Infant Car Seats: How To Properly Secure Your Child

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Infant Car Seats: How To Properly Secure Your Child

We all want to keep our children safe at all times. Driving is the most dangerous activity we partake in on a daily basis, but 4 out of 5 child passenger restraints are used incorrectly. I’m happy to partner with Hawaii Pacific Health and Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children to present an entire vlog series starting with infant car seats and working our way up to booster seats. How to attach your child, how to install the seat in the car and expert tips on how to keep your kids safe.

This is such IMPORTANT information – not to be dramatic – but the kind that saves lives! I learned SO much from Lisa Dau, Kapi’olani Medical Center’s Injury Prevention Specialist… things I didn’t know… things I hadn’t been doing. I am one of those 4 in 5 people!

If you want to get a FREE car seat safety check, mark your calendar and head down to the 6^th Annual Child Safety Fair Saturday Sept, 23!

It’s at Waipio Shopping Center from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. – in addition to the free car seat safety checks they will also be giving out free helmets! You can also make an appointment at Health Connections to get a FREE check — Just call, 877-709-WELL (9355).

Okay, so now let’s get to the nitty gritty! Watch the video below to learn how to properly secure an infant into their car seat.

How To Properly Secure Your Infant into Their Car Seat

It is recommended to keep your infant in a rear-facing infant car seat until about a year of age. They then move on to a REAR-facing convertible car seat until at least the age of 2.
Untangle any straps so that they lie flat.
Make sure the harness at baby’s back is right at or below the shoulders.
You want the harness to be snug.
Lower the harness clip toward the legs.
Pull up the straps around baby’s legs to make it snug.
Then, work on the shoulders being snug by pulling on the strap to tighten.
Once it appears to be snug, pull the harness / chest clip back up to the level of the armpits.
Finally, check to see how snug it is by making sure there isn’t any slack. Pinch the strap near the shoulder. If you can pinch it, it needs to be more snug. If you are unable to pinch the strap between your fingers, you are good to go!
Extra note: Read the instructions for your car seat to ensure you are within the proper weight and height limits, to know what position the carry handle should be in while driving, and to find out when to remove the newborn insert padding that comes with the car seat.