Baby safety equipment
Infant car seats are commonly used to conveniently and safely seat and transport infants and small children. When an infant is seated in a vehicle, an infant’s safety chair is important to keep the infant safe from being thrown around by the motion of the vehicle. It has been found that babies should be harnessed in an infant seat or carrier when travelling in a car to provide a degree of protection during an emergency stop or an accident. It is now mandatory within the United States for parents to employ child safety chairs when traveling in vehicles so that their children are safe in case an unfortunate event such as a car accident should occur. Infant car seats generally comprise a molded plastic seat shell having a seat back for supporting the infant and a U-shaped handle that extends across the seat shell for carrying the seat shell. A safety belt harness is typically provided to secure the infant in the seat shell. The safety chair is typically placed to face toward the vehicle’s rear when it is used upon a small infant generally up to six months of age. As the infant matures in age and weight, the child safety chair is usually turned around so that it faces toward the front of the vehicle.
Baby safety gates are widely used to prevent children, particularly infants, from entering a desired area such as a stairwell, or from leaving a desired area such as a playroom or nursery. There are several types of baby safety gates including the lazy-tong expansible gate and gates which are held into place through a wedging, jamming, or pressure action. The infant safety gate is generally adjustable between a closed position, wherein the gate blocks the opening and prevents access through the opening, and an open position wherein the gate does not block the opening. In some designs, the safety gate is attached at one end to a wall or doorway by hinges so that it can swing open or closed. Such gates also include a mechanism at an opposite end to latch the gate in the closed position. Baby safety equipment are also found in a baby stroller which typically includes a safety bar either end of which is attached to the end of each of both arms. The legs of a child, placed feet first into a baby stroller, slide under the safety bar.
Baby walkers are devices that allow babies that are not yet able to walk to move about in an upright position using their legs. Baby walkers have consisted of a seat to support the baby, a frame, and wheels to help babies move around as if they were walking. Typically, there were no safety features to prevent a baby from walking the walker down a flight of stairs or down an inclined plane or to alert parents of a potentially dangerous situation. For safety purposes, many baby walkers perform a self-braking effect. Generally, the self-braking device for a baby walker can be realized as the speed control caster.