'We did everything right'

Plunket offers free car-seat checks. Photo / Supplied

The distressed father of a 16-day-old boy critically injured when a baby seat came loose during a car crash, says the family did everything right.

The father, Pati, who did not want his full name used, said the seat was strapped in.

"I buckled him in and my wife belted the seat in."

The baby, Julius, was in a capsule in his parents' car which crashed early Thursday morning on East Tamaki Rd in South Auckland.

The baby suffered severe head injuries when the capsule came loose in the crash.

He was rushed to Middlemore Hospital but later transferred to Starship Children's Hospital for surgery.

His parents were keeping vigil in the paediatric intensive care unit as doctors tried to save the baby boy.

Pati said the family, from South Auckland, was "holding up".

"He was going to be moved up to the high dependency ward but he had a couple of seizures last night but they said it was too hard to determine.

"They operated on him on Thursday after he was transferred from Middlemore.

"It's a waiting game. We are waiting for the swelling in his head to go down.

"The more they take the tubes away the better we feel. He was tubed up for miles on Thursday and now he's just down to a feeding tube," he said.

Pati was driving with his wife and their 5-year-old daughter when their car collided with a turning car.

"I heard the seat hit the back door. I asked my wife but she just went blank. I heard the baby crying after impact. I panicked. "

The Counties Manukau serious crash unit is investigating.

Separately, Transport Minister Steven Joyce and child safety group Safekids planned to start a website on Wednesday about the dangers of incorrect car-seat installation.

Safekids director Ann Weaver said four out of five car-seats were not installed correctly.

"It's nobody's fault," she said. "They are very complicated pieces of equipment. That's why it's very important to have it checked by a professional car restraint technician."

Plunket offers free car-seat checks and further safety information is at www.mysafekids.org.nz