Chest Clip FYI

A chest clip on a car seat should be exactly where it says...across the chest. We teach families, caregivers and children to position the chest clip across the strongest part of the child's chest.  The visual we use to teach this is that if you put your thumbs over the chest clip, your poster fingers should be in the child's armpit (grab a little tickle while you're there!). 

Its important that the chest clip not be too high or too low. Too high and we run the risk of pulling it into the child's neck when we tighten the harness and in a crash, a chest clip that is too high may constrict and airway or cause misuse in the event of a crash. Too low and the harness isn't in the correct position as well as the chest clip is in the fleshy/soft part of the torso and we want to avoid that.

Teach your child about the proper placement of their chest clip and have them get involved by asking them to adjust it, if they can, when they get in their seat. If the child feels empowered they are more likely to correct the position if required and they also may be less likely to fiddle with it if it is correct.

Chest clips come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours and all those can vary by seat, date of manufacture or manufacturer. Please, never use an aftermarket chest clip on your seat unless the manufacturer has approved it. A chest clip is what we call a "Pre-crash positioner" and that means that it's function is to position the harness correctly in the moments leading up to and at the time of impact in a crash. Sometimes we notice that a chest clip may have come open or moved after  a crash and it's important to note that that doesn't mean the seat was defective or didn't work properly.

Have any questions about Chest Clips, let us know - we're happy to answer!