer additional protection from side impact crashes.
No matter the child’s age or stage, your customers should invest in a car seat equipped with features that absorb crash forces and minimize a child’s risk of injury. Encourage your customers to look for the following:
Front and rear collisions are the most common types of crash. Features that help protect a child in a front or rear collision include a staged-release energy-absorbing tether that helps anchor the top of the child seat to minimize forward movement in a crash and an energy-absorbing base that deforms in the event of a crash. If your customers are shopping for a car seat for their newborn, recommend that they look for infant carriers that feature an anti-rebound bar to minimize rotational forces and reduce the possibility of head contact with the vehicle seatback.
One in four of all motor vehicle crashes that involve children up to 12 years old are side impact crashes and these produce the most severe injuries.
Features that provide enhanced protection in a side impact collision include: deep side and head wings to contain the child during a side impact, a rigid barrier around the head and torso to shield the child from intruding objects, energy-absorbing foam lining in the shell and head restraint to absorb crash forces, and an adjustable head support to minimize lateral head movement in a crash. One of the newest innovations for side impact protection is external side impact cushions, which reduce side impact crash energy before even reaching the car seat while also protecting adjacent passengers.
Ease-of-use features will help ensure that your customers use the car seat correctly each and every time, while comfort features help a child stay properly positioned in the seat. Two important features for a growing child include a quick-adjust head restraint and no-rethread harness. These make it easy to adjust the harness shoulder height and head restraint without disassembling the harness. Premium push-button LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) connectors also provide a quick, simple and tight installation.
It’s important for your customers to not only know the right features to look for in a car seat, but to also understand the best practices that will offer their children the greatest protection for as long as possible.
For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children stay rear facing for as long as possible. Some convertible car seats offer higher rear-facing weight limits as well as design features that provide a correct and comfortable fit for a two year old, helping to facilitate rear facing longer.
The AAP also recommends that children ride in a harnessed seat for as long as possible, or at least to 4 years of age. It’s important to consider convertible car seats with higher weight limits and to graduate children from a convertible car seat to a combination booster.
By understanding car seat features and best practices that maximize child safety, convenience and comfort, you’ll be able to walk your customers through one of the most important purchases they will make for their little ones.
Editorial provided by By Joyce Kara, Product Manager for Britax Child Safety, Inc.
*Special Thanks to Darryl Donovan of firstSeat LLC for reviewing this article.
Crib
The first juvenile furniture purchase new parents usually make is a crib for their little one. More than four-million babies are born in the United States each year and this is an emotional purchase with life changing experiences.
Savvy parents seek the perfect crib that meets their budget, design and style palate. The crib is the centerpiece of the nursery and is the safest place for baby to sleep. To consumers style is the number one factor. The industry standards, design and expectations are constantly changing in the juvenile furniture market to meet consumer demand and regulatory requirements.
Within the juvenile furniture industry it is imperative for cribs to meet the ever changing ASTM International standards. The new December 2009 standards do affect the design of cribs going forward. One of the biggest changes is the elimination of the traditional drop-side that moves up and down. Fold down gates are still allowed.
The ASTM standard has added a slat test which is very similar to the European standard. The slat test requires a 60 pound weight be placed on each slat for a total of 30 seconds. Cribs are also subjected to the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) law which went into effect in 2009. This law has requirements that directly deal with lead in paint and in other materials such as steel and plastic parts. Phthalates level is also looked at in plastics and other materials. In addition, this new law requires every style of crib be tested by a third party lab to meet federal standards.
Due to the elimination of the drop rail, most cribs will have fixed side rails and be lower than 38 inches to accommodate parents when reaching in to access the child. The slats or dowels will generally be larger. The cost of cribs will likely increase taking into account all the additional testing costs which can run up to several thousands of dollars per crib model.
With the standards in mind – safety should be your top priority when choosing a crib for your retail floor. You should choose reputable companies that have the infrastructure in place to ensure cribs are produced to meet the new guidelines and testing standards. After safety, the design of a crib comes into play which includes selecting different color finishes.
“Furniture” is the key word. Consumers want the crib to be a part of the room and seamlessly work with their current interior design especially within the medium to higher price points. Color trends range from natural wood tones to deep browns to cherry tones. Juvenile furniture style and color trends tend to lag adult furniture by one to two years. Recently, the design trend has been modern and sleek. This continues to be the “it” look within the high-end bracket and continues to have a strong demand. Transitional styling is also very strong in the medium to high value price points.
Conversion features have become a key element in the design of cribs. Consumers have become accustomed to looking for items that can serve multiple purposes. Today most cribs convert to toddler beds or day beds and/or full size beds. This trend was introduced to the market in the early 90s when the furniture industry studied consumers and their sophisticated economical ways to make their crib investment last longer. The conversion design has mushroomed to where almost every crib sold today has some of these additional features. The ability to convert a crib into a headboard for a full size or twin bed extends the life of the product through the teenage years. This in turn will bring the consumers back to the same brand to further expand the furniture in the bedroom.
