Insurance News Center

1. Know your state law: Child Passenger Safety Laws

2. Get the right seat for your child and your vehicle. Learn more about the four Car Seat Types. Make sure you use a car seat that fits your child’s current size and age. Use this chart to learn about Car Seat by Child’s Age and Size

3. Find a car seat. The Car Seat Finder is an easy-to-use tool that lets you do just that. Simply enter your child’s birth date, weight and height above, and you’ll be provided car seat type results that fit your child according to NHTSA’s best practices recommendations.

All car seats rated by NHTSA meet Federal Safety Standards & strict crash performance standards. While all rated seats are safe, they do differ in their ease of use in four basic categories:

• Evaluation of Instructions
• Vehicle Installation Features
• Evaluation of Labels
• Securing the Child

Learn more about car seat ease-of-use ratings. To help with finding the right seat, you can also use the Consumer Reports ratings & Buyers’ Guides

4. Learn how to install your car seat correctly. This page offers videos and advice for the different types of kid car seats.

5. Register your car seat so you will be sure to get any car seat recall notices that might be issued

Other resources:

• Car seat inspection locator – Find a child car seat inspection station nearest you. Certified technicians will inspect your child car seat, in most cases, free of charge – and show you how to correctly install and use it. Search by state or by zip code.
• Car seat glossary of terms
• When Is My Child Ready for an Adult Seat Belt? – The time to transition your child out of a booster seat and into a seat belt usually comes when the child is between 8 and 12 years old.
• Car Seats: Information for Families – a guide from HealthyChildren.org
• Basic Car Seat Safety Checklist from SafeKids (PDF)
• CDC: Child Passenger Safety: Get the Facts