The Car Seat Capers

I should really just get over the car seat business, but you know what? I don't really want to. I was totally shocked that ours wasn't deemed safe by the State Police, and if posting about it helps anyone else, then at least I'll feel a little better.

On Monday, my School Resource officer (SRO) told me that one of his coworkers was coming to the school to check the newly installed convertible car seat of another teacher, and asked if I'd like this officer to check out my car seat as well. Of course I said yes... why would I turn down and opportunity to make sure my child is safe in any situation?

The possibility that my car seat could be installed wrong never even crossed my mind. Brian spent hours outside when he installed it, read the directions word-for-word, and stressed about getting the base completely level. I know Brian well -- he doesn't do anything halfway, and when it comes to the well being of his (then unborn) child, he's not about to mess around. So I was absolutely shocked when the trooper un-installed my car seat and explained why it wasn't correctly done. Here are the places we went wrong:

1. The car seat should be installed in the center of the back seat, using the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) system. However, if the LATCH anchors are more than 13" apart in the center, the car seat should be moved to one of the side seats so that the straps are anchored an appropriate distance apart. This prevents the car seat from moving more than one inch from side to side. According to Brian, this was not said anywhere in the car seat manual.

2. To level the seat at the appropriate angle, you should use noodles -- the same noodles you use at floating devices in pools. The noodle can be cut to the 13" or less size and put under the seat to level it out. Apparently the foam that the noodles are made of is soft enough to give, but firm enough to hold the seat steady in the event of an accident. (Our directions clearly state that a towel is the best way to level the seat, but apparently only the directions of seats manufactured in Canada recommend this. The US directions now recommend the noodle.)

3. The car seat should have no dangling toys from the handle (on the detachable carrier). The trooper said he's seen several accidents where those toys have injured a baby's face after a collision. (I haven't removed the toys yet, Carter likes them! I'll do it. In time.)

4. I also got a lecture about having a used car seat. I explained to the trooper that I received the seat from a close friend who wouldn't have passed it on had it been in an accident or sustained excessive wear of any kind. In general, it seems that the NYS troopers do not agree with the use of a second-hand car seat.

Despite feeling like a terrible parent while the trooper pointed out all of my errors, I'm glad we had it done. It was on our things-to-do list before Carter was born, but when he came early that list sort of went out the window. It's awkward to have the car seat so far away from me now when we're in the car, but I'll do want I have to do to keep the lil' monster safe. I highly suggest getting an inspection (they're free!) if you're using a car seat. Like I said before, Brian followed the installation and use directions line for line, but depending on the place the seat is manufactured, the directions are different.

Would it really be that hard to come up with universal instructions for something like this??