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Making use of a car seat is the number one step in helping to improve the security of your children in your car. But just owning a car seat is not adequate in itself: the car seat needs to be used, Ca

Employing a car seat is the first step in helping to secure the safety of your children in the car. But just possessing a car seat is not enough in itself: the car seat has to be used, and it has to be used properly. Here are helpful suggestions to help assure that your kids will be as safe as possible in their car seats.

- Always be certain to read and understand the recommendations from the manufacturer on how to use the car seat correctly. Improper car seat usage is the number one cause of car seat failure. In addition, read the owner's manual for your car as it relates to the usage of car seats. Most owner's manuals have detailed recommendations for the use of car seats and these instructions must always be given the utmost consideration.

- To increase the security of your children, only install the car seat in the rear set of your vehicle, not in the front seat. for maximum safety, you should install the car set in the middle of the rear seat so that there is increased protection against side-impact collisions.

- If your car seat has to be used in the front seat (perhaps there is no rear seat), only use it if there is no front seat airbag or if the airbag can be disabled. And then be absolutely certain that the airbag is indeed turned off. Never use a car seat in the front seat of a car if the passenger-side airbag is enabled.

- Keep your toddler in their rear-facing car seat for as long as they meet the size and weight restrictions for the car seat in that configuration. It is safer for your child to be rear-facing.

- When you place your child in the car seat, be sure the harness fits snugly and always use the chest strap. The chest strap should sit over the chest per the manufacturer's instructions. If this strap is too low, your child may not be secure in an accident. If the strap is too high, it may crush your child's neck in an accident.

- Once your child gets to big or heavy for their car seat, they should use a booster seat until such time as the seat belt fits them correctly. Usually this is until they are about 4' 9" tall or 80 pounds. Check your the owner's guide for you car for the specifics with your car. When it does fit correctly, the shoulder belt should fit over the shoulders, not the neck, and the lap belt should fit across the hips, not the stomach.

- Once you suppose you have your car seat properly put in, have the car seat installation inspected by a certified car seat technician. This can be done in minutes at no charge. Check http://www.seatcheck.org/ to find the nearest seat check location to you.

- Stay away from used car seats unless you know for certain the age and history of the car seat. Do not buy car seats more than five years old, or car seats that have been involved in an accident. Be sure that used car seats have all of their labels with the manufacturing information, manufacturing date, and model number. In addition, make sure that the manual is available; never buy a car seat without the manufacturer's manual.

- If your automobile comes with the LATCH system for car seats, be sure to buy LATCH-compatible car seats. Using the LATCH system makes car seat installation easier, more secure, and it is less likely that the car seats will be installed incorrectly. Despite this, the installation should still be examined by a certified car seat technician once it is complete.

- Look at the website for the manufacturer for your automobile. Many times, automobile manufacturer's website will list, on a per-model basis, the car seats they recommend for use in their cars.

Article Source: http://www.ebaykings.co.uk

Karen is a housewife with 3 children and as such she's had plenty of chances to use a lot of car seats. You can see her car seat reviews at eDistiller.

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