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You are here: Home / Archives for Car Seat Safety

child restraint installation tips

December 22, 2008 by Wendy S

After hearing too many horror stories of children being hurt during a collision, I have to try to get more information out there about child car seats and how to properly install them.  I became a Child Restraint Technician because I want to help people keep their children safe.
There are many places that do car seat checks, please find one in your local area.   If you have trouble finding one, please contact me and I’ll do my best to help you! 

Car seat installation tips

  • Always read the manual that came with the car seat and the vehicle that it is being installed in.
  • Always have the proper child seat for the height and weight of your child — See this site for Ontario information
  • You can use either the LATCH or the vehicle’s seat belt  — use the one that give you the tightest fit
  • The car seat should not be able to move more than 1 inch side to side
  •  Put your weight in the car seat when installing it (kneel in the seat) — this will push the seat into the passenger seat
  • Always check the car seat every time you put your child in – you can never be too careful
  •  As it is winter time, try not to put bulky winter coats on the children as this causes the seat straps to not be tight enough (during a collision the amount of pressure applied will compress a snow suit and make the straps really loose) – even though you think the seat belt straps are tight enough, they’re not.
  • This also applies to 3rd party “cuddle bags” for infant seats – do not put anything behind your child between them and the car seat.  The ones that just go over the car seat are much safer.  (read about compression above)
Rear-facing infant seats
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • MUST BE AT 45 DEGREES (and don’t assume that the leveler on the side of the seat or base is correct – they are not always accurate)  – the 45 degree angle helps baby to keep their head back and able to breath.  If your babies head falls forward and looks uncomfortable, there’s a good change that your seat is not at 45 degrees
  • Straps in the car seat must be at or below the infants shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your infant’s collar bone
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Read your car seat’s owner’s manual to see if the carrying handle can be left up (most cannot) – it is recommended to always put the handle down as if it was to break during a collision it would be  projectile aimed right at your child’s face
Rear facing child seats
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • it is recommended to leave children rear facing as long as possible.  —  at minimum, children must remain rear facing until they are over 20lbs and are at least one year old (every location is a little different, please check with your provincial or state laws)
  •  MUST BE AT 45 DEGREES (and don’t assume that the leveler on the side of the seat or base is correct – they are not always accurate)  – the 45 degree angle helps baby to keep their head back and able to breath.  If your babies head falls forward and looks uncomfortable, there’s a good change that your seat is not at 45 degrees
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Straps in the car seat must be at or below the infants shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your infant’s collar bone
Forward facing child seats (with 5pt harness) (20 – 40 lbs minimum)
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • Must be secured with the LATCH or passenger seat belt AND the tether  (please make sure you read your owners manual for your vehicle to know the proper attachment of the tether)
  • The tether must be very tight as this is what hold the car seat back during a collision
  • Child seat straps must be at or above your child’s shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your child’s collar bone
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Please read about winter coats above
Booster seats (over 40lbs and over 40″)
  • Ontario law states that the child must be over 40lbs AND over 40″ tall
  • keep in mind the child’s ability to stay properly seated in a booster; there are many seats on the market now that allow for a higher weight in a 5-point harness
  • Place booster on the seat (no “installation” is required – no LATCH or tether)
  • Child wears the car’s passenger seat belt just like you do
  • shoulder strap need to sit across the collarbone and across the chest
  • lap belt needs to rest across the hips, not the tummy

This list is just the beginning.  If you are a car seat tech and would like to help me with this let, just let me know. I want it to be as accurate as possible.

*updated on May 4, 2010

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety, mapsgirl, safety

child restraint installation tips

December 22, 2008 by Wendy S

After hearing too many horror stories of children being hurt during a collision, I have to try to get more information out there about child car seats and how to properly install them.  I became a Child Restraint Technician because I want to help people keep their children safe.
There are many places that do car seat checks, please find one in your local area.   If you have trouble finding one, please contact me and I’ll do my best to help you!

