How to buckle child in car seat

Car Seat Safety - Buckling your child properly

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car seat safety

At Chicco, child safety is our priority – especially when it comes to riding in the car. That's why we're committed to helping parents and caregivers learn the ins and outs of proper car seat safety, including how to properly buckle your child in a car seat.

Tighten the Harness

Buckle the harness and chest clip then put your hand behind the clip to eliminate slack in the webbing. Tighten the harness until your hand is touching your child.

Test with a Pinch

If you can pinch any of the harness webbing between your fingers, it means the harness is too loose. When the harness is properly tightened, your fingers will simply slip off. ¹

Chest Clip Height

To ensure your child's chest clip is at the correct height, line it up with the top of his armpits. When properly positioned, the chest clip is designed to keep the harness straps parallel over the torso in a crash.²

Watch demo on securing your child

Chicco Fit2 Car Seat - Securing your child correctly

Learn how to correctly secure your child in the Fit2

Did you know?

Winter Coats Can Interfere With Your Child's Harness

Avoid buckling your child with his winter coat on since the bulky fabric could prevent a tight harness fit. Instead, buckle and tighten him in without a coat, then put the coat on backwards or use a blanket. ³

Incorrect

Space created by coat

Correct

Transitioning to the Next Seat

When to Make a Change

There's no reason to rush from rear-facing to forward-facing, or from a five-point harness to a belt-positioning booster. Keep your little one in his current car seat as long as possible until he reaches the maximum weight or height allowance from the manufacturer, whichever comes first.⁴

Maturity Matters

As you consider making the move to a belt-positioning booster, remember that age and maturity are as important as height and weight. Since belt-positioning boosters rely on the vehicle seat belt for restraint—rather than a 5-point harness—your child must be able to sit relatively still and keep the seat belt properly positioned on her body throughout every car ride.

How to use a Booster Correctly

The vehicle lap belt should lie flat across your child's upper thighs—not across the soft abdomen—and the shoulder belt should cross over the middle of her shoulder and across the center of her chest.

Graduating From a Booster

Children are usually ready to move from their booster directly into the vehicle seat anywhere between 8 and 12 years-old. To see if your child is ready, buckle her into the vehicle seat and make sure her back and bottom are pushed all the way against the backrest. If her knees bend naturally at the edge of the seat, the vehicle lap belt fits across her upper thighs or low on the hips and the shoulder belt fits across her shoulder and chest, she no longer needs a booster.⁵

1. www.safekids.org/ultimate-car-seat-guide/basic-tips/right-fit/#4 ~ 2. csftl.org/a-chest-clip-goes-on-the-chest/ ~ 3. www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/12/winter-coats-and-car-seats-keeping-your-child-safe-and-warm/index.htm ~ 4. www.safekids.org/ultimate-car-seat-guide/basic-tips/when-to-change ~ 5. www.safekids.org/safetytips/field_risks/booster-seat

Using the Car Seat Harness Correctly -

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Learning to use the Car Seat Harness correctly is important because four of the most common car seat mistakes parents make involve the incorrect use of the harness. More about those later…

After selecting the right car seat for your child’s car seat stage (selection) and installing it (direction, location and installation) — and preferably having that installation checked by a certified Child Passenger safety Technician, there is harnessing.

From birth to booster age you are likely using a 5-point harness car seat. This means the car seat harness system contacts your child in five points: both shoulders, both hips and the crotch. These are the strongest points of the body. A 5-point harness spreads the crash force evenly over the child.

First thing first, which direction is your child facing?

Deciding which slot the harness goes through the car seat depends on your child’s height and which direction your child is facing in the car.

If your child is in a rear-facing car seat, the harness strap should be at or below your child’s shoulders. Putting shoulder harnesses too high for rear-facing children has a similar effect as not fully tightening the safety harness itself. Most car collisions happen when the car is moving forward, causing a rear-facing child’s back to be pressed against the seat back of the child restraint seat. This means that a main goal of a rear-facing car seat harness is to keep the child’s body from sliding upwards along the child restraint’s seat back. Every tiny increment of increased distance the child moves exponentially amplifies the forces on the child’s body. The more a child’s body accelerates, the more the child’s head and chest are subjected to increased g-forces both at the beginning of the collision and during deceleration after the collision.

