This depends on the state you live in. Generally, we like to recommend a rear-facing infant seat until 12-15 months of age, and then a rear-facing seat until 3 or 4 years of age, depending on your child's height and weight. After that, you can move to a front-facing seat or a booster until at least 7 years of age. Check your state's seatbelt laws here for more detailed information.

Your child should be rear facing until they are at least 1 year old AND 20 pounds. This is the recommendation put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Keep in mind that this is the minimum requirement. The longer you can keep your child rear facing, the better. Most convertible seats will go rear facing up to 30 pounds, some even up to 35 pounds.

Please consult the owner's manual of your carseat. For most carseats, this is not a problem and may actually improve safety. At least one carseat, the Century Smart Move, does require the seat to be able to rotate freely toward the back of the vehicle in a crash. Best practice from the NHTSA training manual states, "A rear-facing seat can be installed so it rests against the back of the vehicle seat ahead if not counter to manufacturers instructions...

Rear-facing IS safest. It is best to remain rear-facing to the weight and height limits of the carseat. Some convertible carseats have 30 or 35 pound rear-facing limits. In all cases, infants should be rear-facing until they are BOTH one year AND twenty pounds at the very minimum. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be kept in rear-facing seats for as long as possible. See these links for more details:

Not until she has completely outgrown her regular safety seat when she weighs more than 40 pounds or is too tall for it. She is too tall if her shoulders are higher than the top set of harness slots or if the tips of her ears are above the back of the safety seat (the hard plastic, not the puffy fabric). If she is too tall for her convertible seat but still weighs less than 40 pounds, switch to a child-seat/booster.

Child safety seat checks are conducted monthly at various locations throughout the Spokane community. To find when the next check is scheduled, you can call 1-509-232-2985.

Infants have large heavy heads, weak neck and shoulder muscles and soft, immature bones. Car seats are designed to safeguard these fragile parts and provide maximum protection during a crash. When a child is positioned rear-facing, the back of the car seat shell absorbs the energy from the crash, allowing the child’s head and neck to be protected against the seat back. This helps prevent brain and spinal cord injury.

You can use a tether on a rear-facing seat only if the owner’s manual to your car seat manual permits it.

Generally, NO, unless it is specifically mentioned in your manual. In the USA, older Safeline Sit-n-Stroll models and some Britax models may use a tether when rear-facing. You can find some instructions for tethering the Britax models in the Britax Online Instructions. Some additional information on the use of the rear-facing Britax Versa-Tether can be found at this site.

Answer: The SafeGuard Child Seat can accommodate children from 22 - 65 lbs and up to 57". If the child has reached the weight or height limits, we recommend that a child use a booster seat until the vehicle safety belt fits appropriately.

This is usually a dificult transition for both parent and child. Kids want to move out of their 'baby seat' but parents have a hard time saying goodbye to the 5-point harness and 'installed' car seat.

BTW, here are some Canadian prices. I don't believe we are receiving a stripped down version of the 850 (yet). They all seem to be fully equipped. My first thought was that it looks small. Not to say this is bad, but it is a compact looking package. They have changed the front end appearance in some subtle ways, which surprised me as this is only the second year of the model and Volvo's usually don't change like this for YEARS.

Putting a rear facing seat in-front of an airbag places the baby in serious danger. An airbag explodes with a force up to 200 pounds. When the bag inflates, it strikes the back of the car seat hard enough to break the plastic shell. This is usually the fatal blow. The airbag then slams the car seat into the back of the seat of the vehicle. If a child managed to survive this blow, he would suffer permanent brain damage.

Follow your car seat and vehicle manufacturer instruction manual. In addition, Partners for Child Passenger Safety has a Web site featuring video clips, highlighting rear-facing seats, forward-facing seats, booster seats and LATCH. Click here to visit their Web site. The safest place for your three-year old depends on the type of seat you have, the number and location of the seating positions in your car, as well as the type of seatbelts in your vehicle.

To fit most shoulder belts without a booster system, the child should be 1.45 m tall (4 ft. 9 in) tall or have a sitting height of 74 cm. (29 in.) Also, a child's pelvic bones are not fully developed until the age of 9 or 10 and the seat belt system may ride up over the abdomen. Click here for information on booster seats.

Some children can twist out of harnesses at an early age. Others can easily undo the buckle mechanism. Children may also be able to put too much slack in a seatbelt, and some children don't want to use a child restraint or seatbelt at all. Driving is a dangerous activity, and like any other, it requires proper supervision at all times. Parents can try many things.

Children under the age of eight, who weigh 18 kg or more but less than 36 kg (40-80 lbs.), and who stand less than 145 cm (57 ins. or 4 ft. 9 ins.) must travel in a booster seat that meets the CMVSS. This requirement became law September 1, 2005.

Everyone including parents, grandparents, relatives or friends, who drives with a child under the age of 8 who weighs less than 36 kg (80 lb.) and stands less than 145 cm (4 ft. 9 in.) tall is required to ensure the child is properly secured in the appropriate child safety seat or booster seat based on his/her height and weight. Research shows motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of injury and death for children and youth.

Children less than one year old or weighing less than 20 pounds must be properly restrained in a rear-facing child safety seat designed for infants. Children less than four years old but more than one, or weighing less than 40 pounds, but more than 20 pounds must be properly restrained in a forward-facing child safety seat. Children less than six years old but more than fours years old, or weighing less than 60 pounds but at least 40 pounds, must be properly restrained in a child booster seat.

The BMW child seats are designed to use the ISOFIX attachments. If the child seat is fitted correctly using the ISOFIX attachments, then there is no need to have the rear side airbags deactivated. However, these can be deactivated if required. Please contact the Service Department at your local dealership for further assistance.

The best way to determine if a child is ready to use the safety belt without a booster is to take the 5-Step Test. Most children need to use a booster until they are at least age 8.

No. The Takahashi does not require any booster - and neither does the Merck rubella. The only reason the Merck MMR booster is given in the US is because of the low immunity levels from only one dose of the measles portion of the MMR - not the rubella or mumps portions.

Most convertible and front-facing seats have 40 pound weight limits when using the harness. A convertible or front-facing seat with a 5-point harness is the safest option for children from 30-40 pounds who are not too tall for their front-facing carseat.

It is recommended that all children remain in the rear-facing position until they reach 20 pounds and 1 year. This is even incorporated into most state car seat use laws. However, it is safest for your child to stay rear-facing as long as a car seat will allow. Look for seats with higher rear-facing maximum weight limits.

No. Most rear-facing car seats are not designed to be tethered. The top of the seat will be able to twist and rotate toward the back of the vehicle. This is normal. If the carseat rotates DOWNWARD into the seat cushion significantly, you may try to put your weight on it and install it a bit tighter.

No. The Rear Window system is designed so that the captions are visible (via reflectors) from any seat in the theater. The reflectors are completely portable and designed to attach to any theater seat. However, depending on the size or layout of the theater and the location of the caption display, some seats may offer better viewing angles than others. Seats in the middle of the theater will generally offer the best view of Rear Window captions.

Seat belt adapters are not safe for anyone to use. They change the position of the seat belt to areas of the body that can be severely damaged in a crash.