Child Passenger Safety
How to Properly Install a Child Safety Seat
What is the best child safety seat?
Which child safety seat fits best in my car?
Which child safety seat is the easiest to use?
I have been helping new parents select and install child safety seats for almost twenty years. These are the most common questions asked by new parents. Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions: "What is the best child safety seat? Which child safety seat fits best in my car? Which child safety seat is the easiest to use?" Then you are not alone.
There are so many choices for you to make when purchasing child safety seats. These include infant carriers, with and without a base, or those that fit into the stroller along with convertible car seats. To add to your challenge, the installation of the car seat can be tricky as you navigate what seating position to use, and deciding to use either LATCH or the vehicle seat belt. Surprisingly, as many as four out of five car seats are known to be incorrectly installed.
A good place to start is selecting which child safety seat you want for your newborn. You can go with either an infant carrier or a convertible child safety seat, each having their advantages. The infant carrier is easier to transport in and out of your house and many come with a base. If you have more than one car, you can purchase a base for each car while the carrier itself stays with the infant. The maximum weight limits on infant carriers range from 22 pounds to 35 pounds and it is to be used rear-facing only. The convertible child safety seat is larger and stays in your car and can go both rear and forward facing, depending upon the age and weight of the child. Therefore, the lifespan of the convertible is much longer than an infant carrier. You may even get four years or more of use from the convertible child safety seat. However, new parents tend to like the infant carriers, many of which come with a stroller system, despite the added expense of needing a larger child safety seat usually within a year.
Once you select your child safety seat, it is important to read the instruction manual for the child safety seat and the owner’s manual for the car to ensure proper installation. With so many different types of child safety seats and vehicle safety belt systems, the same child safety seat may be installed completely different ways in two separate seating positions. The best spot in the vehicle to install your child safety seat is in the back seat where you get a secure fit. First try the middle seating position, away from the side of the car. If you do not get a tight fit however, it is safest to move the car seat to one of the outboard positions. It does not matter which side you place the child safety seat, either behind the driver or passenger.
Babies should ride rear-facing until 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height limit allowed by the manufacturer of the child safety seat. Also, never place infants in front of an active passenger air bag. It comes out with too much force, which could fatally injure your infant.
Now that you know your infant will ride rear-facing in the back seat, plus you have selected your seat position, you have to decide whether to use either the vehicle safety belt or LATCH system to install your child safety seat. LATCH stands for lower anchors and tethers for children and is required on most child safety seats and vehicles manufactured after September 1, 2002.
If you have a car manufactured prior to September 2002, you will have to use the vehicle safety belt in install your child safety seat. If your vehicle does have a LATCH system, make sure the seating position you are placing the child safety seat in allows LATCH, since you will not find it in every seating position. The child safety seat has two lower tether hooks often found on a single piece of webbing that would attach to rigid anchors you find in the vehicle seat byte, which is where the vehicle seat comes together.
The key to properly installing the child safety seat is to place your full upper body weight into the child safety seat as you pull and tighten either the LATCH belt or vehicle safety belt. If you are using your vehicle safety belt, you may need to lock the safety belt in place. You can find out how to do this by reading your vehicle owner’s manual. Many vehicle safety belts require you to manually place them in the locked position. Once installed, the child safety seat should not move more than 1” in any direction.
Common mistakes parents make are selecting the incorrect seat for the child age, height, and weight; the harness is too loose, the car seat itself is too loose or the child is turned to face the front of the car too early. Safety experts recommend that parents find a local child safety seat inspection station to receive help and education on how to correctly install and use the child safety seat.
So, what is the best child safety seat? The best seat is the one that is the right size for your child’s weight and height, the one that is properly installed and the one you will use correctly each and every time you are in the car. That is the best child safety seat for you!