If your child is in a forward-facing car seat, the harness strap should be at or above your child’s shoulders. While forward-facing the crash forces will cause the child’s body to be thrown forward. The harness straps should be positioned at or above the child’s shoulders when forward facing to most effectively decrease the amount of distance the child will travel when propelled forward and to limit the forces on the child’s spine and shoulders.

Make sure the harness straps are both going through the car seat — shell and cover — at the same level and neither strap has any twists in it. When they are twisted the crash force is placed on a smaller area of the body which can cause increased injury.

Once your child is in the car seat.

Pull the harness straps over your child and buckle the harness and close the chest clip.

Pull the harness straps to a snug tightness. This means if you try to pinch the harness horizontally you cannot pinch the material together. This is the “pinch test.”

Move the chest clip to armpit level. (We recommend tightening the straps then moving the clip up to position. If it starts high, you could tighten the straps and pull the clip right into the child’s throat.)

That seems simple enough, right?

Except that as mentioned, harnessing mistakes account for four out of ten of our most common car seat mistakes.

Those mistakes include:

1. Not having the harness straps snug enough.

A large number of parents still leave the harness too loose. At checkups we often hear them say something like, “it seems too tight and uncomfortable.”

A “snug” harness equals “a snug strap should not allow any slack. It lies in a relatively straight line without sagging. It does not press on the child’s flesh or push the child’s body into an unnatural position.” You want the straps to be “as snug as a hug.”

Why is this so important? During a crash the harness straps are holding the child in the car seat. If those straps are too loose, the child will not be properly secured and could even come out of the straps becoming an unrestrained child.

The child should not wear bulky clothing like a puffy winter coat in the car seat harness straps. During a crash the bulky clothing would compress then the straps would be too loose.

Crash testing shows with 3 inches of harness slack, the child’s shoulder can slip out of the harness allowing the child’s head to extend past the car seat and strike the vehicle door in a side-impact crash.

2. The chest clip is not at armpit level.

In many car seats the chest clip is meant to break during a crash, so how can the position be so important? Well, too low and the harness straps may not be positioned correctly on your child’s shoulders, especially if the straps are also too loose. In this case, the clip prevents the straps from separating, ensuring your child is not ejected during a violent crash. Too high and prior to breaking, it could compress on your child’s throat.

3. Harness straps are not properly positioned for the child.

For rear-facing child safety seats, if you are looking at the child sitting in the seat the straps should be going through the safety seat at the slot at or below the child’s shoulder. In other words, you should not be able to see the strap coming out of the seat above the shoulder, it should be hidden beneath the child’s shoulders.

When rear facing in a forward crash — the most common type of crash — the first motion is going to be the top of the child seat rotating down toward vehicle’s floor. If there is enough crash energy, the child’s body is going to try to slide toward the top of the child safety seat. You want the harness straps to be cradling, or at least very close to the child’s shoulder, so that they do not slide “up” into and stop suddenly or even go through the neck opening when they finally hit the misplaced straps.

For forward-facing car seats, the harness straps should go through the safety seat at or above the child’s shoulder. Think about how our seat belt is positioned on us. It anchors above our shoulder so that we lean into it in a forward impact.

Download our report: Common Car Seat Mistakes and How to Fix Them

4. Harness straps are not routed correctly through the car seat.

Why is this so important? The car seat manufacturer crash tested your car seat and meant for the straps to be used in a certain configuration. If you routed the straps incorrectly, it could interfere with the performance of the car seat during a crash. If the car seat harness straps are twisted, they may not distribute the weight correctly and cause injury.

Also remember, to not have anything thicker than sweatshirt material between your child and the car seat harness straps. This includes thick winter coats, blankets and those nice fuzzy, plush car seat covers that have a back section between the baby and car seat.

