SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Thanks to a group of three women at the Centre for Northern Families, Yellowknife parents and parent-to-be will once again have a one-stop-spot to go to for car seat safety.

Tina Drew displays what not to do with a car seat: installing add-on material. Even a blanket like this, she explained, can be dangerous if it's not manufactured to the same safety standard as the car seat it's on. That's because babies are kept safe in car seats by being as close to the frame as possible. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL photo

The centre will begin running an infant, toddler and booster seat installation clinic this Sunday - Yellowknife's first in three years. In 2006, The fire department discontinued their car seat safety program, which was funded by Health and Social Services.

"There was no place to go to check whether car seats were installed properly. So we decided to do something independently," said Tina Drew, one of three women running the clinic.

Drew, along with co-workers Clarissa Spence and Jessie Teed, recently completed a course at St John Ambulance to become car seat technicians. All three women are mothers and work at the centre with the "blossoming bellies and bouncing babies" program.

The three will run the clinic this Sunday, June 28, July 12 and July 26, by appointment only, though all three women assure they'll try to make time for drop-ins. Fees are by donation.

All families with infants and young children - those up to 12 can require a booster seat to make seat belts sit properly on their bodies - are encouraged to sign up. After all, it's more unusual to find a correctly installed car seat than an incorrectly installed one, said Drew.

"About 85 per cent of car seats are installed incorrectly," she said, referring to a study conducted in Edmonton.

The technicians will show participants how to correctly install the seats and have them practise themselves.

Anybody attending is required to bring in their vehicle, their car seat, the car seat manual - and the car manual.

Spence said one of the most interesting things she learned was to "not only read the car seat manual, but to read the car manual (as well). There's a specific page just for car seats."

That's because just as children are unique, so too are cars and proper installation can vary.

Beside reading the car manual, there are other steps and precautions to take that families may not know, or have thought about.

One is "don't buy anything that adds on. It can interfere with the car seat," said Spence.

This includes blankets made to sit between the car seat and the baby. The idea is to keep the baby as close as possible to the base of the car seat, said Drew, because that's what protects the baby.

Likewise, bulky snowsuits are also a bad idea. Parents are better off putting blankets over the baby and car seat for warmth, she added.

Another good rule is never buy used car seats, said Teed.

"You never know where they've been," she said.

Meaning, those buying used seats don't usually know if the seat has been in an accident, if it's been dropped too hard or even if it's expired.

"The simplest thing can make a car seat unsafe," said Teed.

She also cautioned shoppers not to buy a car seat based on how it looks.

"All car seats pass the same (safety) standards. They're not made for looks, they're made to pass standards," added Teed.

For more tips, the women suggested Yellowknifers attend the upcoming clinics.

"Even if you think you have your car seat properly installed, why not come and get reassured?" said Teed.