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Installing Baby's Car Seat

How to Make Sure Baby Is Safe While in the Car

Pages: 1

If your baby's car seat is strapped in with a lap/shoulder seatbelt that is one continuous loop (makes a triangle when clipped into the belt lock), you need to always use an additional metal locking clip to help hold the seat in place. Without this two-by-three-inch metal "clip" locking the car's seatbelt tightly in position, the lap portion of the seatbelt could loosen, and in an accident, your child – still in the car seat – could be severly injured. Fortunately, a locking clip is inexpensive and easy to use.

Although the locking clip's assistance in gripping the seatbelt is important when restraining a car seat, it should never be used for a normally seated passenger

If you cannot find your locking clip or your seat was provided without one, ask first if they are sold at the store where you bought your car seat. Otherwise, they are available for purchase by mail from most car seat manufacturers and some automotive parts dealers for about $3 each. Be sure not to confuse the metal locking clips with the convenience clips that are used to hold the shoulder portion of the seatbelt away from a shorter passenger's face and neck, as those will offer no protection in an accident.

After verifying that you have positioned the car seat correctly in the car, follow these five simple steps to ensure your child's protection:

1. Bring the seatbelt across the car seat and buckle as usual. Tighten the seatbelt as much as possible.

2. Firmly hold the shoulder and lap portions of the seatbelt together just behind the sliding latchplate and unbuckle the seatbelt.

3. Still holding the seatbelts together, weave the locking clip over both layers of seatbelt about 1/2 inch from the sliding latchplate. (When you are done, you will see four metal "legs" inlaid with the seatbelt.)

4. Re-buckle the seatbelt – it should still fit tightly.

5. Test for a secure installation by tugging hard on the lap portion of the seatbelt and by forcing the car seat from side to side and back and forth. If the lap seatbelt loosens, repeat these steps or install the car seat elsewhere in the car.

Contact your car dealer for advice if you feel you cannot secure the car seat satisfactorily.

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