Child safety seats

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Forward-facing car seat

Rear-facing car seat

Overview

Prevention

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Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the installation and use of your specific car seat. Also, read your car owner's manual to determine the safest place to install a car seat in your car. If the instructions are unclear, call the company that made the car seat.

Contact your local police or first station for help installing your specific seat. Many have free programs to show you how to do this. To find a certified child passenger safety technician in your area go to www.seatcheck.org.

Child safety seats come with safety straps, called harnesses, which secure the child into position. Your safety seat may have a 3-point or 5-point harness system.

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A 3-point harness system has two straps at the shoulder and one between the legs.
A 5-point system has two straps at the shoulder, two at the hips, and one between the legs.

The seat is secured into your vehicle using either car's seat belts or the LATCH system.

LATCH stands for lower anchors and tethers for children -- it is designed to make car seat installation easier. A child safety seat that comes with LATCH attaches to anchors in the back seat where the cushions meet and a strap called a tether, which connects the top of the safety seat to the car's frame. The car's seat belts are not used. All child safety seats and vehicles made after September 1, 2002 come with LATCH.

For more information on how to install child safety seats, see the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov. The NHTSA website also provides a list of all child safety seats recalled since 1990.

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Review Date: 05/12/2009
Reviewed By: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).