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The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts: How to Install Forward-Facing Car Seats With a Seat Belt

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      Hi, there. If you're watching this video, it's probably because there's a child in your life who's ready to leave their rear facing car seat behind, make an about face, and move into a forward-facing car seat secured by a seatbelt. And you probably have questions about how to make that change safely. Well, that's why I'm here. Hi, I'm Ava, and this is the Strong4Life Car Seat Safety Lab. Let's get into it. Forward march. Even if you've dealt with rear facing car seats using a seatbelt before, you still need to-- drum roll,

      (Describer) She plops in a chair.

      read the manual. Yeah, I know. But there are key differences between rear facing and forward- facing car seat models. Even those that install the same way, don't assume anything. For instance, all forward-facing car seats have a tether anchor like this.

      (Describer) A long belt with a hook.

      It goes up and over your vehicle seat, but check your vehicle's manual because some recommend going over the headrest while others favor going underneath it. Any car made after 2003 will have at least three of these tether anchors, and you should check your vehicle's manual to find exactly where they are. Clip the tether anchor into place and tighten. Next, thread the seatbelt through the belt path. Lock it and tighten that too. Your car seat and vehicle manuals will have instructions on how to do this correctly. When you're done, the car seat shouldn't move more than one inch side to side or front to back on the belt path. That's looking good. If you're using a convertible car seat like this, the belt path might be different if it's positioned as forward facing versus rear facing. Now that we've secured a car seat, it's time to learn how to safely buckle the child into one. -I'm ready, are you? -Yes. -Are you excited? -Yes. Let's go, come on.

      (Ava) Make sure your child's harness straps are in a position at or slightly above their shoulders then buckle them in. To make sure the harness is snug, do a pinch test. If you can pinch the harness up at the shoulders or hips like this, then it's too loose. We have to tighten it up. The chest clip should be at armpit level.

      (Describer) Now, she's unable to pinch.

      Perfect. And that's all there is to it. Ride safe and happy everyone. I'll see you next time. Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

      (Describer) Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

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      Now Playing As: English with English captions (change)

      Learn how to install a child’s forward-facing car seat using the vehicle’s seat belt. Host Ava provides step-by-step instructions and demonstrations from the Car Seat Safety Lab. Part of "The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts" series.

      Media Details

      Runtime: 2 minutes 35 seconds

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      Still image from: The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts: Car Seat Safety for Kids
      The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts
      Episode 1
      1 minutes 34 seconds
      Grade Level: PT/TT
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      Episode 2
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      Episode 3
      2 minutes 46 seconds
      Grade Level: PT/TT
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      Still image from: The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts: How to Install Rear-Facing Car Seats With a Seat Belt
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      Episode 4
      3 minutes 3 seconds
      Grade Level: PT/TT
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      Still image from: The Complete Guide to Car Seats and Seat Belts: Forward-Facing Car Seat Safety Tips
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      Episode 5
      1 minutes 50 seconds
      Grade Level: PT/TT
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