Most Common Mistakes?

Valentine

New member
I've always heard that 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly. Or is it that 80% are used incorrectly? I'm not sure. In any case, there is a lot of user-error when it comes to car seats. Techs, and civilians too (;)), in your experiences, what are the most common mistakes that you see parents making?

A simple example of my own mistake is when we installed our MAs the other night, we routed the seat-belt over the crotch strap instead of under. Luckily I realized it before my son rode in the seat. As for friends and family, I don't get to see their seat usage too much, but I think most people I know turn foward-facing too soon and move to a booster too soon. (Well, not according to the law, maybe.)

Share your own. I'm interested in being familiar with the most common pitfalls of installation and usage so I can be sure to avoid them! Thanks!
 
ADS

Mama!

New member
The most common ones I see are..

Incorrect install with too loose vehicle straps.

Twisted/extremely loose straps.

Turned FF too soon.
 

lovinwaves

New member
Installed incorrectly:

Installed loosely
No top tether being used
Wrong beltpath
Using LATCH in middle position when it isn't allowed


Used incorrectly:

Loose straps
aftermarket accessories
wrong harness slots
twisted straps
outgrown seat
 

munchkin

Active member
When my niece and nephew are with their parents they have

loose straps (really loose, so much so that my niece hates riding with me when I put the straps on snug, but not tight)
belly clips
wrong harness slots
aftermarket products
Nephew's infant seat is tether RF to get the correct angle :eek:
Niece's (almost 3) carseat is in the front seat, so she can sit next to daddy :eek:

I have tried so many times, but they won't listen.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
Aside from what's been posted already, I also see a fair number of carseats that are installed with the seatbelt, but it's not locked. Mostly this is parents who've owned older vehicles and are used to locking latchplates, and they are shocked and amazed when I show them how to lock the retractor in their "new" car by pulling the seat belt all the way out.

I've also seen a few FF seats with the RF beltpath. In each case this was because the parent had read the manual when they first got the seat, but focused on the RF instructions. Then when they turned the carseat, they didn't even think about moving the LATCH strap to the FF beltpath, because it's "attached" to the seat and seems immovable. :thumbsdown:
 

mamaofthree

New member
I'll use my sis for an example:
She always FF her kids too soon, loose installation, very loose and twisted harness straps, prob expired hand me down seats too. Ugh!!!

Kimberly
 

mamaofthree

New member
Aside from what's been posted already, I also see a fair number of carseats that are installed with the seatbelt, but it's not locked. Mostly this is parents who've owned older vehicles and are used to locking latchplates, and they are shocked and amazed when I show them how to lock the retractor in their "new" car by pulling the seat belt all the way out.

I've also seen a few FF seats with the RF beltpath. In each case this was because the parent had read the manual when they first got the seat, but focused on the RF instructions. Then when they turned the carseat, they didn't even think about moving the LATCH strap to the FF beltpath, because it's "attached" to the seat and seems immovable. :thumbsdown:

Are Britaxes the only seats that require moving the LATCH straps? I don't remember doing that when turning my Triumph FF.

Kimberly
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
ALL seats need to have the LATCH straps moved from the RFing beltpath to the FFing beltpath. :)

Yep - the only difference being the Marathon needs to have them swapped under the cover, from one side of the bar to the other, so that they're not upside down; otherwise, all convertible seats have two separate beltpaths and you have to switch from one to the other.

It's usually just a matter of shoving the hooks under the cover and out the other beltpath, so you might not remember it being that difficult. It's just that the LATCH strap is connected to the seat under the cover, so it just never occurs to many parents that they can move it, particularly if this is their first child and they're not familiar with the fact that convertible seats have two different beltpaths. If you knew that already, though, it wouldn't be confusing to you.
 

zactayaus

Well-known member
I'm not a tech but would like to become one soon.
Some of the mistakes I have seen with my friends were:
Having the seat FF with the lap shoulder belt in the RF belt path. I immediately unbuckled her seat and showed her were the seat belt needed to be and showed her how to get a rock solid fit. My friend was extremely grateful and whenever she has to remove her seat for some reason she always has me check it. On the other hand I have another friend who no matter how many times I try to correct her she insist on doing it her way. Every time she comes over I walk her daughter out to ther car when it is time for them to leave and I untwist the harness put her in the seat and pull the harness tightly. I always tell her the straps need to be untwisted and tight. Yet the next time I see them if I meet them in my driveway her daughter will be in twisted loose harness with the chest clip way down at her stomach! I can't get through. She has since been move to a backless booster. Yikes! At 36lbs and 39". After some persuasion she is now in a backless booster. You just can't win them all the time.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Wrong slot straps. Loose straps. Lower anchors but no top tether.

I've seen this more than usual lately (still not among the most common, though), and I'm not really sure why -- but seatbelt *and* LATCH.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
I've seen this more than usual lately (still not among the most common, though), and I'm not really sure why -- but seatbelt *and* LATCH.

Ah, that one's easy. We've been culturally training people to trust seat belts for decades now - most people think of seat belts as being almost magically capable of protecting them in wreck. Add to that, there's a lot of parents who started out using seat belts for carseats, so switching to LATCH is very new and strange to them (I was one of them!) Even if they're happy with LATCH once they get it figured out, it just *looks* wrong to them. They look at the carseat, they wiggle it, they know it's in there just like the instructions said... but it's held in by two little hooks that you can't even really see. So they think "Are we SURE that's safe? Hmm... I dunno. Hey, let's just add the seat belt, just in case! That way if this crazy new-fangled LATCH thing fails, the seat belt will save him!"
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Oh, I understand why people do it -- I just don't understand why I've seen a lot more of it in the past, say, six weeks. It may just be an anomaly, but I was kinda wondering if there was something on youtube or tv recently that put it into peoples' heads.
 

Amaris

New member
It seems like a lot of cars that I look in around here have seats installed with both the seatbelt and latch.
 

sfeitler

Member
Seat installed too loose.
Straps too loose--this is the one I see so, so often.
Chest clip too low.
Harness straps at the wrong level--I have a friend who mixed up RF and FF heights, thought the straps needed to be at or BELOW for FF. I learn this when her daughter is 3.5 and has been FF for a while... Yikes...
Using an expired seat.
Not locking the seat belt.
Not having all the required parts on the seat--same friend above didn't have HUGs on the MA harness.
Too much padding in the seat
Handle up on an infant seat that doesn't allow it
Not using the tether. Not technically required in the U.S., at least not with a seatbelt install, but still a good idea, kwim?
Child over the weight or height limit.

-Sarah
 

CRS

Senior Community Member
Let me think..

* Not using the splitter metal plate at the back and just tying the harness straps together in a knot (you wont believe how many times I've seen that one!)
* Putting the child in the seat, doing up the harness and putting the seatbelt arounddddddd the seat (seen that one a lot).
* I see a lot of FF infant seats, a few with no handles, no harness system etc
* Broken expired seats, seats with no covers, basically a piece of plastic junk
* Using a convertible car seat as a booster seat
* I see a lot of forward-facing six month olds, but that's technically not illegal or misuse (depending on the seat of course) where I am.
* Have also seen quite a few one year olds in booster seats
 

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