Infant car seats: Get the right angle

It’s important to get the right angle when you install your child’s infant seat. Installation procedures vary from model to model, so you’ll need to read and follow the instructions in the manual that came with your particular seat and car. If you are at all unsure about whether you’re installing it correctly, you can have it checked by a certified child-passenger safety seat technician. (To find one in your area, call your local police department or go to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator.)

Your rear-facing infant car seat should be tilted just enough for your baby to lay her head back comfortably, typically around 45 degrees. If she’s sitting too upright, her head could drop forward cutting off her airway. However, if her head is too far back, you’ll create the risk of absorbing the forces of a crash in the head, neck, and shoulders. As your baby develops more neck strength and is able to hold her head up, the seat can be in a more upright position; if her head falls forward, you’ll know the seat is not tilted back enough.

Why Consumer Reports Still Says Don’t Buy the Orbit Infant Car Seat

Last week we reported that Consumer Reports stands behind our earlier judgment that the Orbit Infant Car Seat poses a safety risk and warrants a Don’t Buy Rating, even though government tests now show the seat meets federal safety standards. The manufacturer and a few others have questioned our position, arguing that we should change our rating on the seat. Here’s a short answer that explains why we won’t – and a series of longer answers that should provide plenty of detail for those who are interested.

The short answer is simple: Consumer Reports has tested child car seats since 1972, and we take any failures seriously. In the past year alone, we’ve tested 31 different child and infant car seats. Of those, the Orbit Infant Car Seat was the only one that failed our tests. Two out of six Orbit seats detached from their bases in our simulated 30 mph frontal crash tests. We have examined our methodology in detail and believe our tests were properly conducted. We’re concerned about the seat’s safety, and do not feel comfortable recommending it to parents because – when it comes to child safety – we believe no failure is acceptable.

It’s not the first time that Consumer Reports’ view on safety has differed from that of a manufacturer or the government. These differences aren’t surprising given our respective roles in the marketplace. Consumer Reports does not certify that products meet federal safety requirements—that’s the manufacturer’s responsibility. Nor do we conduct compliance testing to confirm that products are legally fit for sale—that’s for the government to do. Consumer Reports independently compares how well products perform from a consumer perspective. And when we find a product that we believe poses a hazard, we advise you not to buy it.

For those who want to know more about how our tests were conducted, why we disagree with the manufacturer’s objections about our methodology, and why we are sticking with our Don’t Buy Rating, see the detailed questions and answers below.

Where did CR get the Orbit Infant Car Seats for its tests?
How were the seats tested?
How did the seats perform?
What does a CR “Don’t Buy” Rating mean?
What has the manufacturer said?
How did CR handle the seat installation?
What has NHTSA said about CR's installation?
What have other experts said about CR’s tests?
Why has CR decided not to run additional tests?
What are our testers' qualifications?
What’s CR’s experience testing car seats?
How did these tests differ from our 2007 car seat tests?
How did the seat perform in NHTSA’s tests?
What does it mean to “pass” the government test?
Are there safe alternatives to this seat?
What should I do if I own the seat?
Are other Orbit Baby products safe?

Where did CR get the Orbit Infant Car Seats for its tests?
All of the Orbit Infant Car Seats used in our tests were bought anonymously by Consumer Reports at retail. Consistent with our policy, we do not rate samples provided by manufacturers. We pay for them the same way you do.

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How were the seats tested?
Orbit Infant Car Seats were tested at an outside lab that specializes in car seat testing. The same lab is used by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) for car seat testing, and was used in the government’s recent tests of the Orbit Infant Car Seats. It was also used by Orbit Baby for the manufacturer’s seat tests.

Simulated crash tests of the rear-facing infant seats were closely supervised by our program manager of vehicle and child safety Jennifer Stockburger and automotive safety engineer Michelle Tsai, both of whom are engineers and certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) technicians. Tests were overseen by the manager at the outside lab, who is also CPS certified, and conducted by other trained lab technicians.

These are the same tests that Consumer Reports routinely performs when evaluating car seats. We have a 37-year history of testing car seats and in the last year tested 31 seat models, including the Orbit seat (15 infant and 16 convertible car seats). (See What's CR's experience testing car seats?) We conducted the tests using the manufacturer’s instructions on seat installation. And we were guided by specific standards for speed and impact crash simulations in the federal standard for child restraints (the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard—FMVSS 213). Our crash tests simulated a head-on 30-mph crash and used a 22-pound CRABI dummy, which represents a 12-month-old child.

Three Orbit seats were tested using the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system to install the base. We also installed two seats using a 3-point (lap-and-shoulder) seat belt. And finally one seat was tested with just a lap belt.

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How did the seats perform?
We saw failures with the Orbit Infant Car Seats in two out of six tests: Once when the car seat base was attached using the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system, and again in one of the instances when the base was installed with the 3-point (lap-and-shoulder) seat belt. We tested two seats as part of our normal test procedure. When one seat detached from its base, we purchased another four seats to see if the failure was reproducible – and we did see a second failure in one of the four seats.

The point of failure with the Orbit seat occurred when the carrier detached from its seat base in two test runs.

Diagram of the Orbit Infant Car Seat shows point of failure between the seat and the base

In all six of our simulated crashes, the Orbit seat base remained attached to the sled bench. (The sled bench is used in simulated crash tests as a requirement to meet government standards, and substitutes for a vehicle seat.)

Time-lapse photos of the Orbit Infant Car Seat shot during one of CR's two failed tests show the seat separating from its base

The four other Orbit seats did not detach from their bases. And neither did two samples from each of the other models tested in this batch of infant travel systems, the Graco Stylus and the Eddie Bauer Adventurer.

