How to Install an Infant Carseat

Babies are at greater risk of being injured or killed in a vehicle accident. According to statistics compiled by the National Highway Safety Administration, properly installed child safety seats used with seat belts can reduce this risk by more than 70 percent. Unfortunately, reports show that many parents either install a car seat too loosely or fail to buckle in the child.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Safety approved car seat
• Seat belt locking clip

1. Position the seat in the center of the rear seat facing the rear of the vehicle seat. Even after your child is old enough to be moved to a forward facing position, this still is the safest place for her to sit. This reduces impact in the event of an accident. Make certain that the seat sits flat against the bottom and back of the vehicle seat. Push down on the car seat as hard as you can, using your hands or by placing your knee on the seat. If installed properly, the seat should not be able to move more than an inch forward or to either side.

2. Install the detachable base of the child safety seat in your vehicle according to the manufacturer's instruction manual, or use the vehicle’s seat belt to install the car seat. Thread the belt through the correct slots, allowing for no slack. The belt should buckle tightly. Each year, babies are killed or injured seriously because their car seats were not properly installed. If you drive an older vehicle, you may have to secure your baby’s car seat with a locking clip that fits around the seat belt to hold it firmly in place.

3. When buckling your baby into the car seat, tug at the belt and harness straps to ensure that they are locked. Harness straps are designed to hold your baby in the seat. A seat may come equipped with a 3-point harness that has two straps at the shoulders, and buckles between the legs. Other model seats may have a 5-point harness that has two additional straps, which hold baby in at the hips.

4. Fit the harness snugly against your baby with the straps threaded through the slots at or below your baby’s shoulders. The straps should lie in a straight line without being twisted. The top of the harness retainer clip that holds the harness straps on your baby’s shoulders should be level with your child’s armpit.

Tips & Warnings

• An infant should be placed in a rear-facing safety seat from birth until at least 1 year of age, or until he weighs at least 20 pounds. Experts recommend keeping a baby in a rear-facing car seat until reaching the maximum weight recommended by the seat’s manufacturer. The seat is safe as long as the top of your baby’s head is below the top of the seat's back. Babies older than 12 months and who weigh more than 20 pounds may be moved to a forward-facing position.
• Never install a baby’s car seat in front of a passenger-side airbag. The force of the airbag when released can be deadly to a child, who has weaker neck and back muscles than an adult.

Who Can Help:

• Better than Botox®? Free Kit