Proper Infant Car Seat Installation

Infant car seats have helped to make it safer for babies who are riding in a vehicle. Although a car seat does not guarantee a child will survive a car crash, it increases the favorable odds. If a car seat is improperly installed, then the seat is a false illusion of protection. Car seats need to be installed differently for infants than for older babies or toddlers. The following information on the proper installation of infant car seats is based on information from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Instructions

    • 1

      Place the seat facing the rear of the car. When an infant is first brought home from the hospital her car seat should be rear-facing. The baby should continue to ride rear-facing until she is one year of age and weighs a minimum of twenty pounds. Use a car seat that has been designed to be rear-facing, or is convertible to rear-facing.

    • 2

      Place away from airbags. Do not put the car seat in the front passenger seat, or any seat where there is an airbag. If the airbag inflates with the infant in that seat it can cause serious injury or death.

    • 3

      Check the age of the vehicle. If the car was manufactured after 2002 it typically comes with a LATCH system to secure infant car seats. LATCH or "lower anchors and tethers for children" secures the car seat without the seat belts. If the car seat you are using is not made to accommodate the LATCH system, seat belts will be needed to secure the car seat.

    • 4

      Secure the car seat Snuggly so that it cannot move more than an inch from front to back or side to side.

    • 5

      Adjust the angle of the car seat so the infant's head cannot fall forward. Car seats typically have mechanisms to adjust the angle. For car seats that do not have this adjustment a rolled towel can be inserted under the base where the back and bottom of the vehicle seat comes together, if necessary.

    • 6

      Read the instructions carefully on the proper installation of the car seat. Installation may vary between different car seat designs. If using a convertible car seat, double-check that the seat belt is threaded correctly for rear-facing installation.

    • 7

      Fit the harness of of the Snuggly to the infant. The harnesses should be in slots at or below the baby's shoulders. Convertible car seats typically come in three harness styles. The 5-point harness attaches between the legs an at the hips and shoulders. The overhead shield is a padded covering that slips over the child and the T-shape is a padded T-shaped covering secured to the car seat's shoulder straps.

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