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Being a mom (or dad) is a constant learning curve. One of those learning curves is car seats. They seem so simple until you try to install one. Today, we are going to go over eleven common car seat mistakes that are simple and quick to fix. Let’s get started.
Remember: Please read your child’s car seat manual. You will find the most accurate information in the manual. I make no guarantees of accuracy in this article: disclaimer.
1. After-market additions
Yup, all those cute little add on covers, harness covers, and head inserts should not be used, unless it came with the seat. First, they were not crash tested with the car seat. You don’t know if that add on will effect the car seat’s performance in an accident. Secondly, car seats have flame retardants to lower the risk of the car seat catching on fire, but the after market additions may not be flame retardant. It’s best to just not add anything to the seat that didn’t come with the seat.
2. Slack in the harness
If your child’s harness isn’t tightened properly, your child may not stay restrained in the event of an accident. It’s very important to make sure the harness is tight enough to keep your child safe.
The pinch test
The pinch test is an easy way to ensure your child’s harness is properly tightened. First, pull out all the slack from the hips. Next, using your thumb and index finger, try to pinch the harness at your child’s collar bone. If you can pinch slack in the harness, you’ll need to tighten the harness and try again. The harness passes the pinch test when you can’t pinch slack in the harness.
3. Misplaced chest clip
The chest clip is oftentimes misplaced. The chest clip should be at chest level. It helps to keep the straps aligned properly on your child’s shoulders. So, it’s important to make sure the chest clip stays at chest level instead of on the stomach or on the neck.
Here’s a great myth-busting article all about chest clips on Car Seats for the Littles.
4. Winter coats
Many times, during the winter, children wear coats in their car seats. This is actually extremely dangerous. Coats prevent the harness from being properly tightened. In an accident, wearing a coat in a car seat could be devastating.
You can watch this crash test video to learn more.
5. Cleaning improperly
Be sure to read your manual before you clean your child’s car seat. Car seats typically have specific instructions on how to be cleaned, which cleaning products can be used, and which parts of the car seat are safe to clean. For instance, it’s important to not submerge car seat straps in water, as it can effect the integrity of the straps. Also, disinfectant sprays are usually a no-go when it comes to cleaning a car seat. Again, just check your manual for cleaning instructions.
5. Buying a used car seat
A lot of baby items can be purchased used, but one thing that should be bought new is your child’s car seat. The problem with a used seat is you don’t know the history of that seat. The car seat may have been in an accident and might have internal stress and/or damage. Also, the car seat might not have been cleaned properly. It’s better to buy a cheap, new seat than a brand-name, used seat that you don’t know the history behind. It’s just not worth possibly endangering your child.
6. Knockoff car seat
Piggybacking off of the last point, don’t fall for the Chinese knockoff car seats. Some shady websites sell car seats that look similar to name brand seats for a fraction of the cost. These seats have most likely never been crash tested at all. They are purely decoration. When I say a cheap seat is fine, I mean a legitimate, recognizable brand.
7. Switching to forward-facing too early
Did you know it’s best for a child to ride rear-facing for as long as possible? As long as your child is still in the rear-facing limits of their car seat, it’s fine (and good) for them to stay rear-facing. Their legs are very flexible!
Rear-facing is much safer for young children as it helps protect their spinal cord during an accident.
A Quick Science Lesson
Think about Newton’s first law of motion,
“An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by some outside force.”
When you are driving at any great speed, you are driving forward. Suppose your car is going 70 mph down the road, your body is also going 70 mph. If you hit something, or something hits you, even if your vehicle stops, your body is still traveling forwards. If your vehicle comes to a sudden stop, your body will lurch forward, just like Newton said it would. Hopefully, your seat belt will keep you safely in your seat.
When it comes to a small child, their spinal cord is more susceptible to snapping while their backbone hasn’t fully matured. If however, that child is rear-facing during the accident, their body just gets pushed backwards into their seat instead of thrown forwards. Rear-facing may help keep your child safe in the event of an accident.
8. Using both the lower anchors and seatbelt
Sometimes, car seats get installed with both the lower anchors and the seatbelt. While this might seem like a great idea, most car seats aren’t designed for this. Double check your manual, but most require you use only one or the other.
9. Taking out the cupholders
Most car seats require the cupholders to be in place. Often, car seat manufacturers only perform crash tests with the cupholders installed, so how they would perform without them is unknown. If you lose the cupholders, you should contact the car seat manufacturer to see if you can get replacement cupholders.
10. Using an expired car seat
Car seats have expiration dates. That’s right, they expire. You can usually find the expiration date somewhere on the side of the seat. If you are unsure, enlist the help of your manual or contact the manufacturer to determine the expiration date. Sometimes the date on the car seat is the manufactured date. If that’s the case, you need to check your manual for how many years the car seat can be used after the manufacture date.
Once a car seat has expired, it can no longer be used. However, I’ve heard they can still be used for car seat trade-in events. Usually these events allow you to trade in an old car seat in exchange for a discount on a new one. If you have an old car seat, you might want to save it for that purpose.
11. Harness height
When a child is rear facing, their harness should come from below their shoulders (sometimes at their shoulders is also allowed). A forward-facing child needs the opposite. Their harness should come from at or above their shoulders.
My daughter’s car seat as an easy adjust harness height. You just pull a button and push the headrest up or down.
Bonus reminder:
Did you know car seats need to be replaced after an accident? Most car seats need to be replaced after any accident no matter the severity. To be sure, always contact the car seat manufacturer after an accident to determine if it needs to be replaced.
Car seat used in the photos: Graco Triogrow Snuglock LX (we love it!)
Keeping your child safe
If you’ve ever made one of these common car seat mistakes, don’t stress about it. Simply fix the problem and make sure anyone who transports your child by vehicle knows how to properly install a car seat and restrain your child.
As parents, we do everything we can to keep our child[ren] as safe as possible. When it comes to car seats, it’s important to do our best to make traveling as safe as we can. Beyond that, we have to trust in God to take care of us.
What other common mistakes did I miss? Drop them below in the comments!
