As Today in St. Louis anchor Allie Corey gets closer to welcoming her first child at the beginning of May, she’s sharing all the parenting tips she’s had to learn along the way.
Kicking off the ‘bump day’ series, that airs every Wednesday, is car seat safety.
Here are the main take-aways for first-time parents when it comes to installing a car seat:
- Make sure the car seat is level. There should be a bubble line on the sides of the seat for reference.
- Car seat should be rear-facing.
- Use seat belt or latch anchors to strap in base of seat. Once you buckle or latch, push down on seat to tighten belt. Seat should not move more than an inch.
- When putting your child in the seat, make sure their butt is all the way back in the seat, so they have an open airway.
- Once you buckle them in, tighten the strap located at the bottom of the seat.
- You should not be able to pinch any slack in the shoulder straps.
- Children should remain rear facing as long as possible.
- Once they grow out of the infant seat, you should switch to a convertible seat. Some can seat kids up to 75 pounds.
- Kids 4-7 can be forward facing. Kids 12 and under should remain buckled in the back seat.
For more information, click here.
To get free help with installing your car seat, you can visit any of four Safety Stop locations in our area.
You must make an appointment to use Safety Stop by calling 314-454-KIDS.
Safety Stop has four locations:
- St. Louis Children’s Hospital off Kingshighway Blvd. (2nd floor of Children’s parking garage)
- St. Louis Children’s Specialty Care Center at Hwy 64 and Mason Rd.
- The Magic House, 516 S. Kirkwood Rd.
- Progress West Hospital, 2 Progress Point Parkway, O’Fallon Mo.
You can always visit your local fire department for help as well. Just call ahead to be sure they have a certified expert to help.