Based on those two failures, Consumer Reports rated the Orbit Infant System Don’t Buy: Safety Risk.

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What does a CR “Don’t Buy” Rating mean?
Consumer Reports’ tests are designed to help parents to make decisions about which car seats to buy. We test seats for crash protection, guided by minimum standards for speed and crash dynamics used in government tests. We also compare car seats in terms of how well they perform in areas such as “ease of use” and “fit to vehicle.” We give car seats an overall Rating that tells you which seats may be a good value for your family. Don’t Buy: Safety Risk is our strongest negative recommendation, and indicates our opinion that there is a serious safety risk. In this case, it means we don’t recommend the Orbit Infant Car Seat.

Our view is that when it comes to safety, no test failure is acceptable—and that’s especially so where child safety is concerned. Of the 15 infant seat models we have tested this year using in each case the same minimum standard, simulated frontal impact tests, and conducted in the same specialized lab, the Orbit Infant Car Seat was the only one of the samples we bought and tested that detached from its base.

Another reason the failures raise such serious concerns for us is that the tests run by Consumer Reports followed minimum standards for safety. We conducted simulated frontal crash tests at 30 mph, the speed required by government standards. But other safety tests go beyond those parameters. For example, when the government evaluates the crashworthiness of vehicles and assesses the effects of frontal impacts on adult passengers as part of the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), it conducts crash tests at 35 mph. Though child seats are not normally included in NCAP car evaluations, when they have been, some child restraint recalls have been initiated based on seat failures in these tests even when those same seats met conditions of the minimum FMVSS 213 standard. Consumer Reports believes that seats with a sufficient safety margin should consistently pass tests run at the minimum standard for speed, and also perform well in tests conducted at slightly higher speeds seen in some real-world crashes.

Note that Consumer Reports’ Don’t Buy Rating doesn’t necessarily mean that a seat has failed to comply with government safety standards. The manufacturer is responsible for testing to ensure its seats meet the government standards. And only the government can set those standards and confirm that a particular seat passes or fails. (See How did the seat perform in NHTSA’s tests? and What does it mean to “pass” the government test?)

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What has the manufacturer said?
We notified Orbit Baby, the manufacturer based in Newark, Calif., of our findings before we published the results and invited the company to review our test procedures and findings at our Yonkers headquarters. Following that review, Orbit Baby’s chief executive officer, Joseph Hei, said in an e-mailed statement: “Orbit Baby has never received any report of a child being injured while in an Orbit baby seat. We do not believe the test results obtained by Consumers Union are indicative of the safety of our Infant Car seats. Our car seats are used by children, including our own, and safety is our top priority. We strongly believe in the quality of our product.”

The company said that it had run extensive and regular compliance testing in the past in the same independent lab used by Consumer Reports, and that every seat had passed. It also said that upon being notified of our test results, it had conducted more tests at the same lab to see if they could replicate our findings, and found no failures.

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How did CR handle the seat installation?
Orbit Baby has raised concerns about the way seats were installed in our tests, and suggested this may have led to our observed seat failures. We respectfully disagree with the manufacturer’s suggestion that our tests were not properly conducted.

Click to view the base label

The manufacturer raised two specific concerns about our testing: The first has to do with the fact that we did not use the patented StrongArm mechanism when installing the base. The Orbit instructions say to turn the StrongArm knob to amplify your strength when tightening the seat belts that secure the base, and note that the belt has reached “the optimal tightness setting” when the seat base does not move more than one inch in any direction. The installation directions on the seat base direct as follows: “If the base moves more than 1 inch, turn the StrongArm clockwise or reinstall the Base according to the instruction manual.” (See left.) In each of our tests, lab personnel checked to see that the base met the 1-inch movement criteria and was at “optimal” tightness without needing to use the StrongArm.FMVSS 213 also dictates a required tension range for the belts used to attach the seat base to the bench (12 to 15 lbs). Lab personnel installed the Orbit bases to meet that requirement as well, again without needing to use the StrongArm.

Some Orbit Infant System owners have commented on our blogs and said that they don’t understand how we installed the base securely without using the StrongArm feature.

1) Sled bench used for our Orbit Baby tests. 2) A back-view of the sled bench seats shows the belts used to secure the base

While it may be helpful or necessary to use the StrongArm to ensure that the base can move no more than one inch in any direction when the seat is installed in a car, our lab tests are conducted using the federally mandated sled bench. The bench enables easier access to the belts (including from behind the seat) and is softer and flatter than many vehicle seats. These design features often make it easier to install child seats on the sled bench than in a real car. We confirmed that our installation met the optimal installation outlined in the Orbit manual and the tension requirements of the federal standard.

A photo from one of our test installation shows the top harness slot position used by CR. Testers judged it appropriate to use the top harness slot with a clothed 12-month CRABI dummy

The manufacturer also said our testers had used the wrong position for the harness strap that holds the infant in the carrier. Specifically, Orbit claims that we should have used the middle harness slot position. The harness was positioned in the top slots for all of our six tests. The Orbit instruction manual and instructions for all rear facing seats state that the straps should be positioned “even with or just below” the child’s shoulders. The dummy required by the FMVSS 213 for rear facing child seats is a clothed 12-Month CRABI dummy. Test lab personnel and our CPS technicians judged that it was appropriate to use the highest of the three strap positions to meet the Orbit guidelines for this CRABI dummy.

Based on the details outlined above, again we respectfully disagree with the manufacturer’s claims that we didn’t follow the instructions. We believe that installing the seat as described above should not cause the seat to fail a minimum standard test—and if it does, we think there’s a problem with the seat.

