Car Seat Safety 101

My topic this evening is something that I have really been thinking about a lot lately because people on Facebook and Instagram like myself have nothing better to do than to post pictures of their babies (I'm definitely not complaining!) but I keep noticing something...and that's car seat safety.

Guys, car seat safety is seriously not something that I take lightly. I mean...it's your child, who can't fix the car seat themselves, so YOU need to be their advocate, do the research, get it installed properly and hook them up correctly.

Now, I know that I am no expert on this, and I haven't done hours and hours of research on this topic, but I did read our car seat manual, our birthing class did a whole section on this topic, and we've done additional research online about this as well.

What am I talking about, you ask?

This.

Both of the harnesses in these car seats are too low on the baby. According to Safecar.gov as well as the manuals that come with your car seat, the chest clip on the harness should be placed even with the baby's armpits, which protects the baby's sternum.

Nathan after having a nurse inspect proper car seat harnessing, etc, the day we left the hospital.
(Mom and Dad got an A+!)

Also, the harness should be snug against the baby as well. I regularly see people posting pictures of their baby in their car seat with pictures like the ones above where you can see that the chest clip is too low. I've even seen pictures where the shoulder straps are so loose that it's not over the baby's shoulder, but has drooped down to the baby's arm.

Choosing not to strap your baby into their car seat correctly isn't like choosing to forgo strapping the baby into a high chair or grocery cart. Please, please reread your manual and make sure that you're strapping your children into their car seat correctly. Also, your local police department and fire department have training on the proper way to install a car seat and base if you have one. They will be happy to inspect yours to make sure that your child is as safe as possible. It only takes a few minutes to do, and I feel like that's a few minutes worth spending.

I know this seems off the wall, but I'm hoping that this post may have some people give this topic a second thought and make sure they're doing the safest thing possible for the precious baby! :)