Car Seat Installation – Should You Pay For It?

If there is one thing you NEED to get done before baby arrives; it’s installing your car seat (assuming you have a car that is) as they won’t let you leave the hospital without having your new little offspring strapped in safely.

Before our first child, I had all the time in the world to drive to a store, have it properly installed, but this time around if I had an hour at this point in my pregnancy I would much rather spend it napping or relaxing in a warm bath.  That’s why I was excited to learn about GTA Installs; they are professional car seat installers that come to you, yep directly to you anywhere in the GTA!

I reached out to GTA Installs and within 24 hours I had an appointment with Stephanie which I really appreciated!  My friend recently had a baby at 37 weeks which got me panicking on the things that I needed to get prepared with given that I was also 37 weeks pregnant.

From the get-go, it was obvious that Stephanie was very knowledgeable, experienced and committed to safety! She has her CPSAC (The Child Passenger Safety Association of Canada) certification which is required for all car seat installers.  She has been working in the baby industry for many years and has installed 1000s of car seats.   She was able to recommend the best and safest set up of our toddler car seat and infant car seat within our little Honda Civic.  She also took the time to provide us with tips and tricks on how to install the car seats on our own if need be and how to use the infant bucket seat without the base if needed.

Before hiring GTA Install, my husband and I debated on doing the installation on our own, but the fact is that 9/10 car seats are not installed correctly and I didn’t want to contribute to that statistic! Stephanie shared with us the most common mistakes parents are making…

• Incorrect angle of the seat
• Tightness of the seat i.e. not tight enough
• Installing a forward facing seat using the rear-facing belt path (and vice versa)

Finally, before leaving Stephanie left us with a few tips to remember…

• Remember it’s not safe for kids to wear jackets in their car seats; instead get a blanket or put your kid’s jackets on backwards (after you have strapped them into the car seat)
• Keep them rear facing until at least 2 yrs old if they don’t reach the max height or weight of the car seat
• It’s better not to use any seat protectors as your car seat can’t get tight enough, but if you must then she recommends the Dionne Ultra as it is the thinnest in the market

GTA Install’s rates are very reasonable starting at $30 per car seat, with discounts for additional car seats.   Want to learn more about GTA installs – see their profile here!  So is it worth it to get your car seat installed? I think so! Especially at GTA installs rates, which are a small price to pay for peace of mind and the safety of my kids!

Note: I received a complimentary car seat install from GTA Installs for this post, however, the opinions are all my own.

Photo by Seb [ P34K ] Hamel on Unsplash