Car Seat Safety Tips

Using a car seat is the most important step in helping to assure the security of your children in the car. But just possessing a car seat is not adequate in itself: the car seat must be used, and it has to be used the right way. Here are helpful suggestions to assure that your child will be as protected as possible in their car seat.

- Always be sure to completely read and understand the recommendations from the manufacturer on how to use the car seat properly. Improper car seat usage is the single-biggest cause of car seat failure. In addition, completely read the owner's manual for your vehicle as it relates to the use of car seats. Most car owner's manuals have specific instructions for car seat usage and these recommendations must always be adhered to.

- To increase the safety of your children, only install the car seat in the rear set of your vehicle, not in the front seat. Ideally, you should put the car set in the middle of the rear seat so that there is maximum protection against intrusion during side-impact collisions.

- If your car seat must be placed in the front seat (in the case where there is no rear seat), only install it there if there is no front seat airbag or if the airbag can be disabled. And then make sure that the airbag is indeed off. Never place a car seat in the front seat of a car if the passenger-side airbag is enabled.

- Keep your child in their rear-facing car seat for as long as possible so long as they meet the size and weight restrictions for that car seat in that configuration. It is safer for your children to be facing to the rear.

- When you put your kid in their car seat, be certain the harness fits snugly and be sure to use the chest strap. The chest strap should go over the chest as per the manufacturer's instructions. If the chest strap is too low, your child may not be secure in an accident. If the strap is too high, it may crush your child's neck in the event of an accident.

- Once your child outgrows their car seat, they should use a booster seat until the seat belt fits them correctly. Usually this is until they are about 80 pounds or 4' 9" tall. Check your vehicle owner's guide for the specifics on your vehicle. When it does fit properly, the shoulder belt should fit over the shoulders, not on the neck, and the lap belt should fit across the hips, not the belly.

- After you believe you have your car seat properly put in, have it examined by a certified car seat technician. This can be done in minutes, usually at no charge. Check http://www.seatcheck.org/ to discover the nearest seat check location to you.

- If Possible stay away from used car seats unless you know for certain the age and history of the car seat. Do not use car seats older than five years old, or car seats that have been involved in an accident. Make sure that used car seats have all of their labels with the manufacturing information, manufacturing date, and model number. In addition, make sure that the manual is available; never purchase a car seat without the manufacturer's manual.

- If your car comes with the LATCH system for car seats, make sure you purchase LATCH-compatible car seats. Using the LATCH system makes for easier installation, leading to increased security and reduced chance of installation problems. Despite this, the car seat installation should still be examined by a certified car seat technician once it is complete.

- Go to the web site of the manufacturer for your automobile. Many automobile manufacturer's website will list, on a per-model basis, the car seats that they recommend for usage in their cars.

Article Source: ArticlesBusiness.net

Marsha is a full-time mom with 3 kids and as such she's had plenty of chances to use lots of car seats. You can read her car seat reviews at carseat-reviews.com.

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