Car Seat Installation Fun

[Gruntlings]

So, the other day I was at the police station near where I used to live in NYC, waiting to pick up some paperwork. A female officer comes in and starts asking the front desk if there is anyone in the precinct that knows how to install car seats. The friend that I was with didn't even think twice about volunteering me. :p Apparently a young couple had driven to the police department with their car seat, wanting to learn how to install it.

So I helped them install the base, explaining how the LATCH system works, pointing out the instructions on the car seat itself, mentioning the weight limits of the seat, and letting them know that the seat is safe until the expiration date, or until the car seat is involved in an accident. I showed them how to snap the car seat into the base, make sure it's level, and how it should not move more than a little bit from side to side (but once I had it installed it did NOT move. Period. Everyone was impressed. hehe),  thread the harness straps, and I snuck in the information about rear facing and how extended rear facing is very important. I told them how the handle on the car seat should be down, how the harness should be snug at the shoulders, and where the chest clip should be. I showed them how the car seat can also be installed without the base if they need to use a cab.

And then I wished that I had been there to teach me when my son was an infant. :p Because car seats are NOT SIMPLE. And living in NYC means that you can't simply have someone install the seat for you. You have to know how to do it so that you can move from car to rental car to cab, etc.

It was fun to install a car seat and teach someone how to do it. It's really so simple. Just make sure that the straps are straight, and use your weight to compress the seat into the cushions while pulling the straps tight.Then, once the child is in the seat, you just make sure that the straps are in the right slots, and that they are snug with the chest clip properly positioned.

It's sad that most car seats seem to be improperly installed. It takes maybe 45 minutes for someone to learn to install a car seat properly. And it makes SUCH a difference if the baby is in a crash. So many times you read about little kids that died when their car seats were ejected from the car, or where they were ejected from their car seat.

[hillmom]

Jul. 31, 2009 at 10:59 AM

That is great you were able to help them. Have you ever thought about teaching car seat installation/ safety?

[SLGIRL]

Jul. 31, 2009 at 11:48 AM

I agree with hillmom.  You should teach car seat installation to parents.  I wish you would have been there when we were installing our car seat. 

[jus1jess]

Jul. 31, 2009 at 10:17 PM

good for you =) it's crazy that this isn't common knowledge.