Give Your Child's Car Seat a Check-Up!

It's almost time for my kids' annual well visit with their pediatrician, which got me to thinking...just like our bodies need to be checked over regularly, so do our car seats! Kids grow and change so quickly, that it can be easy to miss important milestones or changes that need to be made when it comes to their car seats. The good news is that you don't have to be a board-certified pediatrician (or even a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician) to perform this kind of check-up. Any parent or caregiver can do it - let's do it together!

Let's start by going through the five important points of car seat safety: selection, direction, location, installation, and fit:

Selection - is your child in the correct car seat?

• Check their height and weight, and make sure it is within the limits of the seat that they are using. You can find the limits on a sticker on the side of the seat, as well as in the instruction manual.
• Check local laws to make sure they are in the appropriate seat for their age, but remember: the laws are the minimum standards - best practices are to max out the height or weight limits of their seat before moving to the next stage of seat.

Direction - is it time to move from rear facing to forward facing?

Best practice says that children should remain rear facing as long as possible, until they max out the height or weight limits of their seat. Pennsylvania law mandates that they remain rear facing at least until they are 2 years old. If your child is over the age of 2, consider when it will be time to flip them around. Many kids can safely rear-face until they are 3, 4, or even older. If your rear-facing child has exceeded the rear-facing limits of their seat, then it is no longer safe for them to continue to rear face and they will need to be turned around to face forward. Many seats currently on the market max out rear-facing at 40 pounds, but there are some that go up to 50 pounds.

Location - do you want to move them to another spot in the vehicle?

Think about where your child currently sits in the vehicle, and determine if this is still working well for your family, or if it might be safer/more convenient to move them elsewhere. Consider:

• It is easy to load and unload them?
• Are siblings fighting?
• Are they kicking a seat?
• Is it too easy for them to reach something they shouldn't?
• Is the air conditioning reaching them well enough to keep them cool?

Installation - is the seat properly installed?

This is where the check-up gets a bit more technical! Let's give the seat a quick once-over:

1. Is it installed with the lower anchor (LATCH) connectors or seatbelt? You should choose one or the other, not both!
2. If using LATCH, has your child exceeded the weight limit? You can find the LATCH weight limit in your manual or on a sticker on the side of the seat. Once your child has exceeded the LATCH limit, you will need to switch to a seatbelt installation.
3. If using a convertible car seat (a seat that can be installed rear or forward facing), are you using the correct belt path? Make sure you are not using the forward facing belt path for a seat that is installed rear facing, or vice versa.
4. Is it installed tightly enough? Give it a firm wiggle right at the belt path using about the force of a handshake. The base of the seat should not move more than 1" in any direction. Be sure you are only checking at the belt path - properly installed seats may move more than 1" if checking in other locations.
5. Is the recline angle correct? Check your seat's manual to learn how to check that it is reclined properly and not too upright.
6. Is it tethered? This is a commonly missed step, but crucially important! If you are using a forward facing seat, make sure that the top tether is connected to an approved tether location point within your vehicle.

Fit - is the seat properly adjusted to your child?

The next time you buckle your child in to their seat, complete this quick check-up on their fit:

Rear Facing:

• Straps coming from at or just below their shoulders
• Chest clip at armpit/nipple level
• At least 1" of space between the top of their head and the top of the car seat shell
• Straps tightened to pass the pinch test
• No twists in the straps
• No after market products being used (remove anything that did not come with the seat - strap covers, support pillows, etc.)
• But make sure you ARE using any required inserts that came with the seat based on your child's weight, and removing them when it is time (for example, "newborn inserts" that must be used until a certain weight and then removed)

Forward Facing:

• Straps coming from at or just above their shoulders. If the straps are coming from below their shoulders and they are adjusted to their highest position, then the seat is outgrown regardless of if the child is still within the stated height limits.
• Chest clip at armpit/nipple level
• Straps tightened to pass the pinch test
• No twists in the straps
• No after market products being used (remove anything that did not come with the seat - strap covers, support pillows, etc.)
• If using a convertible seat, make sure you have removed any inserts that are only approved for rear-facing use.

Booster:

• Seating position has a lap and shoulder belt (boosters cannot be used with lap-only belts)
• The lap belt is lying high across the hips (not over their belly)
• The shoulder belt is lying centered on their shoulder across their collarbone (not cutting into their neck). If you are using a backless booster, you may need to use the included shoulder belt positioning clip to achieve this fit - check your manual to see how.
• There are no twists or slack in the seatbelt
• The seatbelt is routed properly over or under the armrests (check your manual or stickers on the side of the booster to see the proper routing for your seat)
• No seatbelt is not locked, unless specifically stated in your booster manual

One additional note: doing a car seat check up is a great time to also give your seat a "spring cleaning." While banishing the Goldfish crumbs and random toys buried within the seat, be sure to check your seat's manual and only use approved cleaning methods.

Did you find anything to tweak? Whether you made a small adjustment or changed your child to an entirely new seat, hopefully after your check-up your child is now riding a little bit more safely than they were before. You deserve a lollipop or a sticker for that!

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