Car-seat installation in the real world is not an exact science. Installation can vary from family to family, and car to car. And the top three installation issues for parents include choosing the correct harness position and tension and getting sufficient vehicle-belt tension. (See NHTSA's research on this issue.) Parents have a right to expect that seats will be engineered with enough margin of safety to accommodate some variations in installation. If a seat’s ability to stay attached to its base depends upon parents using a middle slot instead of the higher slot for a child the size and weight of the 12 month CRABI dummy—when trained CPS technicians and lab personnel all used their best judgment to select the higher slot—we believe that seat doesn’t meet the standards it should to protect a child.

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What has NHTSA said about CR's installation?
Consumer Reports and Orbit Baby also shared their test results with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal agency that regulates car seat safety. The agency recently ran its own tests on the seat (See How did the Orbit Infant Car Seat perform in NHTSA’s tests?). In a later update on their Web site, Orbit Baby reported that a letter to Consumers Union from NHTSA “…Confirmed that the magazine’s original tests of the Infant Car Seat deviated from their official government’s test procedures and were NOT configured correctly according to FMVSS 213”. Orbit suggested this “improper test set up” contributed to what it called our "inconsistent results." We believe this characterization of NHTSA’s comments about our tests is misleading and could be confusing for consumers.

In NHTSA’s report on the research tests (not their letter to Consumers Union) the agency describes two ways in which our tests deviated from FMVSS 213. First it notes that for some of our tests we installed the Orbit Infant Car Seats using a 3 point (lap-and-shoulder) seat belt. Consumer Reports routinely performs crash tests using the 3-point belt configuration (in addition to the LATCH system and two-point lap belt required by FMVSS 213) because this belt system is featured on many newer cars. Second, NHTSA notes we did not use the StrongArm as instructed in the Orbit manual. As we’ve explained, our testers were able to achieve the required belt tension specified by the owner’s manual and the FMVSS standards without needing to use the StrongArm. While it notes differences in protocol, NHTSA does not say that these deviations from their standards invalidate Consumer Reports’ tests or our results.

In addition to regulating the protocol for performing FMVSS 213 tests, the government has recommended practices for contract laboratories such as the one used by Consumer Reports. For rear facing infant seats the agency recommends that the harness be placed through the slot at or below the level of the dummy’s shoulder.  In the case of the Orbit seat and 12 month old CRABI dummy, NHTSA's report on its research tests states that it believes the middle slot is the appropriate one. After noting that Consumer Reports placed the harness through the top slot, however, the agency concludes ".......use of the top slot is permitted by FMVSS No. 213.”

Orbit has sharply criticized Consumer Reports’ use of the top harness slot. An article on the company's Web site states: “Correct harness positioning has an especially large influence on crash testing results…. Improperly securing the test dummy allows it to accelerate upwards in a significant way, resulting in unpredictable test conditions.” Again, while Consumer Reports' harness installation differed from NHTSA's, the agency clearly states that our installation is permitted and it does not question the validity of our tests.

Consumer Reports tests are designed to determine comparative performance in a variety of areas, including safety. We are guided by FMVSS 213 and follow specific standards for speed and impact in assessing performance around crash protection. But our tests are designed to allow us to assess comparative performance, and we don’t claim to replicate the government’s tests exactly or to follow all FMVSS 213 test protocols. As an example, the government tests in some areas that we simply don’t cover (such as an Aircraft Passenger Seat Inversion Test). For more information, see How did the seat perform in NHTSA's tests? 

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What have other experts said about CR’s tests?
Consumer Reports regularly confers with outside experts when developing tests. Before publication of our results in this case, our test findings were reviewed by an outside child-safety expert who has broad experience in child restraint crash testing.

Consumer Reports also commissioned an independent consultant to review our tests. Brian O’Neill, former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which runs its own large crash-test program, was given access to all Consumer Reports documents concerning the project. His report concludes, “After reviewing the Consumers Union reports of its tests of the Orbit Infant System, the response of the manufacturer, and the comments posted on the blogs I believe the CU warnings about this infant carrier are justified.”

Read O’Neill’s report and conclusions.

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Why has CR decided not to run additional tests?
Consumer Reports has already done three rounds of testing on the Orbit Infant Car Seat. We initially tested two seats, and observed one failure. We conducted a second round of tests to see if the failure was reproducible and tested four additional seats, experienced a second failure (a total of two seat failures out of six tested seats). Finally, we purchased two more seats and tested their performance without the base to give owners of the Orbit seat a safer alternative installation.

After a detailed review, we believe our tests were performed correctly. And we have decided not to run additional tests at this time.

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What are our testers' qualifications?
Consumer Reports child passenger safety staff members who closely supervised these tests are engineers and certified Child Passenger Safety technicians (CPS) trained in child restraint installation. As part of this certification, our experts have worked in the field helping parents to install their car seats, so they understand the nuances of seat installation in lab and real-world conditions. Tests were overseen by a CPS certified test manager and conducted by technicians at a lab that is certified to run car seat tests for the government, and also conducted seat tests for Orbit Baby. Many of our testers are also parents who regularly move their own child seats from one test car to another.

We take proper car seat installation very seriously. CU has been a vocal advocate for following proper seat installation for many years. In all reports that touch on child safety related to cars, we encourage parents to read and carefully follow instruction manuals. We’ve also suggested that parents make sure that their car seats are properly installed at child seat checkpoints. Find the one nearest to you.

Our work in this area has taught us how challenging car seat instructions can be for parents to follow and we draw on our experiences to push for improvements. We’ve actively promoted labeling clarity and ease of use for car seat manuals and instructions. We recently submitted comments on this topic to NHTSA (August 2007), to assist them in developing guidelines for universal symbols used in car seat and vehicle instructions. Our comments specifically addressed improved labeling and education regarding top-tether usage, LATCH improvements, and improved prominence for labels that identify LATCH hardware in the cars.

