Infants are at greater risk of injury in crashes. This is because their heads are fragile, their neck bones are soft, and the ligaments that help support the neck are stretchy.
A rear-facing seat supports your infant's upper body, protecting the head, neck and spine and spreads crash forces across the back. Properly installed child safety seats reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants involved in crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A baby riding in the front seat can be fatally injured by a passenger side airbag. Always put your infant in a rear-facing car seat in the back of your car. Use a rear-facing seat from birth until he is at least 1 year old and weighs at least 20 pounds or until he reaches the weight limit for that seat. Some seats have an upper limit of 30 pounds.
Your infant should be in a rear-facing seat from birth until he is at least age 1 and weighs at least 20 pounds or reaches the top weight limit for the seat. If born prematurely, or very small, your infant may need a car bed instead of a traditional car seat.
There are three types of child safety restraints for infants:
Infant-only rear-facing
car seat
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Infant-only car seats
Rear-facing infant car seats come with a detachable base that can be installed and then left in your vehicle. You can often buy more bases to use in other vehicles. Infant-only seats can also be installed with just the vehicle's seat belt, without their base.
These seats usually have an upper weight limit of 30 to 35 pounds; check your instruction manual or the seat label for weight limits.
Babies should remain in infant-only car seats until reaching the maximum weight limits, as long as the top of their heads are below the top of the seatback. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping children in rear-facing carseats as long as possible.
Using harnesses correctly
Harness straps hold your baby in the safety seat. The most common type of harness is a 5-point. It has two straps that secure the shoulders and two more straps that secure the hips. It buckles between the legs.
Be sure that the harness fits snugly against your child. It is snug enough when you cannot pinch a fold in the harness material after buckling in your child.
A chest clip holds the harness straps on your baby's shoulders. Here are tips for keeping the harness straps in the safest position:
- Always thread the straps through the slots at or below the infant's shoulders.
- For the best fit, the straps should lie flat in a straight line without sagging or twisting.
- The top of the chest clip should be level with the infant's armpit.
Child safety seats have several pairs of harness slots so you can adjust the harness as your baby grows. For infants in rear facing seats, position the harness straps using the slots at or below your child's shoulders.
Rear-facing
convertible seat
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Rear-facing convertible seats
A convertible seat can be used in both the rear-facing and forward-facing positions from birth until your child reaches the weight limit for the rear-facing position. It can then be switched to face forward. Check your safety seat instruction manual or seat label for weight and height limits in each position.
Convertible seats have more than one harness slot so you can adjust the harness as your child grows. When used rear-facing, the harness straps need to be put through slots at or below your child's shoulders.
Using the harness correctly
Convertible seats use two different types of harnesses:
- 5-point harness. This most common type buckles between the legs and uses two straps to hold the baby at the shoulders and two straps to hold the baby at the hips.
- Tray or overhead shield. A padded bar swings over your baby's head and buckles between the legs. These shields may not protect smaller infants well enough because they are positioned high relative to a child's size.
Related information: Tips for choosing a rear-facing safety seat
Car beds
Your premature or very small infant might need to ride in a car bed rather than a traditional car seat. Car beds allow babies to lie down while traveling. Medical staff will determine if your baby needs to travel this way. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that medical staff monitor all infants born earlier than 37 weeks before their first car trip and to check for breathing difficulties, or heart rate problems when restrained in a traditional rear-facing car seat. Your physician will let you know if a car bed is neccessary.
Positioning your child in a car bed
If you are using a car bed for your infant, be sure to position his head toward the middle of the car, away from the door.
Read your car bed instruction manual for information on how to install the car bed properly.
If your baby needs a breathing monitor or other equipment, be sure to secure it to avoid movement if a crash should occur. Try placing this extra equipment on the seat with a seat belt around it, or on the floor with padding to prevent it from shifting.
- Premature and very small infants may need to ride in a car bed rather than a traditional car seat. For more information, visit our special travel circumstances page.
- Small babies who reach age 1, but weigh less than 20 pounds, should remain in a rear-facing child safety seat until they reach at least 20 pounds or the seat's weight limit.
- Larger babies whose weight or height exceeds the limits of the child safety seat before they reach age 1 should be moved to a convertible seat with a higher rear-facing weight and height limit. The seat should be kept rear-facing. Keep your child rear facing to the maximum limits of the seat.
If you are using a rear-facing infant-only seat, continue to use it as long as your baby hasn't outgrown the seat's weight and height limit or if his head hasn't reached the top of the seat. You can also use a rear-facing convertible seat that is made for heavier and/or taller babies. Check your rear facing seat's instruction manual or label for weight and height limits.
Don't be concerned if your child's legs bend at the knees or touch the back seat of the car when rear facing. This will not harm her feet or knees.
How to choose a rear-facing child safety seat
- Be sure the seat meets national standards. The label should say: "This child-restraint system conforms to all applicable U.S. federal motor vehicle safety standards."
- Put your child in the seat to see how it fits.
- Before purchasing, try the seat in your vehicle to make sure it fits.
- After buying a seat, follow the manufacturer's directions on installation
- If you are unsure how to install the seat, talk to a Certified Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Technician or visit a car seat checkpoint. Your hospital also may have a certified CPS Technician available to answer your questions.
