By law, you may not take an infant home from the hospital without a car seat that is properly installed. This important safety requirement protects babies from the dangers of a car. Yet for many parents, installing a car seat for the first time can seem like a challenge. The Eddie Bauer infant car seat, designed for babies up to 29 inches tall and 22 lbs., has two types of installation methods, using the LATCH system or a seat belt.
Locate the lower LATCH locks on your vehicle. Every vehicle made after 2002 is required to have LATCH locks installed. The lower LATCH locks should be located on either side of the seat in which you wish to install the infant car seat.
Place the base of the infant car seat onto the seat of the vehicle, with the taller side facing the rear of the vehicle.
Lift up on the belt lock, located in the middle of the base. Push down on the middle part of the lock to open the plates.
Open the LATCH storage drawer and remove the LATCH pieces. Close and lock the storage door.
Thread the LATCH hooks through the left and right side of the belt opening. The adjuster should go through the right side side of the belt opening.
Latch the belt hooks to the lower anchors in your vehicle. Push on the base firmly and tighten the belt. Close the belt lock.
Place the base of the infant seat onto the seat of the vehicle with the tall part of the base toward the rear of the vehicle.
Lift up on the belt lock, located in the middle of the base. Push down on the middle part of the lock to open plate A.
Slide the seat belt through the opening on either side of the base so that the seat belt sits along the open portion of plate A.
Buckle the seat belt and tighten the seat belt. Pull on the seat belt firmly while closing plate A and the belt lock.
Place the infant car seat directly onto the car seat, facing toward the rear 1.
Slide the seat belt across the belt path, located where the back of the car seat meets the front, usually across the infant's middle.
Buckle the seat belt. Push down on the car seat and pull the seat belt to tighten.
The LATCH system can only be used when you use the base of the infant car seat. If you are moving the car seat to another vehicle without the base, use the seat belt installation.
With any installation, if the car seat can move more than 1 inch in any direction, you will need to tighten the car seat more.
Infants should always be located in the back seat of a vehicle, facing toward the rear. In case of an accident, this is the safest place for an infant.
If you have any problems installing your Eddie Bauer Infant Car Seat, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration provides child safety inspection locations to assist you.
Jacqueline Gonzales is a professional writer specializing in education, family and home topics for various home and garden websites. Gonzales is working on her first romance novel.