Infant Car Seat Safety Check

Driving along with baby in the car is a regular part of a parent's routine. With a busy schedule to maintain, no wonder many parents feel frustration at the task of buckling fasteners, adjusting belts and dealing with crying babies that are not happy about the fuss.

But, don't let your frustration cause you to take shortcuts with your baby's life.  Always be sure to perform your own car seat safety check before driving with your baby.

1)  Make sure the car seat is properly installed in the back seat

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) toddler and baby seats should always be placed in the backseat.  The only exception to the backseat rule is if your car does not have a back seat or you can deactivate the passenger airbag.  If deactivating the airbag, remember to reactivate it when an older passenger is in the front seat. 

The car seat should be properly installed. Improperly attaching the baby car seat to your vehicle is a common, and very dangerous, mistake. In one study it was found that 63% of car seats were not properly installed. Read the instructions thoroughly. Some children's stores that sell car seats, as well as local police, can check your installation and show you how to make the corrections.

Often the seat is simply too loose. Try installing it by placing your knee in the seat while fastening it in. The seat should not move at the base.

You can have your child's car seat inspected for proper installation at one of the Child Passenger Safety Inspection Stations throughout the United States.  These stations are maintained by the NHTSA Regional offices.  You can check for a station in your area by going to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/CPSFittingStations/CPSinspection.htm

2)  If your baby's under 1 year old or under 20 pounds, make sure the car seat faces backwards

It can be very frustrating to a new parent to deal with the piercing wails of a hungry or tired infant who is facing backwards in the back seat of the car. Sunlight may sneak into the baby's face, he may have lost his pacifier or may just want to see you. Unfortunately, keeping baby in a backwards facing car seat until at least 20 pounds and one year of age is crucial to their safety.

A baby's neck muscles are not as strong as an older child's. Bumps and turns in the road can easily strain a small neck when gravity takes control. Seats that face backwards should be reclining at a 45 degree angle; this angle compensates for weak muscles and cannot be attained when the seat faces forwards (try it yourself).

Some seats are even equipped with a gauge on the side which will indicate the perfect angle for your baby's comfort and safety. If you feel your child has the required strength and is over 20 pounds before a year you can ask your pediatrician for advice on when to turn the seat around.

According to the NHTSA's website, www.nhtsa.dot.gov, if the baby can't support his head, you may need to put rolled towels around his head to keep it from flopping forward.

When you toddler is at least one year old or over 20 pounds they can sit in child safety seats that face forward.  Again, these child safety seats should be in the backseat of the car. 

3) Adjust the straps to the correct tightness  

To determine the correct placement and tightness of the harness you should just barely be able to fit one finger between baby and the harness straps. Any looser and baby could be ejected from the straps in an accident. The harness straps should be adjusted to come out at, or just below, baby's shoulders.

The chest clip needs to be across the baby's chest bone. This keeps the harness straps in the proper position and will absorb the force of a collision across the chest bone, which is safest.

If the weather is cold you should avoid bundling baby too much before putting him in the baby seat since the extra bulk will affect your ability to fit the harness properly. It is better to harness baby and then cover him with blankets placed over the straps.

When shopping for the perfect infant car seat, do remember to only buy child safety seats that meet DOT requirements. How can you tell?  You will find a label that says "This child restraint system conforms to all applicable federal motor safety standards." The stamp of manufacturing should be after January 1st, l981.

If considering buying a used child safety seat, make sure the instructions or the DOT label are not missing.  If they are, don't buy the car seat.

Synonyms:  Ar, acr, ccar, cr, cra, caar, ca, and carr are typos for the word "car."  Eat, esat, sseat, sat, saet, seeat, set, seta,  seaat, sea, and seatt are typos for the word "seat."