by Joyce Slaton posted in Products

It's no news to car seat makers that people don't read their manuals. But you know those statistics you hear, that half (three-quarters, nine out of ten) parents installed or use their car seats incorrectly" This is why those numbers are so high. Because even if you chose the right kind of car seat and installed it correctly, you may have overlooked important safety notes like these.
1. Don't wear coats in the car seat
This is so important that it appears in every car seat manual. We know it's cold in the winter. But if you buckle in your child in a heavy coat, snowsuit, or other bulky layers, you won't fasten your child's harness tightly enough. And if you have an accident, and all the "fluff" compresses, dire results can follow. Here's the notice about coats and car seats in the Baby Trend EZ Flex-Loc infant car seat manual:

And from the Graco 4Ever:

And the Britax Marathon:

And the Chicco KeyFit:

For strategies on keeping your child warm without buckling straps over coats, see our post Coats and car seats: The deadly mistake parents make (video).
2. You can't use LATCH in the back seat center (in most cars)
This one drives parents crazy. They've heard that the safest place for car seats is in the center of the back seat, they've heard that LATCH can make installing the car seat easier, so they naturally try to install the car seat using LATCH in the center of their back seat -- only to get frustrated when they reali...