Car seat safety tips from Manhattan's 'Car Seat Lady'

Installing a car seat isn't difficult. Installing it correctly, is.

Many new parents have their newborn car seats installed before the baby's arrival as it's standard policy before leaving the hospital. And fortunately, there are many places around Long Island that will check the car seat for you. Here's a link to current car seat safety inspection sites: safeny.ny.gov/seat-per.htm.

But there's more to your baby's safety than installing the seat correctly. Alisa Baer, a pediatrician in Manhattan known as "The Car Seat Lady" and contributor to "Ready, Set, Baby," a new app that teaches expecting parents the basics of infant care, offered these quick tips:

1. Never put a swaddled baby in a car seat: Instead, buckle baby in sans blanket, and then place swaddle over the straps and tuck snugly under baby's arms and all around,  Baer said.

2. Shoulder straps go over baby’s shoulders, like a vest: "The straps should be snug enough that baby can't get hands under them," she said. "A good gauge is if you can fit one finger underneath, that's fine, but two stacked one on top of the other means there's too much slack and you need to tighten the belt."

3. The top of the chest clip should be level with the top of baby's armpits: The correct position for the chest clip is high on the chest.

"Ready, Set, Baby" features everything from breast-feeding and infant formula to diapers, soothing skills and more. The app includes 80 videos to teach parents how to perform various tasks properly.

This video from the app shows parents how to properly buckle their baby into a car seat:

The app is $9.99 and can be found on betterbook.com/baby or in the iTunes App store.