great series of articles on child safety. I am also a certified car seat technician and I kept by daughter rear facing until she was 3. Parents need to not see each new seat/position as graduating but rather that each seat is exponentially less safe.

Thank you so much for posting this! I was given a VERY hard time by several different people when they noticed my 18-month-old was still rear-facing, but I knew it was the right thing to do (b/c I went to 3 car seat safety checks-which I highly recommend)!!! Glad to see the correct info on here…

This is a good post. I can’t tell you how many reviews I see on car seats with parents complaining about the straps being too short to put on their kid wearing a big winter coat!! Most people do not know you should not use heavy puffy coats in the car seat!

I thought I commented, but maybe not… can we address aftermarket products here as well? Many people don’t know how they can affect a seat or their warranty.

THIS INFO IS WRONG: It’s the opposite – The child seat’s harness should be snug enough that you can’t pinch any slack at the top of the child’s shoulders. For rear-facing children, the harness should be threaded through the highest slots that are below the child’s shoulders. For front-facing children, the harness should be threaded through the lowest slots that are above the child’s shoulders.

Meredith – I just look at the video like the one posted yesterday of the FF child flying forward and the RF child beside it not moving very much at all. I read somewhere that in injury like that is called internal decapitation – when the skull becomes separated from the cervical spine. It makes me want to RF my 7 and 5.5yr olds!

Trust me – I feel your pain! My oldest hated the car seat. We endured many scream filled car ride with him. Luckily my next 2 were much easier travellers and remained RF longer (my 15month old still is and will remain for awhile)

THANK YOU CBB for posting such important information!!

Can we also add to this the use of aftermarket products and why they’re a no-no? While I am so grateful that CBB has finally addressed car-seat safety in-depth, they do often show promotions or review products that fall into the “aftermarket” category. People may not know how these products affect their car seats.

I read this and the last entry on rear-facing carseats and all of the exuberant agreement and found myself wondering how many other moms out there like me were thinking “yeah, but what if your kid HATES being rear facing?” I endured my baby screaming while rear facing in his carseat for the entire first year of his life. (That’s a lot of trips with a crying baby. A lot.) I even ordered a Britax that could safely continue to be rear-facing at a high weight limit so that I could continue to keep him rear-facing for as long as possible. But, then…I just couldn’t take the screaming anymore…. At 14 months and 21 pounds, I turned him around. Facing forward so that he can see me and the road, he’s pretty happy. No more crying. No more dreading every car trip. I feel guilty, but I also feel sane.

Great info!! I think it is also a good idea to explain the latch AND tether idea. I never knew to use both, and then when I told my friends none of them knew either. I even had my BLVD looked at by the police station and no one said a thing about not having it tethered.

Thank you for reminding everyone of the important notes about car seat safety.

Another two to remember that I didn’t see:
~Britax latch connectors need to be switched when changing one of their convertible seats from rear facing to forward facing. The longer part of the connector should be up.
~Seats can only be installed with latch to the limits of the car or car seat and then need to be installed with the seatbelt – typically between 40 and 65 lbs depending on the car and seat. Britax seats say 48 lbs. Installing with both is a no-no.

The best car seat is always the one that fits your car and you use right every time.