Car seat safety

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

As we get closer and closer to our due dates and now that we have a few babies (!) in the group, I thought I'd start a thread to help answer questions regarding proper car seat use. I'm a bit of a car seat safety nazi and it drives me insane the number of people I see not using it properly. I know many of you have gotten help with installing your car seat from local police/fire. Just make sure when doing that, that the person helping you is a certified car seat tech. Many departments offer the help but aren't necessarily trained. You can search for local car seat techs who will help with installation and proper use for a small fee.

After that rant, I will step off my soap box and leave you with this graphic. (FTR, I was clueless after my daughter was born. I cringe at some of the photos of her in her car seat.)

kosmo86 · August 2016

Thanks for this! Question- does it matter what position the handle is in when driving? I have heard both always put it down and does not matter.

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

kosmo86 said:

Thanks for this! Question- does it matter what position the handle is in when driving? I have heard both always put it down and does not matter.

It's going to depend on your car seat and that will be in your manual. We have a Chicco Keyfit and it doesn't matter whether it's up or down, as long as it's locked.

drmh22 · August 2016

@PSUBecky23 Thank you for starting this! I think so many people just don't realize that there are so many wrong ways to strap in a baby and really only one right way. I was also clueless when DD was born and she was definitely not strapped in properly at first. I'm lucky that the topic came up in my other bmb so that I could correct what I was doing wrong.

For or those of you that aren't sure/confident about your knowledge, Car Seats For The Littles is a great group on Facebook. They have tons of graphics like the one above and you can post pictures/ask for help as needed. I've learned so much just by reading responses to others' questions!

sareej521 · August 2016

@kosmo86 your carseat will tell you the proper position for travel, my graco snugride says to have it locked in the same position as when you carry it and some people we giving me heck for it until I showed them the graphic on the handle!

CRich15 · August 2016

@PSUBecky23 Thank you for starting this!

I will say that nothing bugs me more than seeing a baby/child who is strapped in the car seat with the chest clip around their stomach and loose straps. I feel like I strap my kids down like we are in a rocket going to the moon.

erinmarie86 · August 2016

I sorta have a short circuit for car seat safety as well (it drives my husband nuts). I'm glad this thread was started.

This website is a GREAT resource: https://csftl.org/

and they even have a facebook group. They have helped me many times with installing my car seat (i prefer to do it so I know it's done right)...you can also take pictures of your the install or your LO to confirm everything is correct. I recommend just writing a direct message to the group instead of posting on the board so you know for sure you are getting advice from a certified car tech.

Thscary · August 2016

I registered for and am getting one of these infant body supports. I just assumed they are safe but now I am questioning. Thoughts?

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

@Thscary anything like that that didn't come with the car seat is considered an aftermarket product and isn't considered safe. They can affect the harness placement and the baby's positioning making the car seat unsafe. Rolled up receiving blankets like in the photo above are OK. The head support that came with our car seat was adequate for my daughter.

Article from Car Seats for the Littles that explains it better: https://csftl.org/non-regulated-products/

ansley0319 · August 2016

I installed my carseat and its base this past weekend- somewhat just to see how it would fit since I have a 2 door car. To my understanding and after reading the manual if you are using the anchor points in the car with the base latch system it reads as if you don't have to use the seat belt at all? Is this correct? It reads as if it is an "or" option. I honestly don't know how I feel about it though. There isn't a lot of play in the base and seat but just enough on the outside part that I am a bit uncomfortable. I most likely will have to have an in person inspection of it to ease my mind !

marajay6 · August 2016

@ansley0319 - When installing, you either install with the Latch system (the anchors you are talking about) or the seat belt. Not both. Definitely an 'or' situation.

SLou24 · August 2016

@PSUBecky23 Thank you for posting this!! We haven't installed ours yet but I feel like I'll have a thousand questions once we do. I'm so thankful to have this board for things like this that seem so overwhelming to just research on the internet!

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

@ansley0319
A good test is to grab the seat at the belt path using your non-dominant hand and give it a shake. If there's less than one inch movement in either direction, it's secure.

