Car Seat Check - so helpful

michelle_1221 · December 2011

I work at a pediatric hospital, so a car seat check was a must on my list. We installed the seat (Chicco Keyfit) and it was so easy, I actually thought the check would be a waste of time BUT I was really wrong. The car seat check was so helpful, she showed us how to use our weight to help more securely latch the base. She also showed us how to install the seat without the base. If you haven't done this yet, I highly recommend doing it. BTW, I found that just any firestation doesn't provide this service because of the extensive on-going education. In my county, the city has 2 employees that are trained and they meet you at the fire station by appointment. Some links below if you need them.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cpsfitting/index.cfm

https://seatcheck.org/

SoonToBeMsP · December 2011

So happy to hear this. DH thinks it'll be a cinch to install, which it might be, but for my peace of mind, I definitely want to have the check done. The statistics for how many car seats are installed incorrectly scare me and I don't want to believe people are that stupid!

CalMum_Momma · December 2011

We had the check done when we first installed for DS. I won't again, but you are right that it was more helpful than expected! For us there is only one police officer who is certified...no sherrifs and no firemen!

sweetky_06 · December 2011

I agree that everyone should go get them checked. Apparently, my DH should be a certified installer because the guy who checked it out got in there and pushed and pulled and shook and said that it was in there as good as it could be!

BabyTime01032012 · December 2011

Thanks for this helpful post. I just attempted to make my appointment.

namara5532 · December 2011

Our hospital offered a free check that we took advantage of yesterday. Although we had it installed correctly, we didn't know about pulling the seat belt all the way out to make it lock. I'm glad to know it's secure. They also gave us some easy to reference cards about when we should upgrade to the different kinds of booster seats as well as our state laws on child restraints. Those will definately be kept handy.

eklanger · December 2011

I tried putting ours in yesterday and was really disappointed to find that the base does NOT fit in our car so we have no choice but to install with the belt each time. which I definitely feel is less secure than the latch. We apparently should have put more thought into making sure at least one of our cars was family friendly. LOL. Oh well, we will make it work with the belt installation, I just have to make sure DH learns how.

jason&robin · December 2011

that's great. You would be surprised. I truly feel that my ILs are very smart people but they are NOT good at installing carseats. I always do them for them and check if they have tried to do it themselves. I was shocked at what I saw one time. I have always sat and read the books that come with the seat to make sure. I am doing it right and once you have done it for a while, it's really easy...especially with latch and the infant seat. I watch teen mom or other shows like that and cringe when I see the seat going all over the place.

Ashley&Scott · December 2011

We did a car seat check last weekend with our local police department. We're really glad we did it too. Our seats were also installed correctly, but the officer was able to show DH how to get them even tighter. Definitely a 20 minutes well spent.

erincourtney17 · December 2011

Thanks for this! Very helpful!

theladyjess · December 2011

Thanks for the reminder! I just called and set up my appt for Tuesday.

talitha712 · December 2011

I made an appointment Monday for our carseat to be inspected next Wednesday at our hospital. Something like 70% of car seats are installed incorrectly so I'm looking forward to having someone certified make sure ours is correct and safe.

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