Related topics: •  Car Trips With Young Children •  Child Safety •  Traveling With Children

Motor vehicle accidents are the No. 1 killer of children in the United States. You can reduce the risk by 70 percent simply by properly installing a child's safety seat and using it every time your child rides in a car. Today, car seat use is mandatory in every state, including that first ride home from the hospital.

No one type of car seat is right for every child. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, infants should ride in a rear-facing seat until they weigh 20 pounds and are 1 year old. The snug shoulder straps will hold your baby down in the event of a crash.

For your infant, you can choose either a small, easily portable car seat made only for infants or a bulkier convertible car seat that can also hold a toddler. The "infant only" seat can only be used until the baby's head is lower than the top rim of the seat. If you're using a convertible seat for a small infant, choose a three or five-point harness (the latter has two straps at the shoulders, two at the hips, and one at the crotch) for maximum support.

Once your child reaches one year and weighs 20 pounds, you can place him in a forward-facing seat. Choose a seat that's comfortable for your child and fits snugly in your car. For children weighing more than 40 pounds, current recommendations are to use a booster seat of the "high-back" style, with a built-in shoulder-belt repositioner. This type of seat allows the simple use of a lap/shoulder belt, but is designed so that the lap belt fits the child more safely -- low around the hips -- and so the shoulder belt fits across the shoulder instead of the neck.

Many states allow children to abandon their booster seats once they reach 40 pounds. But some states have more restrictive rules. In California all children under 6 or who weigh less than 60 pounds must be in car seats or drivers will face stiff fines.

Read over your car owner's manual for help regarding child seat installation. If you're going to use a safety seat that friends have given you or that you've gotten second-hand, use one that dates back less than 5 years. Check, too, to see that there's no recall in effect. To find out if there is, call the Department of Transportation's Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) DASH-2-DOT (or visit online at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/) and give them the following information about your child's safety seat: the manufacturer's name, the model number and name, and the date of manufacture. You should also call the hotline if you think your car seat has a safety problem.

Only while you're buying a new one or waiting for the manufacturer to send you a part to fix it. Using a recalled seat is better than letting your child use only an adult safety belt. If the manufacturer says the safety seat should be destroyed, break it into pieces and throw it away so that no one else will try to use it.

Follow the manufacturers' instructions carefully. If you're using a hand-me-down and don't have the instruction booklet, order it from the manufacturer.

Pull the belt through the right slot, and make sure it's tight when securing your child's car seat.

Keep the straps over your child's shoulder, and adjust the harness so you can only slip one finger underneath the straps at his chest.

If the safety seat has a metal slide used to adjust the length of the straps, the end of the strap has to be threaded through all the openings, and then back through the first opening to "lock" it. If it's not locked, your child could be thrown out of his seat during a crash.

Never put a rear-facing child seat (an infant seat) in the front of a car with air bags.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that close to 80 percent of all car seats are installed or used incorrectly. The most common mistakes people make with car seats include threading seat belts through the wrong slots, not using a locking clip when one is required, failing to buckle in the child, and installing the seat too loosely. A correctly installed seat will not be able to move more than an inch forward or to either side.

Remember, children are always safest in the back seat. Many car seats fit best in the center of the back seat, where they're less likely to tip. Even when they're buckled into their car seats, children riding in the front can be seriously injured or killed during a head-on collision, especially if your car has a passenger-side airbag.

In 2000, all new cars, minivans, and light trucks were required to have upper tether anchors for keeping the tops of car seats in place. Newer vehicles and child seats are also equipped with lower anchors and attachments.

-- Chris Woolston, M.S., is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive, and was the staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. He has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health, WebMD, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. His reporting on occupational health earned him an award from the northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

Further Resources

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.NHTSA.dot.gov

References

First published September 10, 1999
Last updated February 13, 2008
Copyright © 1999 Consumer Health Interactive

or find more on:

Back to top of page