Life Kit - Common mistakes parents make when installing a car seat

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

If you're a new parent, picking out a car seat can be stressful. Do you need to spend extra on special features to keep your kid safe? How long should your child be rear-facing? How do you know if the car seat is secure enough? In this episode of Life Kit, we cover common mistakes parents make when installing car seats.Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at [e-mail] the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekitTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Life Kit from NPR. Hey, it's Mariel. I'm not a parent yet, but I am a Titi. And even from where I sit, when that little baby comes on the scene and they're so tiny and helpless and their little skull hasn't even fused yet, it's terrifying. And then you tell me I'm supposed to put this baby in a car? Have you seen how people drive? And I know, of course, buy a car seat, right? But how do you pick one?

There's a lot of decision-making as a parent and especially as a new parent. And it's very overwhelming. And it's important because you don't get to choose your crash. You don't know when a crash is going to happen. You don't know what direction it's going to happen. So you have to make sure that your child is protected for every single car ride. And right, like we're all doing the best we can. That's Emily Thomas, the Associate Director for Auto Safety at Consumer Reports.

She's also a mom and she has a PhD in, pediatric injury biomechanics. She says kids are a lot safer in cars than they used to be in decades past, but traffic crashes are still a leading cause of death for children in the U.S. and around the world. The research shows that car seats and booster seats significantly lower that risk, but it can be hard to know where to start, and there are endless options to choose from. There are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration, but ultimately, as a parent, you can rest assured that, one, every car seat that's sold in the United States has to meet a federal minimum safety standard.

Meaning that any new car seat you buy has been rigorously crash tested. It's got clear height and weight limits, plus labeling to help you install it safely. So they're all considered safe. And two, the safest car seat is going to be the one that fits your car and fits your child every single time. On this episode of Life Kit, how to pick a car seat and use it safely. reporter Andy Tagle will talk to Emily about what features matter most, what's just window dressing, and the most common mistakes parents make when they're installing those seats. Would you by just breaking down for us the different stages, the different types of car seats available that people are going to be looking at?

Sure. So most people start off with an infant car seat. Most children are going to outgrow their infant car seat probably around six to nine months old, either by height or weight. Oftentimes it's by height first. So when your child outgrows their infant seat, you're going to want to move them into a convertible or an all-in-one and use it in the rear-facing orientation. Convertible refers to a car seat that converts from rear-to-forward-facing. All-in-one? One seat that can do it all. Infant to rear-facing, to forward-facing, to booster. No matter which you go for, plan to keep your child rear-facing until they're at least two years old. and if it's possible, hold out for longer, as in you're going to want to keep your child rear facing as long as you can

up to the manufacturer height or weight limit for the rear facing mode. And really that's because their bodies are still maturing, especially their skeletons. And so you want their bones to be stronger. You want their neck and spine to be able to support their head. The most common type of crash is, of frontal impact. And so when they're rear-facing, those crash forces are going to get spread out across the back of that car seat shell, and it's going to distribute less forces to your child,

and it's going to really protect the head and spine. Now, if they're forward-facing too early, those crash forces are going to be applied across the harness onto your child's body, and their heads, they're still getting stronger. Their bodies are still growing. And so you're putting more strain on that head, neck complex. And so there's a greater likelihood for head and neck injury. When they've reached the max height or weight limit of their rear-facing car seat, it's time for a front-facing seat with a harness and tether. Then wait again until they reach max capacity there before leveling up again to a booster.

Once they grow out of that one, you're still going to want to keep them in the back seat until they're at least 13 years old. So, takeaway one. It sounds deceptively simple, but make sure you've got the right chair for your child. For infants, it's pretty straightforward, but as they get older, you can quickly hit some gray areas. The expert advice, take your time. For example, maybe your six-year-old son is right in between his forward-facing chair and the booster and has been begging for a big boy's seat like his older brother.

Hold out. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, every time your child moves up a stage, they're a little less protected. It's tempting to want to rush through the car seat stages, but we strongly advise you to not because you want to make sure that your child is properly protected for every single car ride. Emily, there's a huge range of price points for car seats and it can be really unnerving, I think. I remember being like, am I a bad mother for not paying $700 for this infant car seat? Why do cost vary so much? So a lot of times the costs can be dependent on, you know, perhaps the types of fabrics that they're using or other materials.

You don't need to have an expensive car seat to have a safe car seat. Now, a more expensive car seat might get you perhaps some more premium fabric choices, maybe some nicer ease of use features. But when it comes down to crash protection, you know, just because you have a lot of, a more expensive seat does not necessarily mean that you get better crash protection. Is it okay to use someone else's car seat or to buy one second hand as long as it's not expired? Our recommendation is that you don't purchase car seats secondhand unless you are getting it from somebody that you really trust that you also know as being truthful about the history of the seat because you want to make sure it's not just about expiration.