A note about cleaning car seat harness straps

When the straps need to be cleaned, wipe them with a moist cloth. You can use a baby wipe or a washcloth with a little drop of soap. Do not submerge or wash in the washing machine, this ruins the integrity of the strap. If such a thorough cleaning is necessary, you should replace the straps. Call the manufacturer of the child restraint to get new straps.

Get a visual of car seat safety rules.

5/5 of Car Seat Series; previous posts: #1 Selection — #2 Direction — #3 Location — #4 Installation

By Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004

Copyright 2022 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.

We originally published this post in January 2017. We updated the article for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How to fasten a child car seat in a car How to fasten a child in a car seat

Home > ARTICLES > How to fasten a child car seat in a car

It is not so safe to travel with a child in a car these days. Therefore, all parents should take care of this in advance. The most correct solution in this case would be to install a child seat in the passenger compartment of the car. It will help to completely protect the child in the event of a collision with other vehicles or an obstacle on the road. That is why the child should always be fastened to such a chair. But how to fasten a child seat in the car yourself, quickly and reliably? It is important to do this correctly, and therefore you should choose a suitable child seat, and only then proceed with its installation. nine0003

There are many types of child car seats. All of them differ in various characteristics. But first of all, it should be comfortable so that the baby feels as comfortable as possible in it throughout the trip. At the moment, there are 5 general groups of such chairs:

Zero group: intended for children weighing up to 10 kg and aged from 1 to 12 months.
Group +0: the weight of the child must be no more than 13 kg, and the age - up to 1.5 years. nine0010
1st group: for children from 3 to 7 years old weighing 9-18 kg.
2nd group: children 3-7 years old weighing from 15 to 25 kg.
3rd group: children from 6 to 10 years old, weight 22-36 kg.

The first two groups are suitable for the smallest, so these chairs have a recumbent position. Such an infant carrier most often has an adjustable mechanism for changing position. In addition, it is equipped with soft safety belts for secure fixation of the baby. For older children, chairs from the 1st to the 3rd group are used. They can be of a fixed position or with the possibility of transformation. nine0003

As you can see, when choosing a car seat, it is important to take into account not only the age, but also the weight of the child. And now let's look at how to fasten a car seat and where it is better to install it.

Where should the child seat be installed?

Once the model and type of seat has been determined, it must be properly installed in the vehicle. Such an installation can be made both in the front seat, next to the driver's seat, and in the back seat. There are 2 installation methods: in the direction of the movement and against the movement, with the back to the driver. However, according to the recommendations of experts, it is safest to install a child seat in the back seat of a car. If we talk about the seat for the smallest, then it is usually installed in the opposite direction from the movement of the vehicle. nine0003

Before fastening a child car seat, you should always take into account the fact that the child's neck and spine are fragile, not strong enough, so they are easy to damage when braking. Another important point: if the vehicle has airbags, then the rules prohibit the installation of a child seat in the front seat. Even by accident, pillows can work, and possibly injure the baby. But if the driver still decides to put the child next to him, then you need to take care of turning off the airbag. Also in this case, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules: the first is that the seat must be installed in a reclining position, the second is that the car seat is moved as far back as possible. nine0003

How to properly install a child seat?

For the safe transport of children, the correct installation of the seat is a must. For this, a standard seat belt is used, located in any car. You can also secure the chair with the isofix system. Before proceeding with this process, you must carefully study the instructions that come with the chair.

The safest place to install is in the middle of the rear seat. The belt for fastening should not be a waist belt, but the same as in the driver's seat. Step by step, this process is as follows:

The belt is pulled out by about 1 meter.
A child seat is located in the selected seat.
Car seat stability test in progress.
A belt is inserted into the special straps of the chair.
The standard tape is regularly tightened.