And yes, you use either the latch or seat belt, not both.

hey_clever_girl · August 2016

PSUBecky23 said:

@Thscary anything like that that didn't come with the car seat is considered an aftermarket product and isn't considered safe. They can affect the harness placement and the baby's positioning making the car seat unsafe. Rolled up receiving blankets like in the photo above are OK. The head support that came with our car seat was adequate for my daughter.
Article from Car Seats for the Littles that explains it better: https://csftl.org/non-regulated-products/

^^^ This!

hey_clever_girl · August 2016

ansley0319 said:

I installed my carseat and its base this past weekend- somewhat just to see how it would fit since I have a 2 door car. To my understanding and after reading the manual if you are using the anchor points in the car with the base latch system it reads as if you don't have to use the seat belt at all? Is this correct? It reads as if it is an "or" option. I honestly don't know how I feel about it though. There isn't a lot of play in the base and seat but just enough on the outside part that I am a bit uncomfortable. I most likely will have to have an in person inspection of it to ease my mind !

Looks like you got your question answered, but I would like to speak on the inspection topic; you can get your inspection, but also remember to do your own research. When my daughter turned 1, my mother in law bought a new convertible car seat. She took it to our local fire department to have it installed (some people recommend you go there or a police station because they supposedly know what they are doing). She specifically told the man who installed it that I wanted it rear-facing. He tried to push her into forward-facing because my daughter was "old enough." Luckily she stuck to her guns and he installed it RF, but a LOT of people are still very uneducated about the benefits of extended rear-facing. So just because one particular source seems trustworthy, I would still urge you to do your own research—and lots of it!

CRich15 · August 2016

I will also add to @runningisrad message on the whole being "old enough" when it comes time for convertible car seats... make sure to check out your state laws regarding ages, height & weight requirements for each car seat stage. They do differ depending on where you live and I would definitely go off of height/weight vs. age. Generally the information can be found with a simple Google search of car seat laws for your state.

ansley0319 · August 2016

Also, Is it correct that the car seat is the most safe to be in the middle seat ?

kosmo86 · August 2016

Besides reading the manual, I would like up videos for your exact seat on youtube. There are a lot of videos by technicians out there. I am really glad we did. After we did it ourselves we went and got it inspected by a technician and she said we did it correctly. I wanted to make sure we knew how to do it and just didn't have someone do it for us.

Carseat blog has their own set of videos this is the one I used- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzYYd_6Lh8U

yellowrose314 · August 2016

@kosmo86 The firefighter who did my carseat (who is certified, he showed me his certification card) said that it's now recommended that the handle stay in the position in which you carry it in, upright rather than pushed down, because it provides extra protection if things are flying around during an accident. But this might be the Canadian recommendations, so I guess go with the carseat manufacturer instructions.

@ansley0319 Firefighter said it doesn't matter. I put mine behind the passenger seat because I couldn't put my seat any farther forward to drive safely if it was behind my seat. My car also didn't have the latch clips in the middle backseat, so he recommended doing them on the outside seats.

mom2adoodle · August 2016

Can I just say having a 4 pounder in a car seat is super anxiety provoking? Holy moly.

schuberta · August 2016

ansley0319 said:

Also, Is it correct that the car seat is the most safe to be in the middle seat ?

You should check into individual cars for this, I think. We had a certified car seat safety lady come inspect our seat with DS1, and she said that some cars are not necessarily safer for a middle seat install because sometimes there are humps that make a tight install harder or sometimes there are other issues. For instance, we had our seat installed in the middle using latch, but it was not right because we don't have middle seat latch and we were actually just using the latch for the two side seats without realizing it. But we were able to install in the middle with the seatbelt.

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

ansley0319 said:

Also, Is it correct that the car seat is the most safe to be in the middle seat ?

I think most techs will say the safest spot is where you get the best install. As has been said, that can be hard in the middle seat of some cars. Also, many cars don't have the LATCH system in the middle seat. Not to say you can't get a good install with the seatbelt but it can be harder.

marajay6 · August 2016

@mom2adoodle - I can only imagine! My son was 9 1/2 pounds at birth and the car seat buckle and straps just seemed so big compared to him the first time we put him in his car seat.

sareej521 · August 2016

I was just going to say that when reading though here @PSUBecky23, I know my Suv doesn't have the latch system for the middle seat and because of that have actually grown to prefer using the seat belt. I always find I can get that sucker tight with the belt and then when I try the latch system in my mom's Suv I give up because I just can't get it as tight. Could have something to do with being 100 months pregnant and easily tiring out... I just installed the infant base in my vehicle yesterday and chose to put it behind the passenger because I've read the child most at risk (which will be my 3 year old when we turn her ff right away because she is reaching the limits for her seat) and both are using the seat belt and the little clip to keep the seat belt from shifting.