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What's CR's experience testing car seats?
Consumer Reports has a long history of testing infant car seats, beginning with crash-tests run for the magazine's August 1972 issue: We rated 12 out of 15 of them Not Acceptable.

CR's 1972 report on infant car seats

Between 1972 and 1977, Consumer Reports tested child seats four times, making it the only publication then regularly crash-testing safety seats and reporting the results to consumers and the government. The day after we released our 1974 report, the government proposed a stronger child-restraint amendment and as of January 1, 1981, all manufacturers of child safety seats had to certify that their seats would pass a rigorous crash test.

Today we continue to test child safety seats in order to help consumers to make educated decisions about which car seats to choose for their children. Simulated crash tests not only provide a “check” that seats are meeting the minimum requirements of the standard as child seats are self-certified by their manufacturers but their performance in those tests help us to rank those that reduce a child’s potential for injury better than others. Our testing also includes significant information relative to the seat’s Ease-of-Use and Fit-to-Vehicle assessments. Our CPS technicians and safety experts regularly provide comments to the government on proposals for new standards.

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How did these tests differ from our 2007 "side impact" car seat tests?
In this 2007 case, a series of misjudgments and a key misunderstanding between Consumer Reports and an outside lab led to the publication of erroneous crash test data for a batch of infant car seats. Our report was withdrawn just 14 days after it was first published, when evidence first surfaced that it was flawed. (See How Our Car Seat Tests Went Wrong.)

These recent tests differed significantly from the flawed tests we reported on in 2007. Those tests evaluated seats in conditions exceeding the minimum standards recommended by FMVSS 213, both in speed and in crash orientation. In 2007, in addition to frontal crash tests, we ran side impact crash tests which is where the test flaws occurred. Our 2009 tests of Orbit Infant Car Seats were in conditions based on the current minimum federal standards for sale of seats, which specify no more than a 30-mph speed and are confined to frontal impact.

After the 2007 tests we took a number of steps to prevent car seat testing errors from happening again, all of which benefited the 2009 tests which included the Orbit Infant Car Seat. These 2009 tests involved much closer interaction with the test lab in coordinating test procedures and conditions, and a review of all data by an independent industry expert. All tests were overseen by trained CPS technicians. And when we discovered failures, as already noted, we ensured that we had the ability to repeat failure modes using additional samples. Finally, before we published our Don’t Buy Rating, we also shared all of our data with the manufacturer and asked for its comments and response.

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How did the seat perform in NHTSA’s tests
Consumer Reports and Orbit Baby had each shared the results of our respective crash tests with NHTSA and asked the agency to review the matter. As we reported last week, in a letter to Consumers Union NHTSA said that the agency had run two subsequent rounds of tests. The first round of compliance tests took place at the same outside lab used by Consumer Reports and Orbit. Tests followed the standards for 30-mph simulated crashes required by FMVSS 213. None of the four seats tested for compliance detached from their bases. The agency’s compliance-test report concludes that the Orbit Infant Car Seat “met or exceeded” the standard safety requirement.

As part of its continuing research, the agency later ran a second round of tests in the same outside lab replicating Consumer Reports’ test configurations and installation methods. Again, none of the four seats used for that research test detached from their bases. The agency said that it had also reviewed its database for safety related incidents associated with the seat, and had not found any consumer complaints concerning safety issues. (See the agency’s report on its research tests.) It determined that “no further action is currently warranted” and said that it will continue to monitor the Orbit Infant Car Seat and include it in its annual compliance test program.

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What does it mean to “pass” the government test?
To meet the government standards, car seats must perform at or below certain required thresholds. For example, car seats must perform so that the test dummy registers data below allowable maximums (for head and chest injury criteria and that the seat does not exceed allowable maximums for back angle (rear facing).

The program relies on self-certification—that is, manufacturers independently perform these tests and are responsible for making sure that they are in compliance with the regulations. NHTSA runs its own tests on a sub-set sample of seats from the market each year to confirm manufacturers’ reported results, but does not test all seats every year.

In this case, the “pass” finding means that the Orbit Infant Car Seat met or exceeded the government safety requirements.

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Are there safe alternatives to this seat?
For those in search of an alternative stroller system, Consumer Reports recommends the Graco Stylus Travel System 7U02GA03 ($245). It passed all of our tests and was named a Best Buy.

We want to respond to people on our blogs who asked whether we were paid by Graco to promote their seats. We pride ourselves on being an independent and objective organization, and our recommendations are based solely on our testing. We don’t accept fees or free samples from any manufacturer and we don’t accept advertising.

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What should I do if I own the seat?
For those who already own an Orbit Infant System, we recommend that you strap the infant carrier directly into the back seat of the vehicle, without the car seat base. We tested the seat in this configuration to see if it offered a safer alternative for seat owners—and based on our result, this arrangement is safe. Correctly installed this way, the infant carrier passed our tests when it was secured using either a two-point (lap) belt or a three-point (lap and shoulder) belt. Obviously this makes the product somewhat less convenient to use.

Used as a stroller, separate tests have also shown the Orbit Infant System to be perfectly safe.

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Are other Orbit products safe?
We have tested other Orbit products and found them to be safe. Last year we evaluated the Orbit Toddler System, which is tested in the same base with a larger 3-year-old dummy and similar speed and attachment protocols (no StrongArm) and had no issues. The Orbit Infant System also performs well in its capacity as a stroller.

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Soft infant carrier safety tips

Two infant deaths this year in Infantino slings raise concerns about the product. Participants at a recent ASTM-International meeting on sling carriers discussed the design of the Infantino “bag-style” sling and how it could contribute to suffocation and obstructed airways. That can happen for two reasons—either the baby’s face turns inward and becomes covered by the mother’s clothing or breasts, or the baby is placed in a position where the infant's head falls so far forward that the airway is closed off. Read the rest of the post on our Safety blog.

