Children should use rear-facing car seats in the back seat until at least age 2 and for as long as possible (even up to age 4) to the rear-facing height and weight limits for the seat. If your car seat has a rear-facing weight limit of 22 pounds or less, you should change to a convertible car seat with higher rear-facing limits and keep rear-facing for longer. Leg crowding is expected and okay. It does not cause harm as long as the child is within the weight and height limits for the seat.
Seat should be semi-reclined
at approximately 45 degrees when rear-facing; use angle indicator on safety seat.
READ the instruction manual
AND the safety belt/seat section in your vehicle manual for proper installation guidance.
Children should always
ride in the back seat. In some states (including Virginia), it is illegal to place a rear-facing seat in the front seat of a vehicle.
Install infant and convertible 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 owners manual, and car seat instruction manual
are unintentionally misused. Partial misuse of a safety seat reduces its effectiveness against severe injuries.
For installation help and more information, consider these helpful sites:
To find a seat check event:
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Community Health & Research
PO Box 1980
Norfolk, Virginia 23501-1980, USA
Phone: 1-757-446-5799
E-mail: carsafetynow@evms.edu
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.