safety first complete air questions

sweetpeamami83 · Aug 10, 2012

I have a few questions my cousin has her 10mo rear facing in a safety first complete air. her husband did the install. I noticed that he installed it with a seat belt and used the locking clip. the locking clip is not even on right (not placed right next to the buckle) plus they have a newer van so I don't think they need the locking clip since the seat belts have a locking mechanism already. also to get the proper recline they have a big gap between the bottom front of the seat and the seat of the car is this ok or should they fill that space with a pool noodle?

Brigala · Aug 10, 2012

sweetpeamami83 said:
the locking clip is not even on right (not placed right next to the buckle)

How far from the buckle is it? It should be within 1/2 inch. That's a pretty simple thing to fix.

plus they have a newer van so I don't think they need the locking clip since the seat belts have a locking mechanism already.

Sometimes parents choose to use a locking clip anyway. If it's used correctly, that's acceptable. In some vehicles, the locking seat belt may cause a car seat to tip to the side, and that's annoying and can cause uneven wear on the vehicle seat. I recently switched from locking the seat belt in my Suburban to using a locking clip for this reason.

also to get the proper recline they have a big gap between the bottom front of the seat and the seat of the car is this ok or should they fill that space with a pool noodle?

It is not necessary to fill the gap as long as the seat is in there tightly and it doesn't move more than 1" at the belt path in any direction when reasonable force is applied (reasonable force is usually defined as using your non-dominant hand and giving it a strong tug/push).