Does your baby hate the car? This video could explain why

As parents, it always feels like there’s some new and crucial piece of information regarding our children’s heath, wellbeing or safety that we’ve never heard of. And now a TikToker, specialising in the installation of baby car seats, has come up with yet another.

His video was in response to such a simple and yet common mistake, potentially causing little ones no end of stress and discomfor, that the clip went completely viral.

Does your child hate the car?

The man, known as CarSeatInstallers asks a question, and just about every parent will want to know the answer: “Do you know why your child is always cranky and screaming in the car?”

Most of us would respond by saying that our child is probably hungry, bored, over tired or just simply cranky (pick any of the above). However the TikToker goes on to explain that the baby car seat is probably in the wrong position. He shows a rear-facing baby capsule pushed right up against the back of the driver’s seat. “Most parents will have the front seat and jam it up against here so the seat is tight,” he says.

Before parents can even work out what could possibly be wrong with having a car seat that’s too tight, the man asks another question: “If the seat doesn’t have any give, then guess what’s absorbing the force?”

“You kid is the one absorbing all the force,” he answers.

How to fix the problem

The TikToker continues to explain how the seat should be installed. He  shows how the base needs to be nice and tight, while there should be nothing pushing up against the capsule itself. It should have some give when you try and move it. There should also be some space between it and the back of the front car seat.

“So this is absorbing all the shock, and not your child,” he says shaking the rear of the baby capsule.

“I never thought about that!”

The post attracted enormous attention with 113,000 likes and over a thousand comments. For many people, this was something they had not yet considered but something that made total sense.

“I’ve been doing it wrong, thanks for sharing,” said one follower. “I thought it made it more secure.”

“I never thought about that!” commented another. “I know a lot of people don’t know that the car seat can’t touch the seat in front of it. It makes a lot of sense though.”

For some, the advice has came too late: “Now I know why my son cried on every car trip.”

While others, it has come too early: “I’m terrified to become a parent, what if i never saw this tiktok. What else do i not know about”.

The car seat installer goes on to say, “Follow me to learn more on how to keep your child safe in the car.”

After seeing this video, that sounds like an excellent idea!