We think there are better ways to transport infants, including strollers, handheld infant carrier/car seats, and strap-on carriers.

Here are some strap-on front and hip carrier safety tips:

• Read the instruction manual and the warnings on the product before you first wear it to make sure you’re using it properly.
• Before using a carrier at any time, take time to put it on properly. Check that the straps are fitted and adjusted correctly, and the buckles, snaps, straps, and adjustments are safely fastened into position and secure.
• Sit down when placing your baby in the carrier and when taking him out.
• After your child is seated in a carrier, with her legs securely in the leg openings, adjust leg openings to the smallest size possible without cutting into her thighs or seat.
• Make sure your baby can breathe easily when in the carrier. His nose and mouth shouldn’t be obstructed in any way, and his chin should not be pressed against his chest, which carries a risk of asphyxiation.
• Don’t transport your child in a carrier on your back unless it’s made to be worn that way. Note that infants who can’t hold their heads up should never be carried on an adult’s back under any circumstances.
• Use the carrier according to the manufacturer’s weight recommendations. To avoid back and neck strain, stop using a front carrier when your baby reaches 20 pounds, or anytime you feel uncomfortable.
• Until your child can hold her head upright (around 6 months old), she should ride facing toward you with head support.
• Be careful when bending, leaning forward, or going through doorways when wearing a carrier. If you have to reach down, bend at your knees to make sure your baby stays upright. Don’t bend over at your waist.
• Use a carrier only for standing or walking. Don’t use it for sporting activities like running or bicycling or when cooking, cleaning, carrying a load, or driving.
• Don’t use a carrier to hold your baby in a car instead of a car seat.
• Don’t leave a baby in the carrier while putting it on or taking it off.
• Don’t put your baby in a carrier that’s not attached to you or another caregiver.
• Stop using a carrier if any parts or components are damaged, missing, or broken.
• Consider his and hers carriers of you and your partner want to use a strap-on or hip carrier frequently and you’re not roughly the same size. To wear a strap-on or hip carrier safely, adjust the straps exactly right. If you have a separate carrier for each parent, you won’t have to continually adjust the carrier to trade back and forth or be tempted to make a too-quick adjustment.
• If you want to use your strap-on carrier outside in cooler months, consider getting a carrier cover (we have not tested these). It slips over most brands of strap-on soft infant carriers so you don’t have to stuff your bundled-up baby into a carrier or zip your coat around him.

How to keep baby cozy at bedtime, safely

As temperatures drop, it’s important to know how to dress a baby comfortably yet safely for sleep.

Fabric and fit are important safety considerations for your baby's sleepwear. For infants to children's size 14, Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations dictate that sleepwear must either be made of flame-resistant fabric, or fit snugly. Flame-resistant fabric must not ignite easily and must self-extinguish quickly when removed from a flame to meet government flammability requirements. Sleepwear that fits snugly does not trap the air needed for fabric to burn and reduces the chances of contact with a flame. Flame-resistant fabrics may be worn either loose or snug-fitting; they're often made of polyester, but cotton can be treated so that it's flame resistant.

When dressing baby for cooler temps, keep these ground rules in mind:

• Don't buy oversize sleepwear that's not flame-resistant (look for a label on the garment indicating flame resistance).
• Don't allow your baby to sleep in loose T-shirts, sweatshirts, or other apparel made from non-flame-resistant fabrics.
• Don't buy snug-fitting sleepwear a size or two larger so your baby has growing room. That defeats the purpose of the garment and puts your baby at risk. Snug-fitting sleepwear looks tight, but it stretches. It must have a prominent warning on the label that states: Wear snug-fitting, not flame resistant.
• For infants, we recommend a wearable blanket, or sleep sack, to replace loose blankets in your baby's crib. Sleep sacks don't fit snugly; there's plenty of kicking room. They're typically made of flame-resistant fabric, but check the garment's label to be sure.
• Don't dress your baby too warmly. Overheating may be a contributor to SIDS. Keep the temperature in your baby's room between 68 and 72ºF. Your baby shouldn't feel sweaty or hot when touched.
• Remove all soft, fluffy, or loose bedding and other items from your baby's crib, including decorative and sleeping pillows and stuffed animals. (See Safe sleep for babies: Less is more.)
• Don't use an electric blanket, heating pad, or even a warm water bottle to heat your baby's crib. An infant's skin is highly heat-sensitive and can be burned by temperatures comfortable to an adult.
• Don't let your baby share your bed. In addition to the risk that you might roll onto your baby, adult beds pose other hazards. Your baby could get trapped between the bed and a wall, headboard, bed frame, or other object. Accidental suffocation in soft bedding is another danger, or the baby could fall off the bed. If you breast-feed your baby in bed, be sure to return her to the crib afterward. (See increase in infant suffocation due to bed sharing.)
• Do not let your baby sleep in a car seat, infant carrier or other such device. These products are intended for babies that are awake and being supervised. If your baby falls asleep, move him to a firm, flat surface as soon as you can. This is particularly important for younger babies whose heads may turn sideways or fall forward and keep them from getting enough oxygen.

Learn more about baby and child product safety through the Safety Alert program with Consumer Reports and partners. And learn more about baby clothing and crib buying and safety advice in our related reports (crib Ratings are available to subscribers).

Carry an infant car seat properly—or not at all

If you opt to use your infant car seat as a carrier, realize that it can be a killer on your wrists, elbows, lower back, and neck if you tote it by the handle or if you put it on your forearm like a handbag.

