car seat PSA

so VL is growing so fast, we had to replace her infant carseat that we inherited from aunty Tuyet. we got a sunshine radian 65 convertible (though she's growing so fast we prolly should have gone 80, but who knows if she will be over 65lbs by the time she's 53" tall? i dunno). in the process of doing all the consumer research, i learned that 85% of parents install the carseat WRONG and that car accidents are among the leading causes of death for children in the US. we had been driving around blithely for 8 months all unawares that VL's seat was installed improperly. we can only thank the heavens we weren't involved in a crash. those darn instruction manuals are not user friendly!

so here's what i learned about correctly installing a car seat:

• babies should be rearfacing at least until 20 lbs and 1 year old but the longer you can keep them rear-facing, the safer they would be in an accident. the max weight is determined by your carseat, our max is rear-facing up to 45 lbs.
• though all positions in the second row are safe, the center seat is the safest seat in the car. we had previously had VL installed on the right side to make it easier for curbside loading. though i had wondered about what would happen in a side impact crash.
• cars made after 2002 mandatorily have the LATCH system in addition to the standard seat belt install. the LATCH system was designed to make car seat installation easier since so many parents weren't installing car seats correctly with the seat belts. you should use LATCH or the seat belt to install NOT both. using both undermines the efficacy.
• because of width issues, most sedans/compacts/etc only have two outboard LATCH installed (meaning the outside seats only) and do not allow you to "borrow" the two inside LATCH for a center install. check your owner's manual (if it doesn't say you can borrow, then you cannot install in the center).
• top tethers are now standard with all car seats and the anchors are standard in newer model cars. the tethers need to be attached to the anchors or to some immoveable part of the car frame. in the case of rear-facing car seats, it can be to the passenger side seat leg. check your car owner's manual for anchor locations.
  

there are plenty of places that provide FREE car seat checks, find one in your city or town www.seatcheck.org/

and the technicians & forums at www.car-safety.org give specific advice about installation for your specific car seat & make/model of your car.


oh and one fun thing. if you've got two kids in the car and you want to keep them entertained, you can macguyver bungee cords or rope between the oh-shit-handles (i know those have a proper name but this is what i call 'em) and hang toys off the line to create your own car mobile. you can also zipline stuff from front passenger seat to the back row for older kids. disclaimer: i make no claims as to how it may distract the driver.