New parents spend nine months meticulously preparing for the arrival of their child. With cribs, diapers and baby-proofing the house, car seats are probably the last thing on their minds. Before you or your child can enjoy all your preparations, though, you have to get them home.  This means your car seat will probably be one the first of your purchases that you use. Of course you want a car seat that has cool features and will last you a long time, but all the safety features in the world aren’t going to help if you don’t know how to properly install the seat.

Whether your child is just coming home from the hospital or needs a ride to her first day of kindergarten, you have to make sure that you are using the right seat. There is a handy article on what type of seat you should be using here. One thing you should be careful about, though, is purchasing a used seat (or continuing to use a seat after you have been in an accident.) A seat that has been damaged may not be able to protect your child, and if you are unsure about the history of the seat that you are using you should try to find another one.

The first thing you should do after purchasing a seat is get out the manual for BOTH the car and the seat. In fact, you should already have read the section on child safety in your car manual to be sure that you purchased a seat that will work with your car. These two places are where you are going to get the most direct and specific information about how to use your car seat. Rather than struggle and guess with how your seat and car work together, go straight to the source and find out.

The most important factor when installing a car seat is making sure that it is held tightly. If you have installed in properly, you should not be able to rock the car seat freely. You can try the method laid out in this video, which involves rocking the seat back and forth until the belt is tight around it. [+ show]

You should use the LATCH system, if your car has it, but make sure that you are using it properly. If your car seat is convertible style, you probably will only be able to use the LATCH system on certain stages of the seat.

What is LATCH? [+ show]

The best way to make sure that you understand car safety as it pertains to your child and that your car seat is installed correctly is to attend a class or make an appointment with a professional. These events usually last about half an hour and can be very informative and help you to keep your child safe as possible in the car.