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Keep your child rear-facing until the top weight or height limits for the rear-facing car seat. Once top rear-facing limits are reached, use a forward-facing car seat with a harness and a tether. Keep your child in a car seat with a harness until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit for the harness.
Toddlers and preschoolers 2 years or older
should use a forward-facing safety seat with a harness in the back seat, and should use harnesses until at least 40 pounds.
Children should remain in safety seats
with harness straps until at least 40 pounds or to the maximum weight limit for harness straps. Avoid graduating to a booster seat until at least 40 pounds (or later if possible).
There are a variety of seat options:
Convertible, Forward- facing, Combination Toddler/Booster seats.
Read labels and seat instructions
to determine the correct seat for age, weight and height. Maximum forward-facing harness weight range can vary from 40-85+ pounds.
Make sure child is within weight/height limits
for the seat and head is more than one inch below the top of the car seat shell.
READ the instruction manual
AND the safety belt/seat section in your vehicle manual for proper installation guidance.
Children under 13 years old
should always ride in the back seat.
Install safety seats tightly
in the vehicle; less than an inch of movement.
If using a safety belt to install
LOCK the vehicle safety belt to keep it tight; refer to labels on belt, vehicle owner’s manual, and car seat instruction manual.
are unintentionally misused. Partial misuse of a safety seat reduces its effectiveness against severe injuries.
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Community Health & Research
PO Box 1980
Norfolk, Virginia 23501-1980, USA
Phone: 1-757-446-5799
Materials are free for educational, nonprofit use; citation is appreciated.
The Car Safety Now program was supported by a series of grants from the Virginia DMV Highway Safety Office (Principal Investigator: Kelli England, Ph.D.). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Virginia DMV, or Virginia Highway Safety Office.
The Car Safety Now program was supported by a series of grants from the Virginia DMV Highway Safety Office (Principal Investigator: Kelli England, Ph.D.). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Virginia DMV, or Virginia Highway Safety Office.
