Where Is The Safest Place To Put The Baby Car Seat? Why? 

A study from 2011 shows that around 46 % of car seats and boosters are misused. If you count only the car seats, the percentage rises to 59% which increases around 85% in some areas. Pretty alarming, ha?

A few years back, I suddenly met Mitchel, a friend of mine serving as a sergeant in the NYPD. I met her on the way home from downtown with my Lily in the back in a car seat. And then she said I was technically committing a crime by installing the car seat along with Lily in the wrong way.
How?

It’s considered that the safest place to put your baby’s car seat is in the center of the back seat/row in the car. Because there is no airbag, there is no possibility of colliding with the airbag. Besides, an adult person can sit aside the seat and keep an eye on your baby.

Where Is The Safest Place To Put The Baby Car Seat? Explained 

As a concerned parent, it’s your duty to keep your baby safe at any cost.  No, it doesn’t mean that you’ve to risk your own life but sometimes a smart decision can do it too. For instance, car seat placing. This also affects the number of car seats you’ll need.

We all know that the airbags in a car are used to prevent direct collision of a passenger with the hard dashboard or driving wheel. But these bags are a probable threat to your baby as they’re not capable of dodging the pressured airbag during an accident.

Is The Center Location Always Safe For Your Baby?

I know you already know how to install car seats of all kinds of variations considering the safety of your child. And as a safe position in the car, you always prefer the center in the back seat. But it’s not always safe for certain conditions. How?  

Sometimes,  you won’t find the convenience to install the car set in a proper way. If you still install the seat there forcefully, then it creates a chance of injury from an accident. In such cases, I always prefer to look for a better installation on the passenger side with an adult company.

What If You Have No Working Latch In The Back?

Every car is different, so there’ll always be a difference from each other’s. If there’s no good LATCH in your car then the seat belts can work too. LATCH’s designed for a car seat to provide better service but in my experience, it can backfire in some conditions. 

Common Mistakes You Must Avoid

In general, you can put your child in a car seat max 12 years of age and height below 5 feet with a lower weight tendency. Your child is growing over time, which makes the buckle setup in the car quite tricky. 

And this is where parents commit mistakes along with a few others. Below, I’m sharing some common problems that you, as a parent, must avoid. They are

1. Purchasing Used Car Seats

I always recommend using fresh/brand-new products/items for any kind of activity that may cost me a bit more. Whereas a used one can save me some bucks it needs to confirm a few aspects. For a used car seat, I prefer

• Must come with instructions.
• Must have the official label intact.
• Less than 6 years old with no damages.
• Can’t have any crash history or mark.
• And can’t be a warranty-denied product.

2. Wrong Installation

As you already know, the safest position for a car seat is the back seat row, which engages no active air-bag protection. If you put your baby in the front seat, you’re putting him/her at risk. But what if there’s only 2 rows in the car?

In that case, you have to install the seat in the center. Here, confirm that you’ve put all the belts and latches around the car seat. This will decrease the probability of injury from an unexpected accident.  It lowers the injury risk by 43% compared to a rear-facing outboard installation. 

3. Not Removing Heavy Clothes

Kids are sensitive to certain things, and one of them is excess warmth. Sometimes we put some extra clothes on our kids, especially in the winter. This keeps them a bit warmer if you’re going out. But how much cloth can they put on? It’s something that the parents hardly think about.

The right amount of cloth for your baby depends largely on the weather and quality. Which generates Besides the extra layer of clothes, a blanket can make them suffocate. The easiest way is, to know your baby’s condition and put on clothes accordingly.

4. Choosing Boosters So Early

Boosters are quite helpful in carrying your children out but are you using that at the right time? Normally kids at 8-12 years of age can ride on a booster, but he/she has to be more than 65 pounds or else it can cause suffocation or irritation no no time.

This is where parents make wrong choices. Some of them buy a booster with a stroller in advance.  They think this is a smart decision, but in the long run, their kids will suffer. So my advice is not to take any advanced steps and research before taking any decision.

5. Installing Seat Forward-Facing Early

When driving in, parents tend to keep an eye on their kids in the back seat. This also helps them interact via the rear-view mirror and keeps them in happy mode. But it requires you to install the car seat facing forward. Is your kid ready for that?

You admit it or not, riding a car seat in the back seat facing the rear side of the car is the safest possible possible for your beloved kid. Your kid’s body is under development and this demands a very careful movement with your kid.

It’s typically better to start with a convertible seat, and as long as your kid reaches the age and height limit, he/she has to sit rear-facing. After reaching the limit, you can switch to a forward-facing installation, but still, you’ll need a seat belt or Latches system.

6. Reclining At The Wrong Angle

It’s normal that, if you have a desk job, you must sit properly for a better output along with minimal stress on the body. The same theory goes for your child in the car seat, too. You must recline the rear-facing car seat according to the manufacturer’s manual. 

Normally, semi-reclined positions are better for babies; as your baby grows you’ve to check the angle. Some seats here come with a device that helps to fix the angle, and some require manual setup.  But before you change the angle, you must follow the instructions.

Wrapping Up

A car ride with your beloved toddler is always a pleasing experience. And as a parent, you’re always concerned about his/her safety. And as a part of that, you’ve installed the baby car seat strategically.

You can install the baby stroller in the center of the back row, and it goes for the cars with two-seat rows too. Here, you can first use the LATCH to fit it. If it doesn’t fit then you can use the default car seat belt too. Your child is growing up, so good care is a must.

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