You need to check recalls on the seat to make sure there's no open recalls or they've been addressed. You also want to make sure that the car seat hasn't been in a crash. And so, you know, just picking up a seat in a tag sale or, you know, that someone's just put out to the curb or, you know, a discount store or something like that, you're not going to know those things. And so really we don't recommend doing that unless, of course, you can really verify the history of the seat. Takeaway two. You don't have to break the bank to find a safe car seat for your child. luxury options are often just that. They offer features that can make travel for a kid or a parent that much easier.

And that's not insubstantial. Things like a swivel bottom, for example, so you don't have to contort yourself in and out of that tiny back seat. Or more plush padding, magnetic buckle holders. Only you can decide if those things are worth the cost. One great tool for comparing and contrasting is consumer reports car seat ratings. They're free online and based on their own independent lab testing, including crash testing. You can filter by things like ease of use or fit to vehicle and read the pros and cons for lots of different car seats, broken down by experts like Emily.

Just generally speaking, though, Emily says a lot of seats come with additional safety features like flame retardant fabrics or enhanced side impact technology. Not just the fancy ones. The one that I will say probably has the most benefit for crash protection, that we've seen in our testing is what's something called a load leg. So essentially this is a support leg that extends off of the front edge of the infant car seat base to the vehicle floor. And what this feature does is that in the event of a crash, it reduces the forward rotation and motion of the car seat. And so really the car seat is going to bear down on that leg. And as it does that, the leg is really absorbing a lot of the crash energy, which means that there's less crash energy being transferred

to the child in the car seat. The data on this is pretty striking. Depending on the type of car seat, studies have found load legs can reduce the risk of head injury from anywhere from 25 to 65%. Here's another one. A lot of car seats now also come with some sort of belt tensioning or a belt lockoff. This is a feature. Sometimes it'll look like a big clamp or a shoe buckle that ensures your car seat is locked into that seat belt real nice and tight every time.

Where it doesn't move more than one inch side to side or front to back when you pull at that belt path. The one inch rule can be really frustrating sometimes, but it's super important to get right. Imagine if your driver's seat shifted or slid every time you took a big turn or cut a bump on the road. That's what you're trying to avoid happening to your child's car seat. The more secure that installation is, the more tied the car seat is to the vehicle, which means that it's going to work together as a system, and the car seat and the child are going to experience the benefit of the vehicle's crash management systems. The car seats that I have right now, neither one of those have that feature.

And I didn't know that before I bought the car seats. And I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you the pain that I experience every time we have to take those things in and out. Yeah. Okay. What about design features? So something like a no rethread harness is really helpful. As your child grows and you have to change the harness height in the car seat. So a no rethread harness basically just allows for you to make those harness adjustments

so that the harness is fitting your child properly without having to uninstall your car seat. Okay, what about car seat accessories? They sell like cushions to make the car seat level or they have those pads. Sometimes they're made out of cloth or rubber. to protect the backseat. You don't want to ever be using third party or aftermarket accessories with your car seat. So, you know, it's a shame that like when you go to a store and you're in the baby aisle or you're in the car seat aisle, there's like lots of different accessories that you can buy, you know, cute little harness covers or toys for the carry handle and all that kind of stuff.

However, you know, anything that you're adding to your car seat, you're now changing the dynamic performance of the car seat. And so you don't want to be doing that. You don't want to add anything to the carry handles that could turn into projectiles during your crash. So really the recommendation across the industry is to only use the accessories that come with your car seat or that are approved by the car seat manufacturer. I have one of those car seats where the user manual says if it's not quite secure, you can stick something underneath the base of it. And it really worried me. It still worries me because I'm like, I'm making it as secure as I possibly can, but they basically leave it up to a parent's discretion to figure out the best thing to stick under your kid and your car seat. Any advice on how best to go about that?

Yeah. So typically that's, you're going to add a pool noodle or a roll towel when you're trying to achieve the proper recline. There's so much variance in vehicle seat design and in car seat design, right? So having perfect compatibility with the way that our industry and regulations are is not always guaranteed. So if that's what's prescribed by your manufacturer and it will say in the car seat manual, then yes, you know, that's fine. If you're really struggling, many of the manufacturers that you can call their customer service, they have certified car seat technicians available that will like go through your installation. with you, help you with any tips and tricks. So that's really the best advice is follow whatever your manual says. You know, if the manual does not allow for a pool noodle or roll towel, then I would not introduce

it. And I would definitely contact the manufacturer's customer service. All right. So we've gone down the car seat aisle. We know what features might be worth considering and what accessories to leave behind. Now it's time to actually install the thing. When we come back, we'll go over what that should and should not. look like. All right, we're back with Life Kit, and it's time to talk about car seat installation.