Manufacturers today are also designing cribs with a “green” conscious. Many cribs are now being produced with wood that are generally known to come from sources that are cognizant of their environmental impact. The sustainable types of wood to look for are pine wood from New Zealand and Australia. Poplar from the USA and rubber wood from plantations in Malaysia.
One other feature you should take into consideration is hardware. The modern design of cribs attempt to aesthetically hide the hardware so it does not take away from the beauty of the crib. When looking at hardware, it should always complement the design of the crib even if visible.
- Edges should be smooth and rounded, especially in the sleeping area.
- Slats should be free of large knots.
- The finish should be smooth and even. When choosing a more expensive crib the expectation is that the finish is a multi-step process usually around six to eight steps. This will give the finish a three-dimensional affect of depth and warmth. It will also add to its durability.
When selecting the right crib for your market, safety should be number one on your check list and that the manufacturer meets all federal and international guidelines. Style will always be a key factor for consumers and now, they can have the best of both worlds.
Safety and style do co-exists today. Knowing that the crib is the safest place for a baby to sleep will create a peace of mind for you the buyer, the parents and comfort for baby.
Editorial provided by Sam Shamie, Co-President of Delta Children’s Products.
Crib Mattress
There are three major mattress categories: innerspring, foam, and “green” mattresses. “Green” mattresses may be innerspring, foam, natural or organic.
Which is best for baby? All three styles of crib mattress are fine for baby. All mattresses sold in the U.S. must pass the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that regulates the chemicals in the mattress and, the mattresses must be tested by a third party independent testing lab to ensure that they pass. Crib mattresses must also pass two different federal flammability standards.
Ninety-five percent of adults sleep on an innerspring mattress or coil unit. Many parents are most comfortable with this type of mattress for their baby.
The heart of the innerspring mattress is the spring or coil unit. The best spring is the one with the most steel and not necessarily the one with the most coils. Thicker steel coils in combination with quantity of coils is what counts. Springs with border rods have more steel and provide greater firmness, durability, and edge support which is important for toddlers when they walk around the mattress holding on to the crib rails.
On top of the spring is the insulator pad that prevents the softer cushioning layers from sinking into the coils. It prevents that coil “feel.” A high quality insulator is mandatory to a higher quality innerspring mattress.
Next the cushioning layers are added to provide comfort but shouldn’t diminish desired firmness. The best mattresses often have two cushioning layers. Non-allergenic foam and cotton are common cushioning layers. Polyester is also used as a cushioning layer.
Foam mattresses are lighter weight and make for slightly easier sheet changes.
Better quality foam mattresses have firmer, heavier foam, and they return to their original flat shape faster when the weight is removed from the mattress.
"Green” mattresses use more ecologically friendly components than the average mattress. They may be foam mattresses made with plant oils or innerspring mattresses with layers made with natural materials. There are no industry standards for calling a mattress natural or organic so you and your customers have to decide for yourselves what percent of a mattress’s components must be natural or organic for you to consider it a natural or organic mattress. Read labels and literature very closely to determine actual mattress components.
The best quality “green” innerspring mattresses, just like regular innerspring mattresses, have more layers and better quality layers. The best quality “green” foam mattresses are firmer, heavier weight, and more resilient – the same as regular foam mattresses. The best quality natural or organic mattresses have the highest percent of natural or organic components with 100% being optimum.
All mattresses have covers. Vinyl is the most common, easiest to clean, and most cost-efficient cover material. The strongest vinyl covers have the most reinforced layers – five, three, or two. The best vinyl covers are tear resistant and have reinforced layers. Some “green” mattresses come with covers of bamboo yarn or organic cotton. Waterproofing on a cloth covered mattress may be a plastic on the top surface or polyurethane on the back surface of the mattress cover leaving a more natural material closest to baby. Any material used to make a mattress cover waterproof is not natural or organic.
Lastly, mattresses often have vents and binding. Cloth binding generally offers stronger seams than vinyl binding and vents allow the mattress to breathe and refresh itself.
A popular mattress feature today is the dual firmness mattress where one side is firmer for the infant and the other side is firm but a little more comfortable for a toddler. This feature is especially popular with parents buying convertible cribs. Memory foam on the less firm side of a dual firmness mattress is also popular.
In summary, the crib mattress is so important for baby that a parent will do baby a favor by saving money on other items and buying the best mattress they can afford.
The best innerspring crib mattress has a spring unit with thicker coils, border rods, and overall more steel than other innerspring mattresses. It has two insulators-a permalator and a high quality insulator pad. It has at least two cushioning layers on each side. The cover has multiple reinforced layers. The mattress will also usually have cloth binding and vents.
The best foam mattress has foam that is firmer, heavier weight, and more resilient than lower cost foam mattresses. The cover has multiple reinforced layers. Cloth binding and eyelet vents ensure strong seams and mattress freshness.
Editorial provided by Dennis W. Schuetz, Director of Marketing for Colgate Juvenile Products
*Special Thanks to Nancy Villars with Simmons Kids for reviewing this article.
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