Child Passenger Safety Week

This is a great week to take a good look at your car seats and make sure they are the right one for your child and installed correctly.   I have been a certified car seat technician and instructor since 2006 and have seen many missteps and misuses with car seats they all start with great intentions and are easily solved with good instruction.  This week I would like to feature a topic each day to give you all some valuable information.

I would like to start out the week focusing on some basic information about purchasing a car seat and installation.

When purchasing a car seat you want one that is right for your child, fits in your car and you will use correctly every time. 

PUCHASING:

•-           Make sure the seat your are purchasing fits the stage, weight and height of your child

•-          When considering a used seat the best practice is not to use one.  However if you insist on using a second had seat you need the following:

•o   Most importantly do you know the history of the seat,  if the seat was ever in an accident do not use it.

•o   Is it more than 6 years old?  On every car seat is a manufactured date.  If the car seat is more than six years old the recommendation is not to use it.  The main reason is that manufactures do not trust how the plastic will hold up over time. 

•o   Does it have the owner's manual, this is very important so that you understand how to install the seat.

•o   Are all the stickers on the seat or do you see any damage? 

•-           New Seats:

•o   With new seats we often see the parent or grand parent who has purchased what they feel is the best seat on the market.  When we get it out of the box it is to big for their car.  Most car seat dealers will let you take there demo seats to your car and you can see how they fit. 

•o   There is also an ease of use rating on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site (www.nhtsa.gov) This web site lets the consumer know about the ease of installation.  This is not however a rating of which seat is safer.  All the seats on the market meet the same standards set by NHTSA.

INSTALLATION:

•-           Make sure you have both the car seat manual and the vehicle manual when you are installing your car seat. 

•-          Decide if you are going to use the LATCH system or the vehicles seat belt system to install the car seat

•o   They are both safe but do not use them both at the same time.

•o   Try using both systems and see which one you use better.

•-          To make sure the seat is tight enough pull on back and forth and side to side where the seat belt is and it should move less than an inch.  It does not have to rock the car back and forth.

 The Harness should be tight enough that you can not pinch any material at the top.  The retainer clip (which is the plastic clip you snap together) should be at arm pit level.  This prevents internal injuries.

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