Car seat safety: Avoid 9 common mistakes

Car seat safety isn't child's play. Understand 9 common mistakes parents make when installing and using car seats.
By Mayo Clinic Staff

Knowing how to safely buckle up your child as he or she grows can be difficult. Check out nine common mistakes parents often make when it comes to car seat safety — and how to avoid them.

1. Getting a used car seat without doing your homework

If you're considering a used car seat for your child, make sure the car seat:

Comes with instructions and a label showing the manufacture date and model number
Hasn't been recalled
Isn't expired or more than 6 years old
Has no visible damage or missing parts
Has never been in a moderate or severe crash

If you don't know the car seat's history, don't use it.

2. Placing the car seat in the wrong spot

The safest place for your child's car seat is in the back seat, away from active air bags. If the car seat is placed in the front seat and the air bag inflates, it could hit the back of a rear-facing car seat — right where the child's head is — and cause a serious or fatal injury. An air bag could also hit and harm a child riding in a forward-facing car seat.

Vehicles that have only one row of seats, such as certain pickup trucks, should only be used if the air bag can be turned off with a key.

If you're placing only one car seat in the back seat, install it in the center of the seat — if a good fit is possible. Placing the car seat in the center minimizes the risk of injury during a crash.

3. Incorrectly installing the car seat or buckling up your child

Before you install a car seat, read the manufacturer's instructions and the section on car seats in the vehicle's manual. Make sure the seat is tightly secured — allowing no more than 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of movement from side to side or front to back when grasped at the bottom near the attachment points — and facing the correct direction.

If you're using an infant-only seat or a convertible seat in the rear-facing position, keep these tips in mind:

Use the harness slots described in the car seat's instruction manual, usually those at or below the child's shoulders. Place the harness straps over your child's shoulders.
Buckle the harness straps and chest clip, ensuring a snug fit. The chest clip should be even with your child's armpits. Make sure the straps and clip lie flat against your child's chest and over his or her hips with no slack. If necessary, place tightly rolled small blankets alongside your baby to provide head and neck support. If the car seat manufacturer allows, place a rolled washcloth between the crotch strap and your baby to create a more secure fit.

4. Reclining your child at the incorrect angle

In the rear-facing position, recline the car seat according to the manufacturer's instructions so that your child's head doesn't flop forward. Babies must ride semireclined to keep their airways open. Many seats include angle indicators or adjusters to guide you. Keep in mind that as your child grows, you might need to adjust the angle. Check the manufacturer's instructions for details.

5. Moving to a forward-facing car seat too soon

Resist the urge to place your child's car seat in the forward-facing position just so that you can see him or her in your rearview mirror. Riding rear facing is now recommended for as long as possible, until a child reaches the highest weight or height allowed by the car seat manufacturer. You can start with a convertible seat, which can be used rear facing and, later, forward facing and typically has a higher rear-facing weight and height limit than does an infant-only seat. Or you can switch from an infant-only seat to a convertible car seat as your baby grows.

When your child reaches the weight or height limit of the convertible seat, you can face the seat forward. When you make the switch:

Install the car seat in the back seat according to the manufacturer's instructions, using either the seat belt or Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system.
Use the tether strap — a strap that hooks to the top of the seat and attaches to an anchor in the vehicle — for extra stability.
Adjust the harness straps so that they're at or above your child's shoulder level and fit snugly.

Mayo Clinic Minute: Are you keeping your child as safe as possible in the car?

Vivien Williams: Research shows that car seats save lives.

Kim Lombard: We want to keep kids rear-facing as long as possible. This should be spaced in between those.

Vivien Williams: Injury Prevention Coordinator, Kim Lombard, says the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children stay in rear-facing car seats until they reach the maximum height and weight limits for each car seat.

Kim Lombard: The previous recommendations were to keep children rear-facing up until age 2.

Vivien Williams: Kids come in different sizes, and Lombard says paying attention to the height and weight limits ensures that we're using the car seat the way it's designed to be used.

Kim Lombard: We need to keep them rear-facing up until they reach those max height and weight limits for their seat.

Vivien Williams: Rear-facing car seats protect a child's head, neck and spine in a crash. Check the car seat's owners' manual for height and weight limits, so you know when it's time to move to a different model. For the Mayo Clinic News Network, I'm Vivien Williams.

6. Not removing your child's heavy outerwear

Bulky outerwear and blankets can prevent harness straps from snugly securing your child. Buckle the harness, and then place a coat or blanket over the harness to keep your baby warm.

7. Moving to a booster seat too soon

Older children need booster seats to help an adult seat belt fit correctly. You can switch from a car seat to a booster seat when your child has topped the highest weight or height allowed by the car seat manufacturer. Remember, however, that your child is safest remaining in a car seat with a harness for as long as possible.

8. Incorrectly using a booster seat

Booster seats must be used with a lap and shoulder belt — never a lap-only belt. Make sure the lap belt lies low across your child's thighs and that the shoulder belt crosses the middle of your child's chest and shoulder.

9. Transitioning to a seat belt too soon

Most kids can safely use an adult seat belt sometime between ages 8 and 12. Here's how you'll know that your child is ready:

Your child reaches a height of 4 feet 9 inches (nearly 1.5 meters).
Your child sits against the back of the seat with his or her knees bent comfortably at the edge of the seat — and can remain that way for the entire trip.
The lap belt lies low across your child's upper thighs — not the stomach. The shoulder belt rests on the middle of your child's chest and shoulder — not on the neck or face.

Remember, the back seat is the safest place for children younger than age 13.

If you have questions about child passenger safety laws or need help installing a car seat, participate in a local car seat clinic or inspection event. You can also check with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for help finding a car seat inspection station.

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Feb. 23, 2022

Durbin DR, et al. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. Policy statement — Child passenger safety. Pediatrics. 2018; doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2460.
Durbin DR, et al. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. Technical report — Child passenger safety. Pediatrics. 2018; doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2461.
Car seat recommendations for children. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/car-seats-and-booster-seats#age-size-rec. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
Hoffman BD, et al. Unsafe from the start: Serious misuse of car safety seats at newborn discharge. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2016; doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.11.047.
Child passenger safety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/features/passengersafety/. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
How to install a rear-facing only infant car seat. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://www.nhtsa.gov/car-seats-and-booster-seats/how-install-rear-facing-only-infant-car-seat. Accessed Sept. 17, 2020.
Altman T, et al., eds. Keeping your child safe. In: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. 7th ed. Bantam Books; 2019.

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