Car seats contain more bacteria than toilet seats!
It's official! Your child's seat is dirtier...
By Frances Sheen
September 24 2018
Your child's car seat has more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat – that’s the shock findings of a new survey.
The UK survey from Which? found that buckles, harnesses and headrests of child car seats are covered in faecal and gut bacteria.
Let’s break that down. That means there are poo particles on the seat your child sits in every day. But seeing as most kids in car seats wear nappies, that’s probably unavoidable.
Which? found there were 30 types of bacteria on different parts of the tested car seats, compared to just 16 on toilet seats.
The study involved taking swabs from child car restraint seats and then testing them for bacteria like MRSA, E Coli, Staphylococcus and C difficile.
In large quantities, these bacteria can be harmful to small children and babies.
Image: Getty
These results back up a similar study which found there were 100 potentially dangerous bacteria and fungi lurking in every square centimetre. Toilets have half that number!
So what can we do? Experts suggest we clean all car seats regularly, even if they don't look dirty.
How to clean your child's car seat
1. Clean the cover.
Read the instructions first so you know how to remove and replace it. Hand-wash the cover using cold water and mild soap. Don't use bleach or machine wash the cover. Lie flat or line dry to prevent the cover from shrinking. Don't machine dry or iron the cover.
2. Clean the harness and the buckle
Read the instructions for removing and replacing. Thoroughly rinse the buckle and harness with warm running water. Don't soak the buckle or use soap, household detergents, solvents, or lubricants.
Test the buckle by fastening and unfastening each of the buckle tongues for both sides until you hear a click after inserting each buckle tongue. If you don't hear clicks for each buckle tongue you may need to repeat the cleaning process.
Dry with a towel.
