How To Install A Car Seat

By Philip Yiga | November 6, 2015

Having a new-born child is a great thing but it comes along with many challenges whereby one of them is ensuring that your baby stays all the time even when travelling in the car. So you will need to acquire a car-seat for the baby but incorrect installation of this car-seat is often overlooked by some people hence putting your newly-born child’s life in danger. However, by following the simple steps featured in this article, you will be able to securely place you little-child into the car-seat while travelling in order to ensure that he/she is always safe for each trip taken.

RELATED:- What Is The Best Convertible Car Seat 

 

METHOD-1: HOW TO INSTALL A REAR-FACING CAR SEAT:

1. Put the car-seat into the backseat: begin by carrying and placing the car-seat in to the backseat because using this seat is considered to be safer for infants especially in cars with air-bags. But make sure that the car-seat faces towards the rear-window while the baby-seat facing opposite/towards to the backseat. However, in case it’s necessary to place the baby-seat into the passenger seat, then turn-off the passenger airbags.

 

2. Attach the seatbelt tightly onto the car’s seat-base: before doing this, try reading the instruction-manual or seatbelt label for tightening instructions. This is important because most new-cars use lower-latch anchors to attach the car-seat so take some time to refer to the user-manual on how to use such anchors.

 

3. Properly recline the car-seat: make sure that the car-seat is reclined sufficiently so that the baby’s head doesn’t flop forward while sitting. In fact, never tilt the car-seat more than halfway (45-degrees) backwards and you can actually achieve the perfect recline by using the indicator/label on the car-seat or base as a guide. On the other hand, if possible place a rolled-towel under the base of the car-seat but only when the seat-manual says it’s safe to do so.

 

4. Dress your baby in tight-clothing: dressing the baby in tight clothes will help to prevent irritation from the crotch-strap. Never dress your baby in heavy-clothes because this hinders tightening the straps snugly.

 

5. Place the shoulder-straps in the lowest-position possible: always use the slots next to or below the child’s shoulders and then position the chest-clip at armpit-level. In fact, avoid putting the shoulder-straps over the neck or skin because these straps may end-up hurting your child.

 

6. Tuck rolled-up blankets along the baby’s sides: incase the car-seat features rolled-up blankets along the straps, tuck these rolled-up blankets over the child’s sides because this padding helps to keep the child comfortable when wearing the straps. However, avoid using blankets, inserts or towels under or behind the baby while sitting because this will make him/her feel uncomfortable.

 

7. Place a cloth between the baby and the crotch-strap: try rolling-up and placing a washcloth in-between the child and the crotch-strap in order to enhance on his/her comfort while sitting.

 

8. Adjust the harness-straps: in case you can pinch a loop of the strap, then tighten the harness so that your child can fit perfectly into the car-seat.

 

9. Cover your little-child with a blanket: in times of cold-weather, it is important to keep your child’s body warm. So get a blanket and place it over the child while tucking it under the car-seat sides but don’t cover the child’s face and neck in order leave some space for breathing.

 

METHOD-2: HOW TO INSTALL A FRONT-FACING CAR SEAT:

1. Read the instruction/user manual: before you begin the installation process, try reading through the instruction-manual because each car-seat requires different harness-slots. So it’s best you just determine the installation-information from a manual specific to the car-seat you’re using.

 

2. Place the car-seat into the back-seat of the car: put the car seat in the back of your car with the flat and straight onto the seat of the car or against the cushion. If possible, raise and remove any head restraints under the car-seat in order to provide your child with extra-comfort when sitting.

 

3. Locate the belt-path on the car-seat: try finding the belt-path on the car seat and it should probably be marked with stickers. In fact, the belt-path is usually located in back of the car-seat in order to ensure easy usage.

 

4. Attach the car-seat tethers onto the car’s tether anchor: you should then attach the car-seat tethers to the car’s tether-anchor but in case your car-seat does not have tethers, then consider contacting the car-manufacturer to know whether they can be added. In fact, tether can actually increase the safety your little-child when sitting in car-seat in your car.

 

5. Ensure a snug-harness: before placing your little-child into the car-seat, consider double-checking your installation by child-passenger safety technician in order to ensure proper installation.

 

TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN INSTALLING A CAR SEAT:

Always register your car-seat online after making a purchase because this will enable the car-seat manufacturer to contact you incase that specific model is recalled and then send you replacements, refunds or repair-kits if necessary.

Try using an infant rear-facing car seat for as long as possible. This means using this type of car-seat until the child’s head is within 1-inch (2.5cm) off the top-shell of the car-seat or until the child exceeds the car-seat weight-limit. In fact, once the child outgrows the infant car-seat, then begin using the front-facing convertible car-seat with a 5-point harness.

Always use the angle-indicator to make sure that the car-seat is reclined properly so that you child achieve a comfortable sitting experience.

Playing or singing for child will actually help to calm him/her down while sitting in car-seat.

Always check online to know whether the car-seat your about to buy is legal because today there are slight changes in the regulations concerning car-seat and this means that some used car-seats may now be illegal to use.

Lastly, in some countries police-stations will help you checkout the car-seat installation in case you have any doubts about it while other countries there is a government body concerned about such inspections. So, try checking the local-regulations for the government-body responsible for checking/inspecting your car-seat.