Car safety checklist
- Check the labels and owner’s manual to make sure you have the right car seat for your child. Check the height and weight limits.
- Check the date of manufacture on the seat label or owner’s manual to make sure that it has not expired.
- Keep kids rear-facing for as long as possible until they outgrow the height and weight limits, which usually occurs around age 2 or later.
- Make sure the chest clip is at armpit level and the harness straps are secured on shoulders.
- Loose items is car are stowed away.
- Do the pinch test: Pinch the straps vertically at the collarbone. If you can grab excess slack between your fingers and pinch it, the straps are too loose.
- Use a top tether when installing the car seat in the forward-facing mode.
- The car seat should not move more than 1 inch in any direction when shaken where the seat belt or lower anchors hold the car seat.
- Once your child outgrows a harness car seat, usually around 5 years of age, keep him/her in a booster seat until they are taller than 57 inches (4 feet, 9 inches)
- Keep kids in the back seat until they are 13 years old.
Rear-facing seats
Birth – 12 months
- Your child under age 1 should always ride in a rear-facing car seat.
- Infant-only seats can only be used rear-facing.
- Convertible and all-in-one car seats typically have higher height and weight limits for the rear-facing position, allowing you to keep your child rear-facing for a longer period of time.
1 – 3 Years of Age
- Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It is the best way to keep him or her safe.
- Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until her or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat manufacturer.
- Once your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, you child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether.
Forward-facing seats
1 – 3 Years of Age
- Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It is the best way to keep him or her safe.
- Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until her or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat manufacturer.
- Once your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, you child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether.
4 – 7 Years of Age
- Keep your child in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat manufacturer.
- Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether, it is time to travel in a booster seat, but still in the back seat.
Booster seats
4 – 7 Years of Age
- Massachusetts state law requires that your child be secured in a federally approved belt-positioning booster seat until 8 years of age or is over 57 inches (4 feet, 9 inches) tall.
- Keep your child in a booster seat until he or she is big enough to fit in a seat belt properly.
Seat belts
8 – 12 years of Age
- For a seat belt to fit properly, the lap belt must lie snugly across the upper thighs, not the stomach.
- The shoulder belt should lie snugly across the shoulder and chest and not across the neck or face.
- Remember – your child should still ride in the back because it is safer there.
For more information visit the Massachusetts website https://www.mass.gov/service-details/selecting-and-installing-car-seats
And the CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/child-passenger-safety/index.html#:~:text=Print-,Child%20Passenger%20Safety,age%2C%20weight%2C%20and%20height.
US Department of Transportation NHTSA https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-seats-and-booster-seats