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How To Mount A Child Seat

Although it may seem like child's play, mounting a child seat can sometimes prove annoyingly difficult for the all-prepared parents. Getting it right may take a few tries but, take it from us, mounting it correctly is as important as your daily Vitamin C and Calcium intake, if not greater. Before fitting a child-seat into your car, be sure to check for any Isofix/Latch systems. These are modern standardized fixtures that require special mount seats that are safer than the older but still on-going seat-belt&buckle strapping methods.

Isofix and Latch mounts can be found on most cars built after 1999 so checking for one should be real easy. Forget the car's technical sheet and go for rear-bench placed clues: although not particularly obvious, the existence of Isofix/Latch inside your car should be highlighted through badges in the surrounding rear-seating area.

If you don't own a child seat yet and want to purchase one, there are a few details much worthy of taking into consideration.

-Find a specialized car-seat retailer and head down there with the car you're planning to mount the child seat into.

-Ask for professional help in order to choose the right seat. Always take into consideration the baby's weight. This should never be forgotten as choosing a seat too light may not only be an utterly wrong choice but could also seriously threaten the safety of the baby.

-Be sure to ask for installing instructions, watch the employe closely while it demonstrates the correct way of  mounting the seat then try doing it yourself under his/her supervision.

-Always check for an EU/US safety standard compliance sticker/badge on the seat, this way you'll know you're buying the right stuff.

-Don't forget the instructions manual and use it. Check and double check every detail.

These recommendations should be enough to aid you into making the right choice. However, if for some reason you don't go through with all of them in the given order, here's a few pointers on how to get the job done without having to got through too much hassle. Things are really easy with the Isofix/Latch since one has to only take the seat and socket it into the two middle-rear bench located  mounts. The seat is actually a seating ensemble comprising a mounting plate and the actual bucket-shaped baby-crib.

Take the mounting plate and plug it into the middle rear-bench located Isofix/Latch sockets. If put in properly you should notice two green parts on both side of the plate sticking out form the contact points. Once this stage has been completed, proceed to adjust the height of the plate's vertical bar. The right height of the bar should also be signaled through a third green sign. Be sure the plate is in place and leveled with the rear bench after which, simply take the seat and click it in. Voila, you're done but not entirely.

Once the baby's suite is all set, make sure he/she tries it out. All such seats come with a special harness with extra padding. Check for proper lock functioning and that there's enough room in between the shoulder padding and the baby: the child should fit in snugly not be squeezed.

The absence of Isofix/Latch sockets in your car make matters a bit more difficult but not strenuous as some my think. Following the same selection criteria as above, choose the right seat and move on to mounting it. To do this, place the seat on the rear bench and check for full seat-bench contact. Take the closest seatbelt, extend it to its maximum length, fold it and place it across the seat. While still holding the folded part of the belt, plug it. Next, release the folded part and pull it around the chair. Fix it into the special seat guides (usually differently colored) and let go. By now, you should have properly anchored the seat. Check if you have done so by pulling and pushing the chair and double-check every socket and guide contact point.

Further more, make sure that no objects or buckles are caught between the seat and safety built as hard parts can shatter on impact and put your baby in danger. If you're not sure on whether you've correctly mounted the child seat, ask for help or go through the instructions manual again. If you still think fitting one is hard, try building a tree house, that should make you change your mind.
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