“The greater the horizontal distance from the weight you’re carrying to your torso, the more stress on your joints, discs, ligaments, and muscles,” says Mary Ellen Modica, a physical therapist from the STEPS program at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago, Ill. It’s equivalent to walking around with three or four full paint cans in one hand—something most people wouldn’t do, but yet, they’ll carry a car seat that way.”

Instead, “Carry the car seat in front of you so you have both hands on the handle,” advises Diane Dalton, orthopedic clinical specialist at Boston University’s Sargent College of health and Rehabilitation Sciences, in Boston, Mass. With the weight of the seat and your baby centered and close to your trunk, the force on your body will be reduced, Dalton says.

Another option: Leave the infant seat in your car and transfer your baby to a soft infant carrier, backpack carrier, or stroller, or use a travel system. Or simply carry your baby in your arms.

How do you carry your young baby around? Let us know in comments!

Baby & child health and safety news roundup

Swine flu vaccines approved. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved swine (H1N1) flu vaccines, and says they'll be distributed nationally within the next few weeks. We recommend it for all children 6 months to 18 years, pregnant women, and people who live with or care for infants under 6 months old. Anyone who has severe or life-threatening allergies to chicken eggs should not be vaccinated, according to the FDA. Learn more in the full Health blog post.

Infant car seats can restrict babies oxygen levels (CNN.com). Infant car safety seats can—and do—save newborns' lives in traffic accidents. However, these seats, which require infants to be placed in an upright position, can also cause breathing problems when babies sleep in them.

More states require booster seats. More children under the age of one are placed in child safety seats than ever. And booster seats, which are designed to protect older children, are now required in 47 states (not including Arizona, Florida and South Dakota) and the District of Columbia. While all 50 states require car seats for those under age one year, laws governing booster seats vary from state to state. With the child seated in the car against the seat back: Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat? Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm? Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs? Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip? If any of the answers are no, the child should be riding in a booster seat. Learn more in the full Safety blog post.

Recall: 2,000 pairs of Clarks children’s shoes (sold under the “crawlers” and “hazy daze” style names). Molded rubber pieces on the sole of the recalled shoes can detach, posing a choking hazard to infants and young children. Learn more in the full Safety blog post.

Recall roundup: Products dangerous to babies & children

Recall: 5.5 million shades after 3 child deaths. After the strangulation deaths of three children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced the recall of 5.5 million window blinds and shades because the cords pose a strangulation hazard. The shades were sold at Target, Ikea, Pottery Barn Kids and other retailers. Seven other children were found in various stages of distress with cords wrapped around their necks but were freed by parents or caregivers. Read the full Safety blog post.

2 more children die in recalled Simplicity bassinets. After the deaths of two more infants, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging all parents to stop using flawed Simplicity and Graco 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible "close sleeper" bassinets made by Simplicity and also sold with the Graco logo and a Winnie the Pooh motif. Read the full Safety blog post.

Other recalls:
41,000 Baby Jogger City Mini strollers (fall hazard)
15,000 eebee's 'Have a Ball" Adventures cloth books (choking hazard)
2,700 d’lite ST and Solo ST child bike trailers (fall hazard)
500 Quicksliver Roxy Girl cotton hoodies (strangulation hazard)

Additional information on Orbit Infant System tests

Readers of our recommendation not to buy the Orbit Infant System may have had questions upon hearing the manufacturer raise a dispute about Consumer Reports’ test methodology, and whether that may have contributed to the seat failures in our tests.

Those tests found that the infant carrier detached from its car seat base in two of six simulated 30-mph frontal crash tests that Consumer Reports commissioned at an outside laboratory. (Update: Read our blog post Why we take intermittent test failures so seriously.) We conducted the tests using the guidelines for speed and impact crash simulations dictated by the federal standard for child restraints. The tests at issue are those we routinely perform when evaluating car seats.

We’re posting this blog to describe how our tests were conducted and to reiterate our “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” Rating for the Orbit Infant System.

The manufacturer has essentially raised two concerns about our testing, the first of which has to do with the positioning of the harness strap that holds the infant in the carrier. 

In these tests we followed the guidance of the manufacturer’s instruction manual and used the dummy specified in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213. The manual states that the straps should be positioned even with or just below the child’s shoulders. We confirmed, and an outside expert verified, that when we used the top slot position for the harness the straps were indeed at or below shoulder level.

The manufacturer also raised a concern that the testing facility did not use the “StrongArm” mechanism on the seat to tighten the belts used to install the base. The StrongArm mechanism, when rotated, amplifies a person’s strength to help tighten the belts that hold the seat base in place when installed in a vehicle.

The manufacturer’s instruction manual says that the belt has reached “optimal” tightness when the seat base does not move more than one inch in any direction, and FMVSS 213 dictates a required range for belt tension. Lab personnel installed the Orbit bases in our tests to meet the one inch condition and within the belt-tension range of the standard without needing to use the StrongArm mechanism.

Lab personnel and our own engineering staff are certified passenger safety technicians trained in child restraint installation. We were troubled by the failures in the test and we feel it is important to make our findings public.

We continue to stand by our test results and recommend that parents who are looking for a convenient travel system choose an alternative instead, such as the $245 Graco Stylus Travel System 7U02GA03. It passed our tests and is a CR Best Buy.

Don’t Buy: Safety Risk – Orbit Infant System

Consumer Reports has identified a possible safety risk in a high-end infant “travel system” that combines features of an infant carrier, a stroller, and a car seat.

The product, the Orbit Infant System, was rated “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” after the infant carrier detached from its car seat base in two of six simulated 30-mph frontal crash tests that Consumer Reports commissioned at an outside laboratory. We conducted the tests using the guidelines for speed and impact crash simulations dictated by the federal standard for child restraints.