If you're apparent to be, maybe at this point you're tempted to tune out. You're thinking, surely the process can't be all that hard. We're going to be great at this. No, we're not. So car seat misuse rates are pretty high. Right now, the postnatal misuse rate is 72% according to this digital dashboard of car seat installations across the country. 72% of people with car seats miss install their car seats. Right. And it could be how it's installed to the vehicle. It could be how they're using it with their child, right, how they're harnessing it. It could even be that they don't have the appropriate car seat for their child's age, height, weight.

Takeaway three. Most people are using their car seats incorrectly. So don't stress if you're confused and don't assume you got it right on the first go. Get your car seat checked by a local expert and feel free to consult another one when you feel unsure or if it's just been a while. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA can offer you resources by zip code. Find them at NHTSA.gov. That's nhtSA.G-O-V. You can also look at Safe Kids, a world.

to find where there's going to be car seat check events in your area. A lot of people think that if you just show up at the fire station or the police department, that somebody's going to be able to check your car seat. That could be the case, but you do want to make sure that they're actually a certified car seat technician, and they know what they're looking for. Now, moving into the most common mistakes that parents make when installing a car seat, there are a lot of them. And Emily has written about this extensively,

So you should definitely look her up for a full breakdown. But generally, we can fit them into a few buckets. First up, the paperwork. Your car seat comes with a few important paper items in addition to all the hardware, so don't accidentally toss them out with the box. One is the card you need to fill out to register your car seat. Take the time to do that first thing, so you can be directly informed about any recalls on your chair.

The other... Hold on to your manual, actually look at it, keep it with your car seat. There is a storage pocket for you. Next, seat tightness. This refers to the installation of the car seat to the car, so that no moving more than an intramed that we were talking about earlier. Emily says often that seatbelt will just be too loose. Another common mistake with seatbelts is using the wrong belt path.

That's where you feed the seatbelt through to connect the car seat to the car. If you're using a convertible or an all-in-one, there's usually one belt path for rear-facing and another for forward-facing. So look closely. Because the belt paths are designed so that depending on which orientation you're using the car seat, it's going to really pull the car seat close to the vehicle seat. So if you're using the wrong belt path, you're introducing more room into the installation, essentially. For front facing seats, make sure to actually attach the tether.

People often look at that part as optional. And for rear facing seats, there's one more hurdle. You want to make sure that you're adjusting the recline of the car seat so that you're, you're, you're, you're in the proper range. This is especially important for small babies, right, where their necks are not strong enough to hold up their heads alone. And so if the car seat is overly upright, their heads are going to flop forward,

and then they're going to obstruct their own breathing. If they're overly reclined, then that can increase their injury risk. Next step, harness height. The rule on this changes depending on which way your child is facing. So if they're still facing the rear, you want to make sure that that harness strap is at or slightly below your child's shoulder where it goes into the car seat. If they're forward facing, it should be at or slightly above your child's shoulder.

You also want to make sure that the harness is snug enough that when you go to pinch the harness webbing at your child's shoulder with like your thumb and your forefinger, you can't actually get any webbing between your finger. Once that harness is tight enough, take a look at the chest clip. That's the extra connection point on each arm strap above the center buckle. You're going to move that chest clip up to armpit level. And what that does is it helps to ensure that the car seat straps stay over your child's shoulder in a crash and help restrain them and keep them within the protection of the car seat show.

And then what about the bottom part of that five part harness? Because I feel like I always hear about the chest clip, but I don't know what his, you know, is their best or worst thing to do with their legs. Yeah. So crotch buckle placement, it's going to be in your own. owner's manual and most will say, you know, it should be close but not underneath the child, right? So you don't want to be where the crotch buckle goes into the car seat shell. That should not be underneath the child. So there's typically multiple slots that that crotch buckle can be in. So you'll make the adjustment appropriately for that. Last step, harness tightness and final checks.

Here's how Emily does it. What I often do is I kind of just press down on the crotch buckle area to remove the slack from around their hips, slide the chest clip all the way down to like where the crotch buckle is, and then tighten the harness strap. Because as you do that, the chest clip's going to ride up anyways. And then you can make the final adjustment. But doing that kind of just allows for you to get all the slack out of the hips first and then get the rest of the slack out of like the torso area. And then you can finally move the chest clip into the right position. And this is no jackets, right? Correct. So you want to make sure that if your child, is, you know, wearing any extra layers or they're wearing a coat that it doesn't introduce any

slack into their harness system. So we typically recommend to not wear coats underneath the car seat harness. So in a crash, you know, that fabric and that puffiness, whatever is going to compress. And so now it's going to create extra room between your child and their harness, which means there's extra room for them to be able to move and not be like fully protected by their car seat. And I understand parents are concerned about, like, you know, keeping their child warm in the car and stuff. And so, you know, for small babies, we recommend after you have them harnessed properly that you can, you know, drape a blanket over their harness. For older kids, and I do this with my own, right, you can put their coat on backwards over their harness. So it's like a blanket, kind of.

