We were told to install the infant seat ourselves and then take it to the fire station for inspection. So my husband installed it and we had it checked. With the convertible seat, my husband just installed it recently using the manual and the video on the seat's website. At some point I'll probably get it checked.

A certified child passenger safety technician will not install a car seat. They will teach a parent how to install their child's seat properly. A parent needs to know how to do this so they can reinstall correctly when the seat is removed for harness adjustment or cleaning.
To find a technician in your area here is a good link
http://www.safekids.org/certification/index.html

for the rear facing seats we had a professional installer... but when it came time to go forward i didit myself!!!

I do it myself. With my 1st son I he was old enough to be sitting forward and I saw a place that was inspecting carseats. It really opened my eyes. He showed me its better (only child of course) to be in the middle how tight he has to be. I am so anal about how tight the carseats have to be my parents have me check their sets when my nephew and niece are in their car. I also beleive just because its 6 yrs or 60 pounds ( in california) doesn't mean a child sound be without a booster seat of some kind.

I did it myself and had it checked with the first, and when I replaced it with a convertible did the same thing. Once I was comfortable with knowing what was right, I no longer had it checked everytime it was reinstalled.

Techs will install them while teaching here.

I picked other ... My hubby tried...got impatient then I tried... So we kinda both did it!

The first time that we had our carseat installed, we had the carseat people do it. (Our state has a Kids First organization that helps install carseats rather than the fire dept or police dept.) Then when we got the new car seat we had them install it again. Now because of the information they have given me and my husband, we can install the seat ourselves.

We installed our first rear-facing car seat, but it was checked before we were able to leave the hospital. When we went to the forward-facing, we installed it ourselves. And, when I got a new car with the LATCH system, I installed it myself, and that thing could be blasted to the moon without budging, I think.

The hospital where I gave birth instructs parents how to install the car seat the last Saturday of every month for free! So we took it there and was very grateful, it was complicated! In our second car and Grandma's car we did it ourselves

i did my own. i read the instructions and put it in myself.

The salesman who sold us our car seat installed the infant seat for us. My husband had a professional install the toddler seat rear-facing, and then I installed it forward facing. They make such a big deal about how impossible it is, but it really wasn't so bad.
Also, I'm glad I did it myself because when my son threw up all over his car seat and I had to take it out to clean it I didn't have to stress about not knowing how to put it back in.

I work in law enforcement. I'll have one of the officers who is certified to install seats do mine.

Just a tip for people if you plan on going this route, please don't show up while your loved one is in labor or the day the baby is being sent home from the hospital and beg to have your child seat installed. We run free monthly events, but having it done individually when we aren't running an event requires an appointment. Always check first (and well in advance of your EDD). Don't be afraid to call and ask.

I've always checked first, but our local fire dept says to just come on in when you can. They don't really do appointments.

we always put ours in ourselves. we pulled out the directions and then put them in the cars