FAST FACTS: Child Car Safety Seats
(CBS4) -- One of the most important jobs you have as a parent is keeping your child safe when riding in a vehicle. Proper use of car safety seats helps keep children safe. But with so many different car safety seats on the market, parents are often overwhelmed.
The type of seat your child needs depends on several things including age, size, and type of vehicle.
Infants should be placed in Infant-only and rear-facing convertible seats. All infants should always ride rear-facing until they are 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
Toddlers and Preschoolers should be placed in convertible, combination and forward-facing seats. Children 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds can ride forward-facing. It's best to ride rear-facing as long as possible.
School-aged children should ride in a Booster seat. Booster seats are for older children who have outgrown their forward-facing car safety seats. Children should stay in a booster seat until the adult seat belts fit correctly (usually when a child reaches about 4' 9" in height and is between 8 and 12 years of age).
Older children should always wear their seat belt. Children who have outgrown their booster seats should ride in a lap and shoulder belt; they should ride in the back seat until 13 years of age.
Click Here for "Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2008" by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
If you have questions or need help installing your car safety seat, there are local child safety seat inspection stations, where inspectors give advice and show parents how to properly install and use the safety seats.
Click here to see The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site for an inspection station near you.
A list of inspection stations, where you can learn how to correctly install a car safety seat, is also available in English and Spanish at www.seatcheck.org or toll-free at (866) SEATCHECK (866-732-8243).
You can also get this information by calling the toll-free NHTSA Auto Safety Hotline at (888) DASH-2-DOT (888) 327-4236) FROM 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
The Florida Highway Patrol also has a Child Passenger Safety Technician that parents can call or e-mail for an appointment to have your child's safety seat checked for proper installation or to see if you qualify for a low-cost child safety seat for low-income families.
