Seat inserts make carseats unsafe?

Today, we took our Britax RA to be installed by a certified carseat tech. The seat looks awfully big for a newborn, so I bought a newborn seat insert by Kiddopotomus to provide more head and side support and make our baby a bit more comfortable. Because I read about this product in the Baby Bargains book, I was surprised when the carseat tech said definitely not to use it. She said any after-market product could decrease the safety of the RA, and suggested that we use rolled-up receiving blankets to help position the baby if we're concerned about comfort.

I want to be safe, of course, but the insert doesn't seem that dangerous to me. It just rests in the seat, fitting around the straps and adding about as much bulk as a fleece blanket.

Has anyone else heard this?

Meg in Indiana, due 10/21

[Tondi G]

I have heard this before too.... I'm sure Toby will be able to give you more in depth info..... but they say anything added to the car seat that isn't originally used in the crash testing could affect the way it supports and holds your child in the seat during a collision! Something about the think-ness of the support compressing during a crash and in turn making the straps looser than they would be if the child was in just the seat alone! You might want to check the Right Start website..... I saw a head support thing that was almost just like little wings that went behind babies head that honestly seemed to do a better job than a lot of the U shaped head supports I have seen! I have to say I am guilty of using an after market head support with my baby in his infant car seat.... he would have been all over the place if we didn't have it in there and trying to re-position the blankets al lthe time would have been a hassle! Good Luck in whatever you decide to do/use!

It is true that any insert that comes with a seat has been crash tested with it. Anything that is added on later has not been.

Some of the inserts have extremely thin backs, basically one thin layer of fabric. That doesn't seem much different to me than just using rolled towels to the sides of the child's head. You also want to make sure that the insert doesn't interfere with the placement of the carseat harness.