Car seat strap padding - when to remove

[eyeknow]

Hi all,

We have 2 different car seats, both have little padding bits at the top of the straps. They are removable.

When should you take that padding off so it’s just the normal straps?

I’ve looked in both manuals and it doesn’t specifically mention that padding - just the newborn insert. Does the padding count as part of the newborn insert? Or should the padding always be left on?

Thanks for any advice!

I thought that was there to stop the edges of the straps making their necks sore - it honestly never occurred to me why you would take it off?

Sorry just to add I thought they were removable for cleaning purposes.

I never took it off. DS2 is 16 and still has a padded cushion on his seat belt

No answer but following as I've recently wondered about it too. The pads in our seat are bulky and don't seem comfortable any more on a 1yr old, I've removed them but not sure if it's ok to do so.

Shoulder pads and crotch pads always need to be left on.
They're to prevent injury.
If you have fb look at the car seat safety group, I saw it recommended on here and it was a real eye opener.

Great - thank you everyone! It just suddenly occurred to me today that I’ve never thought about them! They’ll stay put!

You don't it's removable to clean and should be positioned to reduce chance of damage to collar bones from the strap.

They're a safety feature. You DO NOT remove them if the child is in the car seat. They are only removable so they can be cleaned

Only remove them for cleaning, and even then you have to be really careful what you use to clean them with.
Shoulder pads and the crotch strap are designed to absorb the forces of the straps if you were ever involved in an accident and prevent friction burn.

You must always leave them on, most pads in car seats these days have a safety function rather than just a comfort one. They either help to grip the straps onto the correct place (instead of our seats having chest clips this is the solution EU manufacturers tend to use) or they sometimes have energy absorbing foams in them to try and lessen the impact.

If the pads seem too bulky you might need to move the headrest or straps up. Refer to your seat manual or the manufacturer video to find out how to do that. These days it's usually a case of just pressing a button on top and sliding the headrest to the correct position. However in some more basic seats you might need to physically unhook the straps and thread them through slots, or use a lever on the back of the seat to move them up and down.

The manual is not always clear but most of the time it says something like "The car seat must not be used without the soft goods" this includes harness pads.

Just to add lots of people mistake these for shoulder pads but in most car seats they are chest pads.