While car seats today are safer than ever, they’re also more confusing! With all those slots and latches, it’s hard to figure out what goes where. That’s why 4 out of 5 car seats are installed incorrectly.
So what’s the right way to do it? In the video above, host Xanthe Tilden speaks with a car seat safety educator to identify the top mistakes parents make when installing a car seat and how they can correct them.
One of the biggest mistakes not identified in the video is moving kids to a front-facing car seat too soon. In Canada, newborns and infants are typically required to ride in a rear-facing seat until they reach 20 lbs, however Transport Canada recommends keeping the kids rear-facing for as long as possible. “What we really want to tell Canadian parents is to look for car seats that will keep your child rear-facing up to the maximum height and weight limit,” said Kristen Gane, the program manager at Parachute Canada, an injury prevention organization, in an interview with "The Globe and Mail."
“In Canada, there are rear-facing seats available for children up to 45 pounds or 20 kilograms, so that’s around four years of age, if not longer,” she continued. “It sounds radical, because it’s not what we’re used to. But in countries where they do this, believe it or not, they have years where no children die on the roads.”
For more information on how to properly install a car seat, how to position your child, and how to restrain them, visit Transport Canada to find a trained child seat technician near you.
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