Did you know the week of September 18th is National Car Seat Safety Week? I was able to work with Cars.com last week to learn:
- The proper weight and height requirements for rear- and forward-facing seats
- Whether or not age is a factor when transitioning
- Is your child properly harnessed?
- How to properly install car seats rear- and forward-facing
- How Cars.com approaches its car seat checks
I also walked away with a ton of information to share with all my readers. My kids are out of car seats, but I know a lot of you still have kids in carseats. There is so much conflicting information out there on what parents should or shouldn’t do regarding car seats. Our children are the most important thing in our lives, so we want to make sure there are safe. The statistic that floored me was that up to 75% of carseats are installed incorrectly! Here are a few tips to make sure you are doing it correctly:
- Read the manual that comes with your car seat. Everything you need to know is in the manual. What are the weight requirements? What are the height requirements? How long before it expires? All of this can be found in there!
- Read you car manual. It will direct you where you can install a car seat and where the LATCH system is in your car.
- Use the LATCH system or seat belts – not both. This is a common mistake!
- Make sure the car seat is level.
- Make sure there is no movement. Once in, that car seat shouldn’t be moving! Climb in the car and push on the seat and pull tight if you must.
These are just a few tips that will help you install your car seat correctly.
Wondering how your car measures up? Check it out on Cars.com Car Seat Safety Check. Certified child passenger safety technicians conducted hands-on tests of a car’s Latch system and check the vehicle’s ability to accommodate different types of car seats and pass along the results to you! As we learned, not all cars are created equal. Some make it easy to install car seats, some do not.
What I learned most is that if you don’t know, ask! There are plenty of experts out there who want to help you. Car seats aren’t rocket science, but they aren’t the easiest things either. Our children are our worlds and to have something happen would be devastating.
Do you have any car seat tips?
Where I live, the police station does them. They are all trained, so everyone goes there to have them installed safely and properly.
Oh man, I remember my husband and I struggling with this. We weren’t sure if we did it right. I think we took it into a station to be sure it was installed correctly.
Hands up I wouldn’t know where to start with installing a car seat so these sound like some great tip to me.
We are long past the car seat installing stage of our lives. Know many people who don’t know how to install a car seat properly. They even give classes now. Keep those kids safe and install properly.
OMGosh! such an important post. Little lives are counting on this. if you can’t figure it out, the Fire Dept. is a great resource to help too!
I’m a strong believer in car seats being installed properly. I’m going to send this post to a friend of mine who is expecting her first grand child. She was just talking about car seats and which one she should buy. She needs to know how to install it properly too.
Our local police department hosts a monthly car seat check up and properly installs car seats. I wish more parents would take advantage of this free service and wish it were offered in more communities.
I’ve heard for years that many people install them correctly. I don’t have young children any more but if I did there are places locally like the firehouse that help do it.
At the moment I am not looking to install a car seat but this is really useful information.
Great tips! I’m always scared when it comes to installing car seats, with my first I got the fire station guys to do it (eye candy and safety right?). Thanks for the good advice!
I don’t have any kids. I do have a few pregnant friends and will shade this post with them.
These are such great tips. There are so many people who have car seats incorrectly installed and it is so incredibly dangerous. So thankful to the police officers who checked the installation of my seat!
These are great tips. My tip is always stop by the local police station. They do free checks and are always willing to make sure they are correctly installed.
Did not know there was such a day for Car seats! It is a great reminder though to make sure we know how to properly install and secure them in the car.
I’ll definitely be sharing this with my pregnant friends. I’ll also keep this in mind for my future!
These are great and very important tips! My kids are all on boosters now, but making sure they are safe is still key. When we had car seats and baby seats we always sat on top of the seat and tightened it even more, this always made sure there was no wiggle room with the seat.
It can be difficult to install a car seat correctly, and it’s so important. I love it when the fire fighters or police do community checks.
Car seats are so important and the positioning of the seats is so important. The proper ergonomy is so important in installing the seats to ensure a comfortable ride.
Great info and thank you for sharing that you shouldn’t use both the LATCH system and seat belts together. I had a huge discussion about this with my in laws. They didn’t understand why I was buckling the seat into their car without doing both.