Although the Orbit system, which retails for $900, is not among the overall leaders in terms of sales, it has carved out a niche in the market thanks in part to its popularity with A-list celebrities, some of whom offer testimonials on its Web site.

The system consists of an infant carrier that can be snapped into either a car seat base, for use in a vehicle, or a stroller base, for use when on foot. Thus, it offers convenience for parents who want to be able to lift their child out of a stroller into a car, or vice versa, with a minimum of hassle.

The Orbit was the only travel system in our tests to show any failures. The other two travel systems we tested, the Graco Stylus and Eddie Bauer Adventurer, stayed attached to their bases during the crash simulations.

Of the two failures in Consumer Reports’ tests, one occurred when the car seat base was attached using the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system that is featured on newer cars. The other failure occurred when the base was installed with the three-point (lap and shoulder) seat belt that is standard on modern cars. Six Orbit seats bought from retail merchants were tested. The other four passed our tests, and all findings were reviewed by an outside child-safety expert who has experience in child-restraint crash testing.

Consumer Reports shared its test results with Orbit Baby, and the company ran their own tests at the same laboratory and found no failures.

In a statement to Consumer Reports, Joseph Hei, chief executive officer of the Newark, Calif.-based company, said that Orbit Baby has never received any report of a child being injured while in an Orbit baby seat. “We do not believe the test results obtained by Consumers Union are indicative of the safety of our Infant Car seats,” Hei wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Our car seats are used by children, including our own, and safety is our top priority. We strongly believe in the quality of our product.” 

[UPDATES – 8/27/09 and 9/01/09: In later comments, the manufacturer questioned whether we had installed the seats exactly as the owner’s manual instructs and suggested that this may have contributed to our test failures. We explained why we disagree with the manufacturer and why we take intermittent test failures so seriously.

In a letter to parents who own the seat, Orbit Baby said it had run additional tests on the infant car seats, some of which used the same installation protocols that Consumer Reports had used. It reported that all seats met the federal safety standards, and that there were no seat separations. Consumer Reports and Orbit Baby each shared the results of our respective crash tests with The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and asked the agency to review the matter.

[UPDATE – 10/21/09: In a letter to Consumer Reports received yesterday, NHTSA confirmed that in its crash tests of the Orbit Infant Car Seat, the seat withstands the government thresholds for frontal crashes and is compliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213.

NHTSA’s letter said that the agency had run two rounds of tests. The first round of compliance tests took place at the same outside lab used by Consumer Reports and Orbit. Tests followed the standards for 30-mph simulated crashes required by FMVSS 213. None of the four seats tested for compliance detached from their bases. The agency’s compliance-test report concludes that the Orbit Infant Car Seat “met or exceeded” the standard safety requirement.

As part of its continuing research, the agency later ran a second round of tests replicating Consumer Reports’ test configurations and installation methods. Again, none of the four seats used for that research test detached from their bases. The agency said that it had also reviewed its database for safety related incidents associated with the seat, and had not found any consumer complaints concerning safety issues. It determined that “no further action is currently warranted” and said that it will continue to monitor the Orbit Infant Car Seat and include it in its annual compliance test program.

Despite the fact that NHTSA did not experience any detachments in its testing, Consumer Reports’ judgment remains that the Orbit Infant System may pose a safety risk. NHTSA is responsible for determining compliance and we applaud its efforts to do so swiftly in this case. Consumer Reports is responsible for ensuring that our tests are fair and accurate so that we can make useful recommendations to consumers. Our recommendations are based on individual results and on comparative performance. We believe that our tests were properly conducted in this case, and we stand by our findings.]

Consumer Reports advises that anyone who already owns an Orbit Infant System should strap the infant carrier directly, without the car seat base, into the back seat of a vehicle. Installed this way, the infant carrier passed our tests when it was secured using either a two-point (lap) belt or a three-point (lap and shoulder) belt. Obviously this makes the product somewhat less convenient to use. But used as a stroller, separate tests have showed the Orbit system to be perfectly safe.

When installing a car seat, if you’re having trouble getting it snugly in place, or if you want to check that you’ve done it correctly, you can go to a car seat installation checkpoint. To find the one nearest to you, go NHTSA’s Child Seat Safety Inspection Station Locator.
 
Meanwhile, for those in search of an alternative stroller, Consumer Reports recommends the Graco Stylus Travel System 7U02GA03 ($245). It passed all of our tests and was named a Best Buy. Subscribers can find our full stroller Ratings and reviews here.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates booster seats

On October 1, 2008, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released new ratings of child booster seats. The first of their kind, IIHS ranked boosters from those that performed as “best bets” to those that are “not recommended,” based on the seat’s ability to correctly position a vehicle’s lap and shoulder belt for booster-age children, not on their performance in simulated crash tests.

Unlike child restraints intended for smaller children that have internal harnesses, materials, and structures to restrain children and absorb crash energy, booster seats function as a positioning device to correctly place the child within the vehicle’s seatbelt system. It is the seatbelt that does the restraining, with the boosters designed to position those belts across the stronger bony structures of the hip and clavicle/collar bone rather than across the softer tissue of the abdomen and neck.

IIHS, in conjunction with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), measured how the lap and shoulder belts fit a crash-test dummy representing the average size and weight of a six-year-old in each of 41 booster seat models.

The booster seats were evaluated using a vehicle seat with lap and shoulder belts in a range of positions based on actual vehicle measurements. Though seatbelts are highly effective at reducing injury in a crash, those that are incorrectly positioned across the lap have the potential to cause injury to the abdomen if positioned too high and if they allow children to slide under them during a crash.

Read the rest of this post on our Cars blog, including which models performed well, and advice on getting the right fit for your child.

