Do you get your carseat professionally installed?

Diamond Member Joined: Apr 03 2006 Posts: 4473

Whether it be at the firestation or at a store do you pay to get your carseat installed, or do you do it yourself?

Posted: Fri, Dec 14 2007, 3:28 pm Post subject:

We do it ourselves. I think that anyone can just read the manual and put it in. Is there some special way of doing it?
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Gold Member Joined: Nov 14 2004 Posts: 1741

Unfortunatly it is not so easy to install them properly. When ds was born we went to some one who installs profesionaly. She had dh lean on the base with his knees & pull the buckle tighter. When it still moved ever so slightly he asked if that was good enough. Her response "sure, no problem, what's one vertabrae" He got right back in to tighten it. She showed me how to do my carseats properly in my cars, so I can take them out when I have to.

I had a friend that works at Babies R Us and was certified to install the seats properly show me how to do it correctly. You can't imagine how much body weight she put on the seat to get it in tightly. It's not as simple as you think. Sometimes I see carseats that are so loose it's ridiculous! Also you don't have to pay to get it done at most places.

Diamond Member Joined: Nov 10 2005 Posts: 3401

I get on the actual carseat and push it in and will get it super tight.

Make sure that whether or not you get it installed by a pro, to make sure you are putting your child in properly. I see ppl who have theirs installed by pros who don't do that! The handle (part you hold when carrying it)of the infant carseat should NOT be up while clicked in the car. Also, make sure that the harness clip is level with the child's underarms and the straps are straight on the child's shoulder over his/her chest. (These are just things I have seen so many ppl do wrong). In a forward facing child seat, the straps need to start above the child's shoulders. Basically READ THE MANUAL!!!!

I have mine in the outboard positions in a saturn--- no WAY can I do that myself. So I had the infant bases professionally installed (took 2 firemen 45 minutes and 2 extra clips) and then we switched to rear facing convertibles and it didn't take 45 minutes but it took a lot of extra know how about the tethering process that I just don't have. The tethers are super tight and those babies aren't budging. And I'm rear facing to 33 pounds in britax marathons. I think a lot of convertibles don't even have a tether system-- maybe those are easier-- but the infant ones are HARD to install properly.

Diamond Member Joined: Apr 03 2006 Posts: 2620

I didn't, but I think I should have.

I'm getting a new carseat now, so I plan to get this one professionally installed. Also, I don't know what it's like in other countries, but in the U.S. I'm pretty sure it's done for free.

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18276

The first time we needed to put in a car seat, we brought it to my m-i-l who is a certified car seat installer (BTW, anyone in my community, while she no longer installs them regularly, she'll check to make sure it's in well for free). My husband learned from her, and the next few times he brought it to her to confirm he installed right, and she basically gave her haskama that he knows what he is doing. So now my husband does it (and helps his friends too).
But since so many car seats unfortunately are not installed correctly, it's really worth it for your child's safety either to get it installed professionally or checked out the first few times until you are certain you have the hang of it. Every car seat and car are different, also, so you have to keep that in mind.
B"H with LATCH nowadays, it is a lot easier, but still it can be done wrong (some cars only have latch in certain seats, and people try tethering the anchors from the wrong seats!)
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Diamond Member Joined: Nov 11 2007 Posts: 3789

I'm pretty good at reading instruction manuals and figuring things out, but the car seats were tricky and B"H we went to get them checked out because they were not in right. Not totally off, but not secured well enough. It takes so little time to get these care seats checked and why not do everything possible to make sure our kids are safe?

Gold Member Joined: Nov 14 2004 Posts: 1741

The person who installed mine taught me how to do it. One time I was driving a carpool & I heard the click of the seatbelt unbuckling. The kid felt bad & said he would rebuckle it. My ds laughed & told him he could never get it as tight as his mom.My kids know how to stand in carseat & lean on ceiling of the car & get it really tight in the right position, ofcourse I always recheck.

Posted: Sun, Dec 16 2007, 11:34 am Post subject:

some things are just easier to do yourself ... but then again I can follow instructions ...

for those of you who need to ... I say take advantage of free installations and checks ... that is what they are there for ...
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Executive Member Joined: Mar 14 2010 Posts: 487

Realeez, the straps need to start BELOW the child's shoulders!!