And so that can just kind of help with keeping them warm in the car as well. So takeaway four here. There are a lot of ways to incorrectly install your car seat. We only need the top few here. So read your manual, keep it with your car seat, and refer back to it as often as you need. Check that your child is safely secured for every ride, and be sure to check the integrity of your installation every so often. Because another thing to remember is that even a perfect professional install can loosen over time. And growth spurts can hit quick.

Also, all car seats have an expiration date. Most are around 6 to 7 years. Some are up to 10. Emily says that shelf life ensures that all the components of your seat are still up to current safety standards. Which is another reason, by the way, she suggests buying a new car seat and using your own whenever possible. Rather than, say, renting one from a rental car company. Because you just can't know for sure about the crash history of a stranger's car seat. Okay, speaking of car crash.

do you always need to replace your car seat when you get into a crash? Every car seat manufacturer has slightly different guidelines. You should always check what your manufacturer specifies. There's many that say that if it's been in any type of crash, that you should replace the car seats because you can't always see the damage that's been done to the seat. Other manufacturers follow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recommendation for a vehicle has been in a moderate to severe crash. But to be clear, the answer isn't a hard and fast.

Yes, you must replace every car seat for every crash, which was news to me and could save you a nice chunk of change. One more helpful tip for you. What should people consider about their cars before choosing a car seat? Are there certain seats that are more or less compatible with certain cars? So it's challenging because there's so many options and vehicle seat geometries can vary so widely. Right. But ultimately what I tell people is, if you have kids and you're shopping for a car, take your car seats to the dealership. Whatever car you are considering buying, take your car seats with you.

And when you go for your test drive, install your car seats. Make sure that you can actually get them securely installed with the vehicle belt, with the lower anchors. Especially if your kids are rear-facing. Make sure you can get that rear-facing car seat to fit in that rear cabin space. and you are still able to comfortably sit in front of them, whether as the driver or the front passenger. Those are all important things that you need to know before making that vehicle decision.

And that's in keeping with our last takeaway. Number five. Always choose safety over convenience or what other people think you should be doing. Set the same standard no matter where you are or who you're driving with. Just having that consistency in the safety messaging for your child is also really key, right?

So like, you know, even if they're just, doing a short car ride down the road, right, to grandma's house or whatever, like, it's still the same rules. Everybody buckles up. Everybody is, you know, properly restrained. Final thoughts, words of advice, words of comfort for all the very tired parents out there on their car seat journeys. Ultimately, parents have a lot going on. This is something that, like, is super important. So take the time. Educate yourself. I know it's It's inconvenient. I know it's hard. You're doing great. And what you didn't know before, that's okay. Emily, thank you for that. I needed that today. Emily A. Thomas, such a pleasure.

Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me. All right, let's throw it in a verse and go back through what we learn. Takeaway one. Make sure you have the appropriate chair for your child. Every stage up means a little less protection. So if your kid is in between stages, up for the lower one. Takeaway two, you don't have to break the bank to find a safe car seat for your child. If you're looking for special features to separate one car seat from another, here are Emily's fix. A load leg, a no-rethread harness, and seats with a belt lock or belt tensioning. I second that last recommendation by like infinity, by the way. Takeaway three, most people are using their car seats incorrectly. So please do yourself and your family a favor. Put on your seatbelt,

and then go and get that chair checked by an expert. Takeway four, know the common seat installation mistakes and keep your kid as safe as possible. Rate your manual, keep it with your car seat, check your kids fit every time, and take the time to make adjustments before you get moving. And finally, takeaway five, choose safety over convenience. That means maintaining a safety standard that applies no matter where you are, who your kid is driving with, or how short the ride. We'll all be safer for that in the long run. That was reporter Andy Tagle. By the way, I know you're listening to an episode about car seat safety,

but did you know Life Kit covers so much more? Money, mental health, cooking, your career, you name it. The best way to never miss an episode, tap the follow button now. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider. Our digital editor is Malika Garib, and Megan Cain is our senior supervising editor. Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Margaret Serino, Sylvie Douglas, and Mika Ellison.

Engineering support comes from Damian Herring. Fact-checking by Tyler Jones. I'm Mariel Segarra. Thanks for listening.