Some child seat kits have belt clips: these must be used according to the instructions. When the seat belt is threaded through the holes on the seat, its end is fixed on the side clip of the car seat. nine0003

Most child car seats have side markers in different colors. They will help you know the correct direction to secure the seat belt to the seat. All models are installed almost the same, regardless of the group. If you follow all the instructions given in the documentation, this process will not cause any special problems.

Car seats for older children are the easiest to install. Seat belts run along the top. The standard tape extends and moves into special guides. It is advisable to carry out the installation with the child in the chair. The belt must pass over the hip and shoulder of the child. The main thing is that the tape does not touch the stomach or neck. The child should be comfortable, and his posture should not be disturbed. Armchairs for the smallest are almost always equipped with additional seat belts, which must be used during the trip. nine0003

Isofix attachment

This system is increasingly found on modern car seats for small passengers. What it is? In fact, this is a chair that has special locks and brackets built into it, with which it is attached to the car seat. Such a system can be quickly and easily installed in any vehicle whose seats provide for such an attachment. There are not so many similar car models, but today vehicle manufacturers are increasingly worried about the safety of passengers, so finding a car interior that is designed for such a chair will not be difficult. And those who care about the safety of their children, when buying a car, will definitely pay attention to the presence of isofix system mounts in it. Its main advantage is that you can quickly fix the child to the car seat without disturbing him, for example, if he is already sleeping in the infant carrier. nine0003

How do I fasten my child to the car seat?

When purchasing a car seat, it is advisable to pay attention to the presence of additional fasteners and straps that will help to better fix the child in the car seat. Their use is mandatory, since during sudden braking they are able to maintain the fixation of the body. If the baby weighs less than 13 kg, a group 0 seat is used. How to fasten a child in a car seat, let's look at an example.

The passenger is fastened to the car seat with the help of an internal belt, which is also responsible for the secure fixation of the body. Such bindings pass between the legs, through the shoulders, which allows you to increase security measures. nine0003

Children under 1.5 years of age are secured to the seat with a belt that is passed over the hips and shoulders. The belt itself, as well as the locks, is located at the level of the pelvis. It is easiest to use car seats for older children or universal models. On them, a regular tape and an internal belt are used for fastening. Such measures may not always be sufficient, so parents often use additional fixation using a standard car seat belt.

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How to transport a child in a car seat in winter clothes? ― 130.com.ua

When it gets cold, many parents find it difficult to transport their children in a car seat. Children are dressed in warm clothes, the volume of which differs significantly from the average size of a child.

Some child car seats are too narrow to fit a child in winter clothing. As a result, the child is not comfortable in a child car seat, he feels squeezed and constrained. Seat manufacturers do not take into account such loads and changes in the figure of the baby.

Remember, the more clothes the child wears, the worse the fixation of the fastener in the seat is. In addition, the intensity of impact protection is reduced if the child's clothing layer is too thick. Then how to transport a child in a car in winter so that he is comfortable and safe? There are several answers to this question, but it is best to remove jackets from children before getting into a car seat.

If the child is in the seat without outerwear

1. The easiest way is to warm up the car before driving. And already in a warm car, remove the outer clothing from the child and fasten it in the car seat. If there is concern that the child may freeze, you can cover him with a blanket. nine0003

2. Buy a heated child car seat from the cigarette lighter. This device makes it possible not to warm up the car in advance. The child seat heater is able to heat up the seat in 1 minute and keep it warm throughout the entire trip.

3. A more expensive way is to install an alarm with automatic engine start on the car. Autostart of the engine will make it possible to remotely start the car, sit in an already preheated interior, undress and seat the child in a car seat. nine0003

If the child is wearing outerwear in the car seat

1. The best way is to buy a child seat that is spacious enough for winter clothing. We recommend paying attention to manufacturers such as HEYNER (Germany) and Renolux (France).

2. The easiest way is to buy your child winter clothes made of membrane fabric - it is thin and at the same time retains heat. You can also use demi-season clothing. In this case, the car needs to be warmed up at least a little. nine0003

3. Be sure to adjust the length of the seat belts and check how well the latches on the seat belts work.