seatcheck.org<\/a>. Rear-facing seats need to be at a 45 degree angle for a newborn, but most (not all!) convertable seats can be installed more upright for older babies\/toddlers. I have Kate’s installed at about a 35 degree angle, which is still well within the green zone on her seat indicator. (Not all seats have a nice little bubble like hers, some just have a level line.) Check your manual!<\/p>\nThe harness needs to be snug! So many parents I see are nervous about this. You don’t need to hurt the child, but it does need to be firmly snug against their body with no slack – you shouldn’t be able to pinch any extra harness between your fingers. I pull the strap to tighten it first, then pull upwards at the shoulders to pull slack out from the hip area, then pull the strap again to make it nice and snug. If a harness is too loose it might not hold in the child in an accident. The straps should not be twisted at all, and never submerge them in water – spot-clean only.<\/p>\n
That chest clip? It goes up at the level of their nipples\/armpits. Not so high that it’s at their neck, but it does need to be high up on their chest. That clip holds the straps together, again so that the straps don’t slide apart in an accident, letting your child fly out.<\/p>\n
When rear-facing the shoulder straps must be in a harness slot that is at or below<\/i> their shoulders (as measured perpendicular to the seat back). (The reason for this is that when in an accident rear-facing the child’s body will slide up the seat back, so you want it snug to keep them from ramping up too far.) When forward facing the shoulder straps must be in a harness slot that is at or above<\/i> their shoulders (as measured perpendicular to the seat back).<\/p>\n
Nothing should be between your child and the car seat, or between your child and the harness. No aftermarket products (blankets, headrests, harness covers), no thick coats, no pillows. Only what came with your seat. In the winter take the heavy coat off before putting your kid in the seat. I dressed Kate in a fleece jacket and then put a blanket on her once she was strapped in.<\/p>\n
Kids need to be rear-facing in a car seat to a bare minimum<\/i> of 1 year old and<\/i> 20lbs. That’s the law in every state, it is illegal to forward face them until then. The new recommendations from the AAP is to keep a child rear-facing until 2 years and 30lbs minimum, but to rear-face as long as you can to the extent of the seat’s height and weight limits. The reason for this is that most crashes – and the worst crashes – occur when you are in forward motion coming to a complete stop. When you are forward-facing you are thrown forward against the restraints. In a rear-facing seat the child’s movement is absorbed by the seat. A young child’s spine is not fully fused yet and their head size is much larger in proportion to their body than an adult, which puts them at a greatly increased risk of neck injuries. It is five times safer to be rear-facing. (Their feet can touch the seat back, their legs can be bent, it’s okay, they’re probably just as comfortable. No, seriously, kids have their legs folded all the time.)<\/p>\n
Once they move to a forward-facing seat they need to stay in a five-point harness until a minimum<\/i> of 4 years and 40lbs. They should not be moved to a booster until they are mature enough to stay seated in position every car ride – no falling asleep, moving the seat belt, etc – which typically is between 5 and 6 years old.<\/p>\n
Kids need to be in a booster seat until they are 4’9″ (tall enough that the seat belt hits them properly across the shoulder, not<\/i> the neck). This may not happen until they are 12! It has nothing to do with age and everything to do with height. Also childrens’ hips are not fully developed yet and the booster seat helps properly position the lap belt so it does not go across their belly. Not all boosters will properly position the belt for your<\/i> child, make sure you try them out so that the fit is right.<\/p>\n
Car seats expire! Check your seat for the stamped-on date. Some are 6 years, some 8, etc… depends on the manufacturer. The plastics in the seat start to break down over time and become brittle – not a good thing. Also, if your vehicle is in an accident the car seats need to be replaced. Insurance may cover it (but they may not want to), so check. This is why you should never get a used car seat, you don’t know its history.<\/p>\n
And you? Make sure you wear your<\/i> seat belt! If the shoulder is adjustable, make sure it crosses your shoulder for a good fit. Your kids need you to be safe, too.<\/p>\n
::<\/p>\n
Kate’s still in her Graco MyRide 65 and I have to say, we love that seat! Now we have two different MyRides, one in my SUV and one in Den’s car; mine is the older model, Den’s is newer. Apparently they changed the buckle and harness straps. Plus of course a seat can behave a bit different in different vehicles. Well the one in my SUV I love love love. It is really easy to pull tight and release the buckle, it’s just been a great seat for us. The one in Den’s car I am less thrilled with. The buckle is much harder to snap together and it’s a bitch to pull tight enough! I’m going to uninstall it to see if there’s anything messing with it.<\/p>\n
As for Kate, she is such an excellent car traveler! Every time I put her in it and strap her in she reaches for her car toys, giggles at herself in the mirror, and chills out. Not that I think the seat is solely responsible for that, but she clearly enjoys her time in the seat. What a change from when she was an infant… soon as she reached the point of being interested in what’s going on around her the car has been a much different experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was drilled into my head as a kid to always always have my seat belt on in the car. I was the kid who would chastise adults if they forgot to put on their seat belt. So it’s no surprise that I’m very careful with Kate’s car seat. It shouldn’t surprise me that not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[444],"class_list":["post-3683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-carseat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3685,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions\/3685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}