The good news is that infant car seat covers are removable. Once your infant starts snacking on those long car rides, or simply spits up once or twice, you are going to need to remove the car seat cover in order to wash it. You might even want to replace it with a new cover; perhaps a custom design your ordered online. The bad news is that they are not very easy to remove! Although you will need to consult your directions for your particular model of car seat, the tips for removing a infant car seat cover featured below are similar to all models.

Steps

1 Detach the restraining straps from the body of the car seat. Turn the car seat over and you should be able to find where the shoulder and bottom straps detach. Most shoulder straps are attached to a metal T-bar in the back. Unhook the straps from the T-bar. You will also need to detach the bottom strap as well, which might be hooked to the bottom of the T-bar, or to a separate part of the seat body. Consult your manual to find out exactly how they are attached.

2 Thread the now loosened restraining straps through the car seat cover and pull them free. Set them aside in a safe place so you can find them again easily.

3 Detach the car seat cover from the body of the car seat. It may be attached with elastic, snaps or small fabric loops. Again, turn the seat over to see how the cover is attached. Release the attachments and lift the car seat cover off the seat body. There will probably be a foam base underneath the seat cover. Leave that in place, or vacuum it if it is full of crumbs or dirt.

4 Place the new or washed car seat cover onto the foam base and attach it to the body of the car seat using the snaps, elastic, or small fabric loops.

5 Thread the shoulder and lower restraining straps through the body of the car seat and through the openings in the car seat cover. Then, secure them to the body of the car seat (T-bar). Again, consult your manual to find out exactly how they are secured in your model of car seat.