When we bring home our little one from the hospital, we want to make sure they have safe car rides from then until they grow out of a car seat. Although, in order to do so, the car seat much be properly installed. Believe it or not, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as many as 85% of all car seats are improperly installed. Don’t let yourself fall into this category! Make sure your child’s car seat is properly installed by considering a few of these tips!
Where does the car seat belong? –
To make sure your car seat is placed in the safest area in your vehicle, you want to make sure you always (regardless rear or forward facing) place it in the center of the rear seat. You never want to place your car seat in the front passenger seat. The air bags can do a lot of damage, therefore they are prohibited from the front seats!
What direction do I face my baby? –
Also, you want to make sure you face your child the right way. Your baby should be rear-facing in their infant car seat they are 12 months old and reach 20 lbs minimum. Putting your baby rear-facing is the safest way to seat them, so the longer the better!
Once your baby reaches 12 months old and weighs more than 20 lbs, you can turn their car seat around.
Although, once your child reaches 40-80 lbs, which is usually 4-8 years old, they will need a booster car seat. So, most likely you will need another car seat because they will outgrow their infant car seat. Once you use a booster seat, they will use a shoulder belt now.
How do I properly install the car seat? –
First, you will want to make sure you clear a spot in the back seat of your car (the center). Now, read both your car seat manual and your vehicle’s manual. This will explain how to install it step by step. Make sure you read the directions slowly.
When you install your car seat, you want to make sure it’s LATCH compatible. Not sure what that means? LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. LATCH is a great thing to have because it will help you install it properly. It will attach to the anchors attached to your vehicle so you don’t have to use a belt to secure the car seat in place. Sometimes people will find that their car is LATCH compatible, but the car seat isn’t. If this is your situation, you want to buy a kit to make it work.
When installing a car seat rear-facing, you want to make sure it’s tight up against the back of the car seat. When you’re installing a forward-facing car seat, you want to make sure it’s flat and right up to the back of the car’s seat. The tighter it is, the better!
Now, you want to make sure your vehicle’s seat belt is put correctly into the slots of the car seat. Once it is, pull the belt to make sure it’s as tight as possible and you will want to pull on it to make sure it’s not going to move and that if feels secure.
When you install a car seat, you want to make sure that it’s very secure and that it won’t wobble back and forth. If you’re able to move the car seat even just a little bit, you may want to make sure you can pull the seat belt even tighter. You want your child to be as safe as possible, so make sure they won’t move while they’re in the car.
If you’re having trouble installing your car seat, and the manual isn’t enough, you may want to go onto The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website and see where the closest car seat inspection check would be! They will be able to look over your car seat, give you tips, and fix it to make sure it’s safe if it isn’t already.
