Best Practices for Child Car Safety

"Why doesn’t my car seat stay tight in the car?"

Most parents that have a child car safety seat know how difficult it is to install child’s car seat into the car correctly.  Safety specialists will be at the CHILD CAR SAFETY SEAT CHECK to show the correct way to install the child‘s car seat and to make sure that the car seat hasn’t been recalled.

The South Windsor Child Safety Seat Team follows the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which is

• Keep children rear-facing from birth until two years old or to the height or weight limits of the convertible seat. 
• Then, children should be forward-facing in a harnessed seat from two years old to eight years old up to the limits of the Child Restraint, then in a belt-positioning booster seat until the child can fit properly in a safety seat-belt, typically when the child is about eight to twelve years old. When using the vehicle’s safety seat belt always use the lap-shoulder belt for best protection.
• A final, best-practice recommendation is for all children under 13 years old to ride in the back seat. Please read and follow the instruction manual of your child’s safety seat and your vehicle to find the safest installation configuration.