Car seat safety is paramount, yet it’s often more complex than many parents realize. Ensuring your child is correctly secured in a car seat is not just about buckling them up; it’s about understanding the nuances of installation, positioning, and usage at each stage of their growth. Many parents, despite their best intentions, unknowingly make critical errors that compromise their child’s safety. Let’s explore nine common mistakes parents make regarding car seat safety and, crucially, guide you on where to put a car seat in your car to maximize your child’s protection.
1. Overlooking the History of a Used Car Seat
Considering a second-hand car seat might seem economical, but it’s essential to proceed with caution. Before using a used car seat, verify the following:
- Instruction Manual: Is the original instruction manual included? This is vital for correct installation.
- Manufacturing Label: Check for a label indicating the date of manufacture and model number. This information is crucial for recalls and expiration checks.
- Recall Status: Confirm with the manufacturer that the seat hasn’t been recalled due to safety concerns.
- Expiration Date: Car seats have expiration dates, generally six years from the manufacture date. Expired seats can have weakened materials.
- Damage Inspection: Thoroughly inspect for any signs of damage or missing parts.
- Crash History: Crucially, ensure the car seat has never been in a vehicle crash. Even if damage isn’t visible, internal structures could be compromised.
If the history of a used car seat is uncertain, it’s best to err on the side of caution and choose a new one.
2. Incorrect Car Seat Placement: The Danger of the Front Seat
Where do you put a car seat in a car? The safest location is almost always the back seat. Front seats are equipped with airbags designed to protect adults. If a car seat is placed in the front and the airbag deploys, it can exert excessive force on a child, leading to severe or even fatal injuries.
Back Seat Safety: Always prioritize placing your child’s car seat in the back seat, away from active frontal airbags.
Pickup Trucks and Single-Row Vehicles: In vehicles with only one row of seats, car seats should only be used if the frontal airbag can be deactivated. If airbag deactivation is not possible, it is unsafe to place a car seat there.
Optimal Position in the Back Seat: If installing only one car seat in the back, the center rear seat is often considered the safest position. This placement provides added protection in side-impact collisions. However, ensure a secure fit in the center position, as not all vehicles accommodate car seats equally well in the center. If the center is not suitable, either side of the back seat is safer than the front.
3. Improper Installation and Harnessing Techniques
Illustration of an infant-only car seat
Illustration of a convertible car seat
Correct car seat installation and child harnessing are critical for safety. Always refer to both the car seat manufacturer’s instructions and your vehicle’s owner manual for guidance on car seat installation.
Secure Installation is Key: A properly installed car seat should be tightly secured. To check for tightness, grasp the car seat at the belt path and attempt to move it side to side and front to back. If it moves more than one inch (2.5 centimeters), it needs to be tightened.
Correct Facing Direction: Ensure the car seat is facing the correct direction for your child’s age and weight. Infant car seats and convertible car seats, when used for infants, should be rear-facing.
Harnessing Best Practices for Rear-Facing Seats:
- Harness Slot Position: Use the harness slots at or below your child’s shoulders, as specified in the car seat manual.
- Shoulder Straps: Position harness straps over your child’s shoulders.
- Snug Fit: Buckle the harness and chest clip snugly. You should not be able to pinch excess webbing at the shoulder.
- Chest Clip Position: The chest clip should be positioned at armpit level.
- Flat Straps: Ensure straps and the chest clip lie flat against the child’s chest and hips without slack.
- Infant Support: If necessary, use tightly rolled small blankets beside the infant for head and neck support, if permitted by the car seat manufacturer. A rolled washcloth between the crotch strap and baby can also improve fit, if allowed.
4. Incorrect Reclining Angle for Rear-Facing Car Seats
For rear-facing car seats, proper recline is crucial, especially for infants. A correct recline angle ensures the baby’s head doesn’t slump forward, which can obstruct their airway.
Following Manufacturer’s Recline Instructions: Always adhere to the car seat manufacturer’s guidelines for reclining the seat.
Recline Indicators and Adjustments: Many car seats have built-in recline indicators or adjusters to help achieve the correct angle. As your child grows, the recline angle may need adjustment. Regularly check the manufacturer’s instructions for guidance.
5. Premature Transition to Forward-Facing Car Seats
Parents are often eager to have their child forward-facing to see them in the rearview mirror. However, rear-facing is significantly safer for longer.
