Car seat safety: How to keep your child safe as they grow

As your child grows, their car seat needs to change too. Keeping your child safe in the car isn’t just about buckling them up — it’s about making sure you’re using the right car seat for their size, age and development, and ensuring it’s installed and used correctly.

In Colorado last year, 78% of all car seats inspected were not being used correctly. It’s not that parents or caregivers are being negligent, in most instances, they have made simple, common installation errors, or their child is riding in the wrong type of car seat.

Some of the main factors contributing to improperly restrained children include:

• An incorrectly installed car seat.
• Use of a car seat that does not fit the child based on their size and the seat manufacturer’s limits.
• Not properly securing the harness or seat belt.
• Moving a child to the next size car seat, booster or seat belt too soon.

In addition, parents often move their children to the front seat before they should, which increases the risk of injury and death, even if that child is buckled correctly. Children under 13 years of age should always ride in the back seat.

Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific car seat and consult your vehicle owner’s manual for proper installation. To maximize safety, keep your child in a car seat for as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain rear-facing until they exceed the height and weight limits for their car seat’s rear-facing position. This is because the rear-facing position offers the best protection for a child’s head, neck and spine in the event of a crash. Rear-facing seats also help absorb impact and prevent the child’s body from being thrown forward suddenly, as it would be in a forward-facing seat. This significantly reduces the risk of spinal cord injuries, which are more likely when a child is facing forward during a crash. For these reasons, it’s crucial to keep your child rear-facing as long as they fit within the manufacturer’s guidelines.

After outgrowing a rear-facing seat, children should transition to a forward-facing convertible car seat. Once they’ve reached the height and weight limits for a forward-facing seat, they can move to a booster seat. As of 2025, Colorado law requires children to remain in a car seat or booster seat until their 9th birthday, and all children under 18 must wear a seat belt.

Properly securing children in car seats that meet federal motor vehicle safety standards significantly enhances their safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that child restraints reduce fatalities by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers in passenger cars.​

To check whether your car seat is installed and being used correctly, you can have your car seat checked for free at any time by visiting an inspection station. To locate a car seat inspection location near you, visit CarSeatsColorado.com.

If you can’t afford a car seat for your child(ren), WeeCycle, Children’s Hospital Colorado and SafeKids Colorado Springs have programs through which families can get a free or low-cost car seat. Visit their websites for more information.

Learn more about how to keep children safe in vehicles at CarSeatsColorado.com.