Car Safety – Recommendations by Age

The car has been an amazing addition to modern life, enabling us to travel long distances to visit family and take vacations, and to live farther away from where we work. Car safety has improved drastically over the years – and so have child safety restraints. Even so, every year thousands of children are injured or killed in car crashes, many of which could be preventable if proper restraints were used. 

Everyone knows about car seats, booster seats, and seat belts, but NOT everyone knows the recommendations and the laws for their use. Hopefully this post will help you better understand the recommendations for your child in the car. 

It is important to know that there are recommendations and there are laws, and these are not always the same. Often, the recommendation will be more stringent than the law. In this post, I will give you the recommendations given by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  

Find car seat laws by state here: https://saferide4kids.com/car-seat-laws-by-state/

If you have questions or concerns about car seat installation, find a certified child passenger safety technician (CPST or CPS technician). Call 877-366-8154 or visit https://cert.safekids.org/

Recommendations by age:

Infants and toddlers (under 2 years of age):

• Rear-facing only seat, also called “bucket” style. These are for infants up to 20-30lbs (depending on manufacturer), and have handles by which they can be carried out of the car. They usually connect to a base that is secured to the car. More than one base can be used if you have multiple cars. These should ONLY be used for travel in the car, not for sleeping outside of the car
• Convertible seat. This can be either backwards or forward facing, uses a 5-point harness belt, and is used for children up to 40-50lb. Keep your child rear-facing until at least age 2, or as long as they fit comfortably in the seat. It is ok if your child’s feet touch the back seat and even if the knees are bent. Leg injuries are very rare for children who are rear-facing. 
• Place car seat in the back seat of vehicle, in the middle if possible. 
• NEVER place your child in a front seat equipped with an airbag.  If deployed, the airbag can cause severe injury or death. 

Toddlers and Preschoolers:

• Convertible seat should continue to be used until weight limit is reached. Check your specific car seat for recommendations. 
• Forward facing seats, still with a 5-point harness belt, should be used until your child is 4 years of age AND at least 40lbs or to the maximum weight limit of the seat. 
• This age group should continue to ride in the back seat of the car.   
• NEVER place your child in a front seat equipped with an airbag.  If deployed, the airbag can cause severe injury or death.

School-Aged Children:

• Booster seats are used for all children whose weight or height exceeds the limits of their forward-facing car seat. The booster seat uses the car’s seat belt to lock in place. They are designed to raise a child up so that the lap and shoulder belts of the car fit properly on the body. They should NOT be used in vehicles that only have lap belts. 
• Booster seats either have a high-back or are backless. 
• Booster seats should be used until the vehicle seat belt fits properly on the child (does not rest on the face or neck and knees bend at the edge of the seat comfortably), which is typically between 8-12y of age and approximately 4ft 9in in height. 
• Booster seats should be used only in the back seat of the car. 
• Children under age 13 should ride in the back seat of the car. 

Older Children

• When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt properly – does not rest on the face or neck and knees bend at the edge of the seat comfortably – they can move out of a booster seat and onto the vehicle seat. 
• Older children should always wear the lap and shoulder belts correctly.
• Never allow sharing of seat belts. 

Important reminders:

• Be a good role model! Wear your own seat belt every time you are in the car. Teach by example. 
• Make sure any person who transports your child in a car uses the correct car safety seat every time. 
• Never leave your child alone in a car or around a vehicle. Children can die quickly from heatstroke, are at strangulation risk from power windows, retracting seat belts, and sunroofs, or can be struck by the car if they are behind the vehicle while it is backing up. 
• Do not use car seats that are old, have visible cracks, has been recalled, is missing parts or does not come with instructions, or has been in a moderate or severe car crash. 

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