q about infant car seats and shoulders

aisraeltax · Nov 15, 2009

someone said the following, and i have never heard of this before. is there any truth to it?

here is the stmt:
\
" The infant bucket carrier is only for
babies who can not lift their heads....the weight is only part of the
safety feature..our problem was height. If the child's shoulders are
above the top holes in the back of the seat, where the belts come
out, they are too big for the seat, regardless of weight.

I come by this information from a police friend of mine who has the
unfortunate job of investigating child deaths in car accidents. "

InternationalMama · Nov 15, 2009

The person seems confused. If the child's shoulders are above the top harness slots when riding forward facing then they are too big for the seat. It seems like they think this is also true rear facing, which it isn't. However, they are correct that height does matter just as weight does since you have to think about how much hard shell is left. Of course you know that.

LISmama810 · Nov 15, 2009

No truth to it whatsoever. Sounds like someone has some information confused.

The harness MUST come from below (or just at) the shoulders in an infant seat.

It's only forward-facing that a seat is outgrown when the shoulders go over the top slots. Forward-facing, the harness must be at or ABOVE the shoulders.

As for a kid not being able to lift his/her head: For an infant without good head control, the seat must be reclined to a 45-degree angle. After that, the seat CAN be more upright, but doesn't have to be.

A child can remain in an infant seat--regardless of age or developmental level--until he/she reaches the weight limit, the height limit, or (usually) has less than an inch of shell over his/her head.

InternationalMama · Nov 15, 2009

LISmama810 said:
The harness MUST come from below (or just at) the shoulders in an infant seat.

If you think about it if this person was correct it would mean that the top harness slot would be totally useless, just there for decoration since by the time you reach it the seat is outgrown.

LISmama810 · Nov 15, 2009

InternationalMama said:
If you think about it if this person was correct it would mean that the top harness slot would be totally useless, just there for decoration since by the time you reach it the seat is outgrown.

Right--which is why I'm assuming that this person thinks that the harness must be at or above for rear-facing, too. Hopefully this officer just does accident investigation and doesn't give car seat advice. (Well, actually, I guess he DOES give car seat advice, otherwise we wouldn't have the statement from the OP.)

aisraeltax · Nov 15, 2009

LISmama810 said:
No truth to it whatsoever. Sounds like someone has some information confused.

The harness MUST come from below (or just at) the shoulders in an infant seat.

It's only forward-facing that a seat is outgrown when the shoulders go over the top slots. Forward-facing, the harness must be at or ABOVE the shoulders.

As for a kid not being able to lift his/her head: For an infant without good head control, the seat must be reclined to a 45-degree angle. After that, the seat CAN be more upright, but doesn't have to be.

A child can remain in an infant seat--regardless of age or developmental level--until he/she reaches the weight limit, the height limit, or (usually) has less than an inch of shell over his/her head.

do you mind if i quote you?

LISmama810 · Nov 15, 2009

Please do! :thumbsup:

ketchupqueen · Nov 15, 2009

The only reason I could think of that they might be correct is if they are not in North America-- some European infant seats, especially older ones, have the rule that the slots must be above the shoulders.

InternationalMama · Nov 15, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
The only reason I could think of that they might be correct is if they are not in North America-- some European infant seats, especially older ones, have the rule that the slots must be above the shoulders.

Oh, this is true! My friend in NZ has a car seat where the slots have to be above the shoulders even for rear facing. I really don't understand that from the perspective of crash dynamics.

safeinthecar · Nov 15, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
The only reason I could think of that they might be correct is if they are not in North America-- some European infant seats, especially older ones, have the rule that the slots must be above the shoulders.

There have been infant seats in the US that are "at or above". The Fisher Price Safe Embrace Infant was one of them.

aisraeltax · Nov 15, 2009

this is a USA issue

q about infant car seats and shoulders

aisraeltax

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LISmama810

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