Car seat installation tips

  • Always read the manual that came with the car seat and the vehicle that it is being installed in.
  • Always have the proper child seat for the height and weight of your child — See this site for Ontario information
  • You can use either the LATCH or the vehicle’s seat belt  — use the one that give you the tightest fit
  • The car seat should not be able to move more than 1 inch side to side
  •  Put your weight in the car seat when installing it (kneel in the seat) — this will push the seat into the passenger seat
  • Always check the car seat every time you put your child in – you can never be too careful
  •  As it is winter time, try not to put bulky winter coats on the children as this causes the seat straps to not be tight enough (during a collision the amount of pressure applied will compress a snow suit and make the straps really loose) – even though you think the seat belt straps are tight enough, they’re not.
  • This also applies to 3rd party “cuddle bags” for infant seats – do not put anything behind your child between them and the car seat.  The ones that just go over the car seat are much safer.  (read about compression above)
Rear-facing infant seats
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • MUST BE AT 45 DEGREES (and don’t assume that the leveler on the side of the seat or base is correct – they are not always accurate)  – the 45 degree angle helps baby to keep their head back and able to breath.  If your babies head falls forward and looks uncomfortable, there’s a good change that your seat is not at 45 degrees
  • Straps in the car seat must be at or below the infants shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your infant’s collar bone
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Read your car seat’s owner’s manual to see if the carrying handle can be left up (most cannot) – it is recommended to always put the handle down as if it was to break during a collision it would be  projectile aimed right at your child’s face
Rear facing child seats
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • it is recommended to leave children rear facing as long as possible.  —  at minimum, children must remain rear facing until they are over 20lbs and are at least one year old (every location is a little different, please check with your provincial or state laws)
  •  MUST BE AT 45 DEGREES (and don’t assume that the leveler on the side of the seat or base is correct – they are not always accurate)  – the 45 degree angle helps baby to keep their head back and able to breath.  If your babies head falls forward and looks uncomfortable, there’s a good change that your seat is not at 45 degrees
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Straps in the car seat must be at or below the infants shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your infant’s collar bone
Forward facing child seats (with 5pt harness) (20 – 40 lbs minimum)
  • All provincial rules vary, please check your laws
  • Must be secured with the LATCH or passenger seat belt AND the tether  (please make sure you read your owners manual for your vehicle to know the proper attachment of the tether)
  • The tether must be very tight as this is what hold the car seat back during a collision
  • Child seat straps must be at or above your child’s shoulders
  • You must be able to get no more than one finger width between the strap and your child’s collar bone
  • The chest clip must be at their arm pits
  • Please read about winter coats above
Booster seats (over 40lbs and over 40″)
  • Ontario law states that the child must be over 40lbs AND over 40″ tall
  • keep in mind the child’s ability to stay properly seated in a booster; there are many seats on the market now that allow for a higher weight in a 5-point harness
  • Place booster on the seat (no “installation” is required – no LATCH or tether)
  • Child wears the car’s passenger seat belt just like you do
  • shoulder strap need to sit across the collarbone and across the chest
  • lap belt needs to rest across the hips, not the tummy

This list is just the beginning.  If you are a car seat tech and would like to help me with this let, just let me know. I want it to be as accurate as possible.

*updated on May 4, 2010

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety, mapsgirl Tagged With: safety

I’m a certified Child Restraint Technician!!

June 9, 2008 by Wendy S

This weekend I took the St. John’s Ambulance course and got certified as a Child Restraint Technician!!!

I had been very diligent about my girls’ carseats and how they were installed and was pretty confident in my ablilities to install a seat before I took the course. But, boy, did I learn a lot!!!
Now when you try to shake my carseats at the belt path, the whole car shakes!! The carseat doesn’t move an inch!!

We did a car seat clinic yesterday and of the 10 seats that came:

  • 1 was forward facing with pool noodles underneath and wiggled all over the place
  • 2 were infant seats at the wrong angle, wiggled all over the place and touched the front passenger seat
  • 1 was rear facing with the forward facing foot down- 1 infant in an infant seat had the harness so loose that the baby would have slipped right out and the chest clip was at it’s stomach and the base was really really loose
  • 1 forward facing seat was too big for the vechicle and we advised the parent to get a new seat (even the senior tech/instructor couldn’t get it installed properly
  • 1 was a forward facing seat that was loose and the tether wasn’t tight enough- there were a few others

but only 1 infant seat was actually insalled propertly!!

I’m so happy that I now know how to do it properly and have the skills to not only install seats but teach the parents how to do it, and why it’s done the way it is.

Any one want some help???

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety, family, Life, mapsgirl Tagged With: safety

t13#13 – car seat installation errors

May 1, 2008 by Wendy S

(blog365: 122/365)

Thirteen errors parents make installing child car seats

Rear-facing:1. car seat not at a 45 degree angle
2. infant car seat carrying handle left up
3. car seat touches front passenger seat(s) (not all car seats allow for this)
4. chest clip not at arm pit level
Forward-facing:5. child put forward facing too soon
6. tether not used correctly or not at all
General car seat errors:7. child is the wrong size (too big or too small) for the car seat
8. UAS/LATCH or car seat belt not tight enough (shuld move no more that 1″ in any direction)
9. belt clip used improperly or not at all
10. harness straps or seat belt (booster) not tight enough
11. harness straps through the wrong slots for child’s height and which direction they’re facing (rear-facing: slots below shoulders; forward-facing: above shoulders)
12. car seat is too old
13. no car seat is used at all (yes, some people still do this…ugh)

PLEASE CHECK YOUR CAR SEATS!!!!Here are some tips to help you!

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Filed Under: blog365, Car Seat Safety, family, parenting, thursday13 Tagged With: safety

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mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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