Make Sure That Your Child's Safety Seat Is Installed Properly

If you find yourself bringing home a baby, shopping for a child safety seat for a child that has outgrown a previous one or finding a replacement child safety seat for one that has been damaged in a wreck, selecting the actual seat for your child is really just half the task.  The most confusing obstacle is still ahead – getting it mounted properly.

NHTSA, the National Safety Council and Steve's CARSTAR Auto Body in Arnold, Missouri offer these techniques to help moms and dads ensure that their child safety seat is put in as safely as is feasible.

•   Always ensure that the baby is rear-facing. While the view might seem boring to you, it ensures that the infant will be in the safest possible position if an accident occurs. The rear facing position decreases the probability of neck/spine trauma compared to that of a baby facing forward.  While some experts advocate keeping the child rear facing up until his or her 6 month mark and or twenty-two pounds, there is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting a bit longer.
•   Use the right seat for your kid's age, body weight and height. If your vehicle has leather seats, get a couple of non-slip rubber shelf liners or find yourself a "seat saver" to put under the car seat. It'll keep your vehicle seat clean and stop the car seat from sliding all about. Still, depending on your child safety seat, a seat saver may have the ability to interfere with the installation process, so hold on to the receipt.
•   Read the car and the child seat manuals with extreme care, and always adhere to the car seat manufacturer's advice. If you have questions for them, call them up and ask. Your local dealer might not be up to speed on your personal installation questions.
•   Rear-Facing, Infant-Only Seat — LATCH Install -- Many parents of newborns like the type of infant car seat that comes with a separating base component. The base stays installed in the car while the baby carrier itself can be taken out and snapped back in again at will.  Infant seat bases generally have flexible LATCH connectors — essentially belts with hooks at the ends.  Locate the lowest anchors in the second-row window seats. Be sure the child safety seat lays flat against the seat's bottom and back, in between the lower anchors.  Hook the LATCH attachment that is the farthest away from you onto the anchor. Then, if possible, climb on top of the seat, putting your knee on top of it. Using your weight to compress the vehicle seat to the greatest extent possible, hook the other attachment to the anchor and pull out any slack. If you cannot get on top of the seat, use all the strength that you have to push down on the seat while hooking on the second attachment.
•   Rear-Facing, Infant-Only Seat — Standard Shoulder and Lap Belt Install
What if your vehicle or the car seat in it is an older model and does not feature LATCH? Or what if the car's seat cushions or anchor placements make LATCH installation unlikely? You are able to still do a standard shoulder and lap belt installation that is very safe. First, thread the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt through the appropriate slots, called the "belt path." If you have a convertible car seat that goes from forward-facing to rear-facing, be careful to choose the proper path; it will be clearly marked.

Plug the latch plate into the buckle, then, employing your weight as above, tighten up the belt. Be sure that all of the slack is taken out of both the lap and the shoulder. Generally, using a locking clip will give you a more secure installation. A locking clip is an H-shaped bit of metal that comes with all new car seats or can be ordered from the manufacturer. To use one, plug in the seatbelt, make it as tight you can, then unplug it again while you also hold the belt tightly. Wind the locking clip around the belt very close to the latch plate, then plug it back in. You may have to jump down on the seat a couple of times to get it closed. This will not be easy, but it'll give you a rock-solid installation.

Keep in mind that a rear-facing infant car seat needs to sit at a 45-degree angle to prevent the baby from slouching and to keep their respiratory tract open. Check your instructions to see if your seat has an angle adjuster; if so, use that. If not, a small piece of a swimming pool "noodle" placed under the seat is the best way to get the same angle. Why a noodle? Well, you could use a tightly rolled towel, but towels seem to compress over time, whereas the material in pool noodles does not. If you do end up using a towel, check it from time to time to see that the angle has been kept.

The experts at Steve's CARSTAR Auto Body in Arnold, Missouri, who also serve the people of Oakville, Imperial, Jeffco, and Jefferson County, make every effort to give you a high-quality, reliable repair for every customer and want to extend that dedication to the youngest passengers in our customers’ cars. Anyone who's ever placed their bundle of joy in a car seat know what trust you place in that seat.  They want to help empower parents to protect their kids, whether during daily driving or after an accident.
For more information on the CARSTAR Child Safety Seat program, visit www.auto-body-arnold-mo.com.