Car seat safety is something I’m very passionate about. Violet rear-faced until she was two years old, which is now the the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and we are very careful to never let her ride with a bulky jacket on or without the chest clips in the correct position. Unfortunately, not every parent has been educated by their pediatrician or has taken to time to read up on car seat safety on the Internet.
The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children 1 through 12 years old. Based on NHTSA crash data in 2010, on average, almost 2 children (age 12 and younger in a passenger vehicle) were killed and 325 children were injured each day. This fatality rate could be reduced by half if the correct child safety seats were always used.
Here is a great infographic which will help you understand what type of car seat is best for your child. Click the image to enlarge it.
If you’re unsure what the best seat is for your child, or need to make sure it is installed correctly, you can find information here on how to locate Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians
For further information on car seat safety, please check out the new NHTSA website. This information could help save your child’s life.
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As helpful as they are I have always hated those guidelines (personally, not in general) only because they make me feel like a horrible mother. My children are tall – very, very tall, so tall that they don’t even have a percentile to put them in because they aren’t on the chart so they just default to 99th %. My daughter was the size of an average 6 year old when she was three, and my son – who is just 2 – no longer fits in his front facing car seat and rides a booster. I’ve always been torn about this. Is it really safer to have my two year old in a front facing car seat, where his head is above the top of the seat and the max allowance for the seat belt is at the bottom of his shoulder blade instead of above his shoulders, and barely buckles and cuts into his neck and makes horrible rashes, than putting him in a booster – which is, according to all documents, something he shouldn’t be in until he’s 4? I just feel so torn and guilty and I never know what is the right choice because every road map seems to assume children can’t possibly be as tall as mine. I’m honestly asking this here, I’m not trying to be inflammatory, because I know these charts are wonderful for the vast majority of the population – but what about for my kids? What guidelines do I use? Does anyone know?
This is absolutely one of those times when you really need to consult an expert rather than asking other moms. You’re going to get varying answers from other moms depending on their stances. Try this link to find an expert near you http://1.usa.gov/RightSeatLocator – and if you can’t find one near you, perhaps you can e-mail one that can point you in the right direction.
Oh, thanks so much! I had no idea there was someone I could ask this question to (the Fire Department who installs car seats didn’t know). Thanks!
We rear faced all of our kids to 4 as well. This looks like a great site and I hope it will help people be more aware of the proper car seat safety.
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really great advice! I’m passionate about kids safety so this makes a lot of sense
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My daughter was in a booster seat up until recently, her height is shy a couple of inches for the requirements but her weight is 114lbs which is over any booster seat I can find. She’s 9 years old, I am 5’6″ and she is only 10″ shorter than me, so maybe she is okay with height and weight now? I don’t know but her Dad has her in a booster, I guess if Boosters are based on weight requirements how can it be safe to put a child in a booster that is made for lower than her weight? That’s the part that doesn’t’ seem safe to me. My boys are both in booster seats still, they are ages 3 & 5; one has high back booster so the safety belt is properly adjusted for him and the other is in a normal booster. I think many need to be educated, far too often I see children just flopping around in parents cars at the school – no seat belt and no booster nor car seat, that worries me!
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