Alyeena · August 2016

Thank you so much for sharing this, I had no idea about the receiving blankets rolled up for support.

Does it need to be done like this with any car seat? My seat is the Maxi Cosi mico max 30.

ruemcclanahan · August 2016

Question-- My Chico key fit came with a newborn insert, that would be safe right?
Or are the receiving blankets the way to go?

ETA this was totally already answered lol don't mind me

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

Megan324 said:

Question-- My Chico key fit came with a newborn insert, that would be safe right?
Or are the receiving blankets the way to go?

ETA this was totally already answered lol don't mind me

Yup, that was all we needed with ours. Just read the manual about when it needs to come out. It's a certain age or weight. I need to re-educate myself on that.

Edit - insert comes out at 11 pounds. Head support comes out when straps are in upper slots but can come out sooner when baby has good enough head control.

Thscary · August 2016

@sareej521 I felt the same way when I installed my base, could not get a tight fit with the latch like I could with the belt

asht · August 2016

I feel like I get a tighter fit with the latch but that it's also easier to teach my mom how to put them in her car via latch. Baby will be on the side instead of the middle. My preference is middle but with my toddlers car seat it's not possible as the infant seat sits a little off

drmh22 · August 2016

@Alyeena After market products, like the one in the picture above, are never considered safe because they can interfere with the straps and getting baby snug. If your seat comes with an infant insert, it's totally fine, because it's been tested with that seat. If baby gets here and you see that he/she needs more support, then using rolled receiving blankets is the way to go.

618mom22boys · August 2016

Great thread! I'm big on car seat safety as well. My 6 year old is still in a 5pt harness.

Alyeena · August 2016

@drmh22 Thank you.

It does come with an infant insert, so hopefully then it will be all good.

jensou · August 2016

thanks for starting this thread. i feel reassured about our install after reading all this. hubby is supposed to take to car-seat check this saturday to double-check the bases.

Tippy05 · August 2016

618mom22boys said:

Great thread! I'm big on car seat safety as well. My 6 year old is still in a 5pt harness.

Me too! We'll be installing our infant carseat sometime after this weekend and will move DS1 to the back row to make room for LO and DS2 in the middle row. DH thinks we're ready for a mini-van but I'm not quite ready to jump on that train yet, but that's another thread altogether.

KimmySchmidt · August 2016

https://thecarseatlady.com/

Just wanted to share the car seat lady. This lady knows. What's. up.

You our will find answers to ANY car seat question there. She even has a ranking about buying vehicles and which are easiest with a variety of car seats.

sareej521 · August 2016

Thecarseatlady.com rocks! And she's constantly sharing ways to arrange seats for the best and safest fit in all vehicles on IG!

abberson · August 2016

Um, so you know how school just started in a lot of places? I just saw a picture on FB of a friend from home whose "tuckered out" 4th grader was stretched out napping in the back of the SUV on the way home from school. WHAT?? Get that kid in a seat belt! And a booster! My head is exploding.

vampirina · August 2016

Question: Are car seat protectors safe to use under child car seats? I'm talking about the protectors that sit on the regular built-in seat of the car and help prevent the child/infant car seat from scratching up/wearing down the upholstery.

Sbrown721 · August 2016

@PoodleDoodleOoo My understanding is that car seat protectors bring along the same worries/issues as any other additions to the car seat.

PSUBecky23 · August 2016

Sbrown721 said:

@PoodleDoodleOoo My understanding is that car seat protectors bring along the same worries/issues as any other additions to the car seat.

Stuck in in a box - another depends on your seat answer - https://csftl.org/seat-protectors/

ketomommy · August 2016

I went to the free install/check yesterday. It was worth every second. They explained everything 1:1 and answered every question I had. If you have the time, go. I feel so much more comfortable.

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