Car Seat Safety with Graco

When was the last time that you brushed up on car seat safety. C’mon, be honest!!

I will be the first one to admit that it’s been FAR too long. Most of the time we operate on PURE coffee and not much sleep. Our life is run by little humans and their routines and mood. Half the time we can’t even process a full thought before we forget what in the heck we are talking about mid-sentence.

Getting our kids into the car is something that we do on the daily. More often than not, it’s not a FUN task, hello temper tantrums, sibling fights and being late pretty much ALWAYS. In between three buckets of sweat, half a broken back and a bruise on your head, I personally just want to get the heck out of the house and get going!

So, now that we have all admitted that YES we have been there and maybe had a giggle or two thinking about our life that is CHAOS, let’s talk safety. Do you know what the “pinch test” or the “1 inch test” is (if you don’t, I’ll explain below) and if you do, do you do it??

DID YOU KNOW that Transport Canada’s installation guide for Rear-Facing Car Seats says children are safest in rear-facing car seats as long as the child is still below height and weight limits of the car seat.

I have to say that there are a lot of car seat brands out there, but with a little home work you will notice that not all of them have the same specs.

I love that our Graco Extend2Fit Car Seat features a 4-position extension panel that provides 5″ of extra legroom, allowing your child to ride rear facing for longer. FYI the extension panel should ONLY be used when rear facing.

With the Graco Extend2Fit Car Seat you can keep your infant and toddler rear facing from 1.8 kg (4lbs) to 22.5 kg (50lbs) and your toddler forward facing from 10kg (22lbs) to 30kg (65lbs)

Now if you are like us, our car seats get taking in and out of quite often, between car swaps and school pick ups and what not the carseats get installed and reinstalled AT LEAST once a week over here.

SO if you wanted to brush up on some car installation tips here are a few good to knows.

• Since all car seats are different make sure you read the instructions before you try and install the car seat to make sure you are keeping your child as safe as possible.
• Harness height should be at or below child’s shoulders for rear facing and at or above childs shoulders for forward facing.
• When tightening the harness straps, check at your child’s collarbone to ensure you are unable to pinch any excess webbing.
• Chest clip height should be at level with childs armpits.
• 1″ inch test. When installing the carseat don’t forget to check, using your non-dominant hand at the belt path, to ensure it does not move more than an inch left to right or front to back for a secure installation.
• Make sure the car seat base is a minimum of 80% on the vehicle seat. Graco actually has indicator markers on their car seats for the 80/20 making it easy to know the allowable amount of overhang.

Lastly if you are shopping for a car seat, there are so many brands and types available that it can TRULY get overwhelming.

I have to attest that Graco Extend2Fit has been such an excellent choice for us and has kept our babies safe day in and day out! Graco products put safety, comfort and ease-of-use at the forefront and they are a brand all parents can TRULY trust and rest assured they are getting the best product so you can relax and focus on loving your babies.

This post is sponsored by Graco, all thoughts and opinions are my own.