Baby and Parenting

Fitting a car seat correctly is as important as buying the correct car seat for your baby in the first place. An incorrectly fitted child seat can be as dangerous as not using a child seat at all!
Choosing the right baby car seat – The ideal method to ensure the correct fitting is to purchase the car seat from a reputable store with fully trained personnel that can demonstrate how to fit car seats correctly prior to purchase and then let you practice fitting it yourself. Additionally, once you get the seat home – do not attempt to fit until you have read all the manufacturer’s instructions. Once you are confident you can fit the seat correctly please keep instructions in glove box for future reference.

You will find that many online baby car seats reviews will actually score car seats on ease of fitting and clarity of instructions, this further re-enforces the importance of correct fitting. Please read the following tips which will help you to ensure your child seat is correctly fitted.

1) Push down on car seat when tightening the straps, this eliminates any excess movement caused by soft upholstery and ensures a secure fit.

2) Adjust the harness every time the seat is used. Many buckles will allow the straps to gradually loosen over time so this has to be checked regularly. Once you get into the habit of doing it every trip it only takes a few seconds. When doing this also check the condition of the straps for fraying or splitting, if you see any evidence of this then do not use the seat again.

3) Once harness is fastened make sure that it is tightened correctly by ensuring you can only get two fingers in-between straps and the child’s chest.

4) Make sure the belt is around child’s pelvis – not the tummy!

5) Don’t put a child in a front facing seat too soon, there is a temptation to use a front facing seat as soon as possible as the child becomes more aware of the surroundings. Do not put a child under 9kg in a front facing seat.

6) Children are very inquisitive and as they get older will attempt to play with buckles on the car seat and may succeed in releasing themselves. This can be avoided by making sure they have in car toys, music or audio books to keep their attention.

7) If leaving car for extended periods in hot weather always cover the car seat. Some of the fittings on the car seat can become hot enough to cause burns on sensitive young skin.