I live in E"Y and there is no one who does this professionally. I have asked several friends to help me and they did not get the car seats in securely enough. They just buckled them and thought that was fine. I finally found a friend who knows how to do it. I do not trust myself to make it tight enough. Also, my car seats do not have a top tether and they move SO much at the top. My dad, who is an engineer, made tethers out of 4 mm metal cording he bought at the hardware store.

Last time I went to visit family in America, I called the police and fire stations and they said they only do it on the last Saturday of every month. I said I can't come on a Saturday for religious reasons and they said that's the only day they can do it. So my dad and I did the best we could. I did not know they have professionals at Babies R Us! Will be doing that next time iyH!

I did not answer the survey b/c I didn't know what to say - "yes" b/c I would have if I could have or "no" b/c it wasn't possible.

For Israeli moms, I think there should be a survey "do you use a car seat?" I heard that something like 80% of moms take their babies home from the hospital without one. A lot of people don't have cars so they don't bother buying car seats (even though they take their kids in taxis, friends' cars, etc). So disturbing.

Diamond Member Joined: Jan 24 2010 Posts: 3399

If you're not 100% sure it's installed correctly, go to your local first aid or fire station to get it installed properly, and free. My husband is a certified car seat/child safety technician, and he has seen many parents who were very sure of themselves, but didn't have the car seat installed properly. If there's any bit of doubt in your mind, better to be safe than sorry.

Platinum Member Joined: Oct 14 2009 Posts: 5879

I am not a certified tech but I have spoken at length to a certified, obsessed friend, plus I read manuals and such, so there are some things I'd like to clarify:

1. Do NOT bother with free fire station checks. Seriously. Most fire stations, police stations, etc offering this do not actually have certified technicians on staff, they just reckon they can read the diagrams, but there are a lot of little tips and tricks the techs know to get a really good install that the fire people have no idea. My technician friend has seen people whose car seats were installed WRONG at their fire station safety drive. As in, unsafely wrong. Get a certified tech or do your own research but don't trust someone just because they're supposedly a community helper.

2. Someone mentioned that you need to put down the handle of your infant seat in the car. Many infant seats do have this instruction. However, it CAN vary by seat so just READ YOUR MANUAL. You might have the one oddball seat that says it should or can be up.

3. Someone mentioned that the straps have to begin over the shoulders and someone else said no, they should be below. Read carefully now: REAR FACING should begin at or below the shoulder and go up and over. FORWARD FACING should begin at or above the shoulder and go downward towards the buckle. You can check the strap height: sit your kid in the seat, take a ruler or other long flat object, stick it over your child's shoulder and into the slot that the strap comes out of. Rest it on child's shoulder. For a rear facing child, the ruler should be pointing upward or level; forward facing should be pointing downward or level.

This article is good and links to some good illustrations: http://voices.yahoo.com/deadly-mistakes-re-probably-making-11255218.html?cat=25

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 12 2010 Posts: 5773

The store in the UK where I bought my baby car seat will not sell it to you from the store unless one of their trained employees make sure it fits correctly in the car.

Since I don't have a car, if I buy a car seat now I wouldn't get it prof. fit each time I strapped it into a car, but I would make sure to do it as tight/safe as possible myself.

When I get a car then yes I would get it prof. installed, its safer and more reliable.

It also bugs me when I see my niece and other kids in her carseat, which is 'strapped in' but wobbling all over the place.
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Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18276

What seeker said.

Also BRU employees are not certified installers either.

Diamond Member Joined: Jan 24 2010 Posts: 3399

If anyone from the Lakewood area needs help with their car seat(s), my husband might be able to assist, and give safety tips as well. Smile

Gold Member Joined: Oct 14 2010 Posts: 1220

My husband is more of a do-it-yourself-er, but since we acquired our carseat before baby was born, lets get it done right the first time and learn the correct way to do it. We went to a place recommended by our hospital which was free--but accepted donations. My husband said that he probably could've figured it out on his own, but it was good to get a few pointers from the demonstration--such as how tight is tight enough. For our convertible car seat, we did not get it professionally installed, but at times struggle to get it in properly that we think we should.

Wow.

I had no idea they had to be so tight. I'll tell DH to try and fix it, though I'll probably get an Rolling Eyes

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