All About Car Seats And When To Transition
Rear-Facing
Forward-Facing
Forward-Facing
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children rear-face until they have outgrown the weight or height maximums of their rear-facing seat. In addition, many states have passed laws requiring children sit rear-facing until the age of 2. Other states have proposed the law but it has not yet been passed. Fortunately, many seats have higher rear-facing weight limits now to help keep children rear-facing as long as possible!
Forward-Facing
Forward-Facing
Forward-Facing
Children who have outgrown the weight or height limit of their rear-facing car seat should transition to a forward-facing seat with a harness. Keep your child in their forward-facing car seat with harness until they have outgrown the weight or height limit seat by the car seat manufacturer. Many forward-facing only seats offer the option to remove the harness once the child outgrows it and continue to use the seat as a booster with a seat belt.
Booster
Forward-Facing
Seat Belt
Children may begin riding in a booster as early as 4 but the minimum recommended age is 5. Best practice is to keep the child using a harness as long as possible. Many car seats manufactured today have higher harness weight limits to enable growing children to remain in a harness longer before transitioning to a seat belt in the booster.
Booster seats help keep the child restrained safely until reaching 4'9" and can meet all the criteria to "5-step".
Seat Belt
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
Seat Belt
Once a child reaches 4'9" which is often between ages 8-12 and can pass the 5-step test, he or she can usually transition to a seat belt without the use of a booster. Always use a lap and shoulder seat belt for the best protection.
Front Seat
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
Once a child reaches the age of 13, he or she is allowed to sit in the front seat provided the seat belt fits appropriately. The back seat is always the safest location for children.
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
Which Is The Best Car Seat?
The BEST car seat is the one that fits the CHILD correctly, that fits the CAR correctly, and that YOU can install correctly every time!
Rear-Facing Requirements By State
This map is ever-changing as lobbying continues. Rear-facing until at least age 2 is required by the states in green and has been proposed in the blue states but has not yet passed. The yellow states do not have requirements to rear-face until at least age 2 yet. Please note this map can change frequently so always check with your state's laws.
Important Steps In Choosing
- Every car seat rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has to meet Federal Safety Standards and strict crash performance standards. Since all car seats are safe, how do we know which one is easiest? NHTSA has created Ease of Use Ratings that involves evaluating the following categories: Evaluation of Labels, Evaluation of Instructions, Securing the Child, and Installation. Check NHTSA's website Parents Central at www.safercar.gov for Ease-of-Use ratings.
- The Governor's Highway Safety Association lists each state's car seat laws. Go to www.ghsa.org to check out the Child Passenger Safety Laws.
- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a great resource to find latest crash testing information for vehicles, top safety picks, LATCH evaluations, and booster seat ratings. You can see updated information on their website at www.iihs.org.
- On NHTSA's website www.safercar.gov, you can access Parents' Central and view all the car seats available, select a few, and compare them.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics' website www.healthychildren.org offers a complete car seat product listing for 2016 on their page. It's a great resource to compare all the available seats and their prices too!
- Consumer Reports created their own method of evaluating infant child safety seats. Their goal was to determine which car seats offered an extra margin of safety in certain crash conditions and rated them with a crash protection rating of "BEST", "BETTER", or "BASIC". Full ratings are available on www.consumerreports.org
What Else Should You Know?
There are hundreds of options of seats out there. Some of the most important things to consider when choosing a seat are the following:
- Know your car: how do the seat belts lock, is the LATCH system available, up to what weight limit is the lower anchor approved for, is the seating position near an active air bag, will there be room for other child seats if needed?
- Know your child: how old is your child, how tall, and how much does your child weigh?
- Check recall lists: make sure the seat being used isn't on the recall list and if so make sure all repairs have been made according to the seat manufacturer's instructions. Go to www.safercar.gov to check recall list.
- Check expiration dates: expiration dates range from 6-8 years and some newer seats have expiration dates up to 10 years!
- Know the history of the seat you choose: has it been in a major collision? If so it may need to be replaced!
- Know your car seat: up to what weight and height can the child ride rear-facing, what weight and height can the child ride forward-facing, can LATCH be used, what is the correct recline/incline position?
- GET HELP FROM A CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY TECHNICIAN!
