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Securing a child in a rear facing child safety seat
 Correct Install - Rear Facing Infant Seat with base
Correct Install - Rear Facing Infant Seat without base
Here are guidelines for properly securing an infant or toddler in a rear facing child safety seat:
1. Place the child in the seat with her back and bottom flat against the seat. Do not place any padding behind or under the child. In a crash, padding can compress and the harness may be too loose to keep the child properly in the seat. Thick winter coats should also be avoided for this reason.
2. Bring the harness through the slots that are at or just below the child’s shoulders.
3. Buckle and adjust the harness. The harness should lie flat over the child’s shoulders and keep the child snugly in the seat. You will know if the harness is snug enough by using one of the following methods: |
Properly secured infant in rear facing child safety seat. Harness at or below shoulders and snug with retainer clip mid-chest.
Image provided by the NHTSA |
- Try taking a “tuck” in the strap near the child’s collar bone. You should not be able to pinch the strap or make a fold in the webbing.
- Slide one finger under the harness at the child’s chest and try to pull it away from the child. It should stay close to the body.
- Ask the child to lean as far forward as he can. Only his head should move forward. His back should still touch the child safety seat.
Harnesses can be tightened or loosened in a variety of ways.
Some tighten by pulling a piece of webbing attached to the front of the seat, some adjust by changing the harnesses’ position on a bar located on the back of the seat, and some adjust by threading the free end of the harness through and back over a metal slide on the back of the seat. Regardless of how the harness is adjusted, it is important to determine how to keep the harness locked once the adjustments are made.
4. Position the chest clip or retainer clip mid chest or nipple level. The chest clip keeps the harness over the child’s shoulders.
5. An infant can be centered in the seat by using rolled receiving blankets along the baby’s head and body. A rolled wash cloth or cloth diaper can be placed between the baby’s crotch area and the harness buckle or crotch strap. This will help keep the baby from sliding down in the seat.
6. Children must ride rear facing until they are at least one year old and at least 20 pounds. When babies are turned forward facing too early, they risk serious or fatal injuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ride rear facing until they have outgrown the rear facing limitations of their convertible child safety seats. This is usually 30 or 35 pounds or when the child’s head is within one inch of the top of the child safety seat. Click here for more information on the benefits of rear facing.” |
Infant can be centered with rolled towels or receiving blankets.
Image provided by the NHTSA |
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