And learn more about how to choose the right child safety seat, including the available types and features. 

Booster seats for small children: When to start using them

Recent changes to booster-seat laws in Kentucky, Massachusetts and Michigan expose the hodgepodge of state rules that govern the use of car safety seats by children older than four.

The states are uniform in their requirement that children use a car seat until they outgrow front-facing child restraints, usually around the age of four and 40 pounds. But at that age and size kids are still too small to ride safely using only the vehicle's seats belts, which are constructed to fit adults. Booster seats elevate children to a height where they can wear the car's belts correctly.

Not every state has a booster seat law. And even states that have passed laws fail to agree on what age, size or weight a child should be to graduate from a child restraint to car seat belts.

With such a variety of state laws, it's hard for a parent to know what to do. Learn more in our Safety blog.

See our car seats section and car-seat timeline for more information.

Traveling with a newborn baby

Q: How soon is it safe to travel with a newborn?

A: Wait until your baby is 2 to 3 months old before flying, advises Paul Horowitz, MD, a pediatrician in Valencia, California and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics. By then, your baby’s immune system should be developed enough to fight oncoming germs, which are undoubtedly plentiful considering that the air on planes gets re-circulated.

If you’re traveling by car, you get the green light immediately. “Car rides are fine for a newborn as long as everyone else in the car is well,” says Dr. Horowitz. But plan to make stops every 30 to 60 minutes to check on your baby and make sure she’s comfortable.

See our related reports on play yards, car seats, and our Kids & car safety guide for more information.

Car seat timeline

From birth until your child reaches a height of 4 feet, 9 inches, he or she will potentially go through several car seats: an infant car seat, a convertible car seat, a front-facing only car seat, and ultimately a belt-positioning booster or booster seat before being ready for the vehicle belts alone. But which seat should you use when? Use this guide to gauge when it’s time to sit tight or move up to the next level.

Infant car seat: Use an infant car seat (always rear-facing) from birth until your baby reaches the seat’s height and weight limits. Weight limits are typically 22 pounds, but sometimes higher depending on the model. Weight limits are listed on the seat itself as well as in the instruction manual. When your baby reaches the seat’s limits, which may be as soon as 6 to 9 months of age, you’ll need to switch to a convertible car seat in order to keep them rear facing at least until their first birthday.

Convertible seat: Use a convertible car seat rear-facing until your baby is at least 1 year old and weighs 22 pounds or more. Some convertible seats can be used in the rear-facing position up to 30 to 35 pounds, and research shows that babies are safest in a rear facing orientation so it’s best to keep them that way as long as you can. When your baby reaches a convertible seat’s height and weight limits in the rear-facing mode, switch the seat around, and use it front-facing until your toddler reaches the height and weight limits for the forward-facing seat. Weight limits for most are generally up to 40 pounds, though more and more convertible models have weight limits up to 65 pounds or more.

Forward-facing only seat: As an alternative to a front-facing convertible seat, some seats are forward-facing only. This front-facing only seat is used with an internal harness for toddlers typically between 20 to 40 pounds, though again some models can be used with the internal harness at higher weights. The internal harness can then be removed and the forward-facing seat can be used as a belt-positioning booster from 60 to 80 pounds, depending on the model.

Belt-positioning booster seat or booster seat: When your child reaches the weight and height limits of the harness system of either their convertible or front-facing only seat, it’s time for a belt-positioning or standard booster seat for your child. Boosters raise the child up in the vehicle seat to allow the seatbelt to pass correctly across their sternum (not their necks) and low across the child’s upper thigh area (not their abdomen). Both use the vehicle’s own safety belt to restrain the child, but belt positioning models also have some sort of belt guide to better position the seat belts over a child’s shoulders.

Your car’s seat belts solo: When your child is tall enough to use the car’s safety belts, typically at least 57 inches and between 8 and 12 years old, and can ride comfortably seated in the vehicle’s seat, she can ride with just a car’s safety belts. Even with a seat belt, all children under age 13 should ride in the back seat.

See our latest car seat ratings.

Don't buy these 5 baby products used

Want to save money? Preowned baby products can be a bargain. But for some items, like those we list here, you’ll want to buy new because it’s safer.

Don’t buy a used…

Play yard. Why? Newer models are more likely to meet current voluntary safety standards, which address problems of earlier models. Older, used models may have a top-rail hinge that can collapse, forming a steep, V-shaped angle that puts children at risk of being trapped or strangled, or they may have been recalled for one problem or another.

Car seat. A used seat may have been in a crash or recalled. The manufacturer’s instructions may be missing. If you must use a secondhand seat, avoid those with an unknown history or that are older than 6 years. In the world of car seats, a 6-year-old model is a relic--and risky.

Crib. Older models may not meet current safety standards or may be in disrepair. If you must use an older crib, avoid those built before 2000, about a year after the latest voluntary standards for slat-attachment strength took effect. Check the manufacture date on the crib label, which is required by law. Currently, 12 states have laws banning the sale of unsafe used cribs or prohibiting their use in child-care facilities. Your state may have such a law.

Breast pump. We’ve said it before--using a preowned pump is like sharing someone else’s toothbrush. It’s unhygienic. And unless a breast pump is a hospital-grade rental, it’s only meant for one user anyway.

Soft infant carrier. Strap-on carriers and slings have been subject to recalls, so buy new to ensure that you’re carrying your baby safely. Even with a new model, check the straps, snaps and other closures regularly to be sure they’re in good working order.

To play it even safer, make sure any used baby product you’re considering hasn’t been recalled. For the latest recall information, visit www.recalls.gov. When buying new, send in the registration card so you’ll be alerted to any recalls automatically.