Extended Rear-Facing Duration: Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible, until they reach the maximum weight or height limit specified by the car seat manufacturer.
Convertible Car Seats for Extended Rear-Facing: Convertible car seats are excellent for this purpose, as they can be used rear-facing and later forward-facing, and typically have higher rear-facing limits than infant-only seats.
Forward-Facing Transition Guidelines: When your child outgrows the rear-facing limits of their convertible seat, you can switch to forward-facing.
Forward-Facing Installation Steps:
- Back Seat Installation: Install the forward-facing car seat in the back seat.
- Harness or LATCH System: Use either the vehicle’s seat belt or the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system for secure installation, following the car seat instructions.
- Tether Strap Usage: Always use the tether strap. This top strap anchors to the vehicle and provides crucial stability in a crash.
- Harness Strap Adjustment: Adjust the harness straps to be at or above your child’s shoulder level for forward-facing mode, ensuring a snug fit.
6. Dressing Children in Bulky Clothing in Car Seats
Bulky coats and blankets can interfere with the car seat harness’s ability to properly secure your child. These items compress in a crash, creating slack in the harness and increasing the risk of injury.
Proper Clothing for Car Seats: Dress children in thinner layers when placing them in car seats.
Warming After Harnessing: To keep your child warm, buckle them into the car seat first, and then place a coat or blanket over the harness.
7. Moving to Booster Seats Too Early
Booster seats are designed for older children who have outgrown car seats but are still too small for adult seat belts to fit correctly.
Age, Weight, and Height Requirements for Booster Seats: Transition to a booster seat only after your child has exceeded the car seat manufacturer’s weight or height limits for their forward-facing harnessed seat.
State Booster Seat Laws: Be aware of your state’s laws regarding booster seat usage, as these vary. However, remember that these are minimum requirements; keeping your child in a harnessed car seat for as long as possible is always safer.
8. Misusing Booster Seats
Booster seats elevate a child so that the adult seat belt fits properly. Incorrect use can negate their safety benefits.
Lap and Shoulder Belt Requirement: Always use booster seats with both a lap and shoulder belt – never with a lap-only belt.
Correct Belt Positioning: Ensure the lap belt lies low and snug across the child’s upper thighs, not across the stomach. The shoulder belt should cross the middle of the chest and shoulder, not the neck or face.
9. Graduating to Seat Belts Too Soon
Adult seat belts are designed for adults, not young children. Prematurely switching a child to a seat belt can be dangerous if the belt doesn’t fit correctly.
Readiness Checklist for Adult Seat Belts: A child is typically ready for an adult seat belt when they meet these criteria, usually between 8 and 12 years old:
- Height: Reaches a height of 4 feet 9 inches (approximately 1.5 meters).
- Seating Posture: Can sit against the vehicle seat back with knees bent comfortably at the edge of the seat.
- Lap Belt Position: The lap belt fits low and snug across the upper thighs.
- Shoulder Belt Position: The shoulder belt rests across the middle of the chest and shoulder, not the neck or face.
Back Seat Safety for Older Children: Even when children are old enough for seat belts, the back seat remains the safest place for them, ideally until age 13.
Seek Expert Help: If you have questions about car seat safety or need assistance with installation, consider attending a local car seat clinic or inspection event. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can also help you locate a car seat inspection station. Ensuring your child’s safety in the car begins with knowing where to put a car seat in a car and avoiding these common mistakes.
References:
- Durbin DR, et al. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. Policy statement — Child passenger safety. Pediatrics. 2018; doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2460.
- Durbin DR, et al. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. Technical report — Child passenger safety. Pediatrics. 2018; doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2461.
- Car seat recommendations for children. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-seats-and-booster-seats#age-size-rec. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
- Child passenger safety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/features/passengersafety/. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
- How to install a rear-facing only infant car seat. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://www.nhtsa.gov/car-seats-and-booster-seats/how-install-rear-facing-only-infant-car-seat. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
- Altman T, et al., eds. Keeping your child safe. In: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. 7th ed. Bantam Books; 2019.
- Used Car Seat Safety Checklist. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://www.nhtsa.gov/car-seats-and-booster-seats/used-car-seat-safety-checklist. Accessed Nov. 1, 2022.
- Booster Seat Planning Guide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/pdf/Booster-Seat-Guide_508c.pdf. Accessed Nov. 1, 2022.
