Car seat settle this debate once and for all!!!!

[Muabbl]

Where do the strap pads go?! Behind and over shoulders or across chest/stomach?!

Really hoping everyone’s going to say shoulders… I’ve never really considered chest

Chest/stomach area

Sorry to be that person, but I’d go by the instructions… totally depends on the seat, surely?

Where the instructions say. It's different for different seats.

Shoulders. They're to stop the straps rubbing against the child's neck.

Shoulders. I lived in the US for years, where the seats have chest clips, and the shoulder pads can’t go lower than that which means they must be intended to sit on the shoulders. And obviously that’s comfier because the shoulders/neck are where the straps would dig in. What purpose could they possibly serve on the stomach??

i agree. Mine are buttoned on and they sit on the shoulders

It depends. Different seats have slightly different positions!

It does depend on the seat - some are located further down. Check your manual or have a nose at official promotional photos for an idea. Generally if they are free moving on the straps, they are likely just for comfort, and you can put them wherever (but they are likely to prevent chafing on the neck) - just ensure that they are not causing the straps to be slippy or pushing them away from correct position.

If they come in a set position on their own strap or attached to the seat cover, so that the pads themselves don't move but the straps move through them, then they usually need to stay in the position they have come in. If you take them off for washing etc or need to remove to rethread straps through a higher slot, try to remember to take a photo first to refer back to, but if you've forgotten to do this, refer to official promotional photos as to the correct position.

It sometimes also matters which way around they go. If they have a textured surface on one side this is almost definitely the case. Again check the promo pictures.

In the majority of seats on sale today where you've got the ones which are fixed in place, they are designed to start on top of the shoulder and curve down over the chest. (Imagine the shape of a lower case "r") If they are going behind the child's back, then the straps are probably set too low and/or the child may be leaning forward as the straps are tightened. (Tip: Get them to lean back by holding a toy up above them, so they lie back to look up at it, rather than looking down at the buckle that you're fastening.) If they seem to be capping the child's shoulders in a V shape, they might have grippy material on which is catching too soon on the shoulders. Start with the straps really loose, then fasten, get child to lean back,

In some forward facing seats the straps are supposed to sit on the chest and contain energy absorbing foams to try and dissipate some of the force - older Britax seats have this - the newer ones have the "strap on top of shoulder curving over chest" design.

Lots of people do make errors with car seat straps so it's a good idea to double check your manual - incorrectly used straps are also (unfortunately) one of the more serious errors you can have and result in the worst injuries, so it's very very very much worth getting this right. Tiny errors of a few millimetres here and there won't matter but anything more than a few centimetres can have really big consequences.

I will add a couple of image comments.

1. Newborn in Joie 360 Spin, very unusual to get good strap pad position with such a young baby in this seat, but this is excellent. (Photo used with permission)
2. Straps starting on top of shoulder, curving onto chest. This seat has a thick infant insert which means that the straps look short. That's OK as long as they are correctly positioned on the shoulder. This is the same seat as picture 1, showing how the exact same pads can be more or less on the chest depending on the size of the child and the position of the straps.
3. (Picture used with permission) good example again of two rear facing older children with straps close to neck, starting on shoulder curving down and over.
4. Older baby in infant carrier. Strap pads look tiny here because they are very short compared with pads on seats for older children.
5. Forward facing strap pads in Britax Advansafix. Again starts on top of shoulder and curves onto chest. Where you have a little wave shape like this it's for the shoulder joint to have freer/more comfortable movement.

(I hope the order actually worked)

Sorry I forgot to add ^^ above post is CORRECT strap positioning.

And because I ran out of photos, bonus example of correct placement in an older style seat (Britax King).

These photos show examples of INCORRECT (or non ideal) strap pad positioning.

1. Clothing is too puffy, baby is sitting totally forward and the straps aren't on the baby's shoulders (too wide - in a V shape). The pads are totally uneven. This would be life threatening in an accident. (Also baby is too young to be forward facing).
2. Pads are totally uneven and one of them is the wrong way around. When there's a straight edge and curved edge, the straight edge should be facing the centre. Can't see enough to say if it's risky or not. Chin doesn't look to be in a great position.
3. The pads look wrong because they are too high/going behind the shoulders. This is happening because the straps are in too low of a position and the harness isn't sufficiently tightened. This might be a problem in an accident - there is certainly a lot of slack here.
4. This is a more typical position of a newborn in a multi stage seat (Joie 360 again). The pads are extremely difficult to fit properly because they are so bulky and the newborn is comparatively so small. This probably isn't dangerous but it's not a good fit. (I have another photo of the same baby 9 weeks later, and they fit lovely).
5. Pads are only on the shoulders/sticking straight out. This is just a case of not tightening the harness properly, you more often see it in infant carrier seats. I think the straps might also be set a bit too low in this position as well, though it's hard to tell. But I think if these straps were tightened until they're snug in contact with the child's body, and tugged down/into position then you COULD get a safe fit here. If left as shown in the photo, very dangerous fit, likely life threatening in a crash.

A few more examples of incorrect positioning because I ran out of photos.

1. This one isn't too bad, but they are too high on the chest, in a child of this age you would expect to see more than half the pad on the chest. I think the cause in this case is that the straps are set too low. If she's rear facing it's not a big problem, if she is forward facing then she would potentially move further forward than designed in a crash which could be dangerous.
2. The child is wearing bulky clothing which is causing the pads to be pushed way out at the sides out of place. The straps will be much too loose, even though they look snug to the coat. It's a dangerous fit.
3. This is a really poor fit all around - much too loose and the clothes are very bulky. But the main reason I included is the clear V shape of the harness, with the pads not actually being on the shoulders at all but only on the arms. Very dangerous in an accident. If your car seat looks like this, make sure to position the pads on the shoulders, then tighten the straps until they're really snug to the body.
4. A less extreme but still very common example of the V shape with the pads right on the tips of the shoulders, rather than being situated centrally on the shoulder (close to the neck) also straps are too loose. People commonly do this with newborns because they are scared of hurting them. It's OK to move their neck to get the straps nice and close.

Last post (sorry for the spam...) a few examples that are borderline or "yes but..."

1. DS1 (now 15). I included it because in most cases today if you use the seat without the pads, it's not correct/approved. I can't actually remember if his seat had no pads, or whether I just took them off. Tell me if you can spot my other mistake!
2. DS3 in a Cozy n Safe Fitzroy. There was very little guidance on how to use these pads so I used them over the shoulder down the chest. But actually they made the straps go into an odd shape and made it hard to see if they were tight or not. I believe that this was safe, but it definitely didn't look as secure as my Joie/Britax/Cybex seats. This can be a problem with cheaper seats. I found it was really unclear how to use several parts of it.
3. Joie 360 spin. In this case the person has taken the straps off the velcro and moved them down slightly. It's not strictly correct and Joie I believe don't advise this, but it can make it easier in some cases to get a snug fit on the shoulders, especially for very young babies, because the pads are so bulky. This is a good fit, even though the pads aren't strictly correct.
4. (and .5) DS2 the first time I put him in his car seat and instantly didn't know where the pads should go. Cybex photos seemed to show the logo clearly so I went for that first, but then found that on the shoulders supported his head much better (and they have them on the shoulder in the manual).