Car Seat Safety Tips

You took every precaution during pregnancy – you studiously avoided lunchmeat and soft cheeses, took your daily multivitamin with care and ate a variety of healthy foods to give your baby the best start in life. Now your bundle of joy is here, and it seems there’s no safer place than in your arms. But most parents feel the need to break the cycle of feedings and naps with outings eventually. Is your car seat offering the safest ride for your baby? Follow this car seat safety guide to ensure your little one is as safe in the car as they are at home.

Today’s car seat market can be overwhelming – options run the gamut from infant seats to convertibles, forward facing seat to boosters. The safest place for your baby in the earliest months is a rear-facing infant seat. In fact, hospitals won’t let you go home without one. Keep your baby in a rear facing seat until he or she reaches the height or weight limit (in the case of infant seats, it’s often the former). You can find the height and weight limits on the back label of your car seat.

Once your tot outgrows the infant seat, consider purchasing a convertible car seat that you can use in a rear or forward facing position. The American Academy of Pediatrics used to say you could flip to a forward-facing position around the baby’s first birthday, but safety recommendations have changed. Now, they recommend keeping tots rear facing for as long as possible – at least until age 2, but even longer if they’ll tolerate it. Flip the seat once they reach the height or weight limit for rear-facing.

Car seats only work well if you install them correctly. Read the instruction manual thoroughly, and, if you’ve purchased a convertible car seat, make sure you’re following the appropriate set of instructions (rear-facing or forward-facing). Use the LATCH guides whenever possible.

A recent nationwide study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that as many as half of car seats are installed incorrectly. The most common mistakes were:

Another common mistake parents make is buckling their kids into the seat incorrectly. Ensure you buckle your baby in correctly by reading your car seat’s instruction manual. In general, buckle the baby tightly without any slack – if you can pinch the buckle fabric, it’s too loose. Position the front buckle at armpit level, and untwist the straps each time you take a ride. Finally, with cold weather upon us, consider dressing your baby in layers and removing bulky outerwear before strapping him or her into the seat. Heavy coats may make your buckles too loose to effectively protect your baby in the event of a crash.

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