- For more information from the American Academy of Pediatrics, click on choosing a car seat.
Other points to consider for an infant
- Infant-only seats are portable. Whether put into a base or buckled directly into the vehicle, they can be removed from the car and used as an infant carrier.
- Convertible seats can be used longer because they can hold bigger and heavier infants. They also can be converted to forward-facing seats when a child reaches at least one year and at least 20 pounds.
- Some convertible seats may not provide the best fit for smaller newborns, especially premature babies (preemies). Make sure your newborn will be able to ride comfortably and safely.
- Seats with tray shields may not fully protect newborns because the harnesses are stiff, at a fixed height and usually cannot be adjusted to fit and make full contact with a newborn's smaller body.
Don't forget to mail back the registration card
If you don't, you will not be notified if the seat is recalled or has other safety problems.
Moved since you sent in the card? Call NHTSA's auto safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 for a form that will be sent to the car seat manufacturer to update your address.
Installing the car seat
With so many vehicle and safety seat models available, you may be confused about how to install a child safety seat correctly. That's why it's so important to carefully read your vehicle owner's manual and your safety seat instruction manual.
View a short video on choosing and installing car seats.
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The angle is important
Check your seat's instruction manual for the correct installation angle. Some safety seats have angle adjusters built into the seat. When rear-facing, a seat should be angled no more than 45-degrees from vertical. If it is too flat, your baby may slide out between the straps. If the seat is too upright, his head may flop forward, making breathing difficult.
Some seats have adjustable bases that allow you to change the angle. If not, you may need to put a tightly rolled towel or a piece of a swimming pool noodle under the "foot end" of the safety seat.
Proper cover up
Never put a blanket between your child and the harness straps, or underneath or behind her. For car travel, don't dress your infant in bulky outerwear. It can interfere with the harness's tightness. Instead, place a warm blanket over your child and harness.
Use rolled towels on each side (but never under the head) of your infant's head to keep it from flopping side to side.
Position the handle properly
For most infant seats, the carrying handle should be down when your child is in the vehicle. Be sure to check your safety seat instruction manual.
Get a tight fit
Installing a car seat too loosely is one of the most common mistakes parents make.
Some infant seats only have bases that can be installed and left in the vehicle. If your infant seat has a detachable base, check it regularly to make sure it's still tightly installed.
Locking clip
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The seat belt must be locked to insure that your safety seat stays tight. Some vehicles made before 1997 may need a locking clip to lock the seat belt. Newer vehicles have belt systems with built-in locks. Be sure to read your vehicle owner's manual to learn how to use your seat belts correctly with your child safety seat.
Put your knee in the seat and push down on it while you tighten the belt.
How do you know if you've installed the seat securely?
- Holding the seat at the belt path, you should not be able to move the car seat more than an inch from side-to-side or toward the front of your vehicle.
- Provide only soft toys and books for your child to play with while traveling. Your baby could be hurt by a hard object if you were involved in a crash.
LATCH
All rear- and forward-facing safety seats and vehicles made after September 2002 come with Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH).
LATCH makes it easier to install car seats through use of built-in straps and hooks on the safety seat and anchor hardware in the vehicle. It will allow you to attach the seat or detachable seat base to the vehicle without using a seat belt.
Infant seats with a detachable base are only required to have lower anchors on the base. Top tether straps are not required on rear-facing child safety seats. Learn more about LATCH.
Where to get help
- Watch our video about car seat safety for your infant.
This video will open and play in a new window. - Read the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's infant child seat use and installation tips.
- Car seat installation can be confusing, but you can get help. Free Car Seat Fitting Stations are available nationwide. Trained professionals will check your child's car seat to make sure it is properly installed and that you are using it correctly.
Seating more than one child
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommend that all children ages 13 and under ride in the back seat of a vehicle.
If you have more children than back seat seating positions, contact a certified child passenger technician for help. If you don't have enough seating positions for all of your children, arrange to use a vehicle with enough seating positions to keep all of them safe.
Is your child's carseat safe?
You will need to check the safety of your baby's car seat under certain conditions.
After a crash:
Safety experts and many carseat manufacturers recommend replacing your child's safety seat after a crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends replacement following a moderate or severe crash . Visit the NHTSA website for a detailed explanation of how to tell if a crash was moderate to severe.
Recalls
Sometimes a defect shows up after safety seats are sold. The manufacturers will then recall the seats that have been bought. Check these Web sites to find out if your child safety seat has been recalled:
Used seats
New seats are best, but if you must use a second-hand child safety seat, keep the following in mind:
- Check when it was made. Look for the manufacturing date on a label on the seat. Most makers reccommend that their seats not be used if they are more than 6 to10 years old. Check with the manufacturer to be sure.
- Seats with obvious cracks, holes, dents, or missing parts are not safe to use (unless you can get replacement parts from the manufacturer).
- If you don't know its history, don't use a seat. It may have been in a crash.
- Don't use a seat without a manufacturer's label. You need to be able to check for seat recalls and age of the seat.
- Avoid seats without an instruction manual unless you can get a replacement from the manufacturer. Check the seat maker's website.
