When your child outgrows their car seat's rear facing height and weight limit they will switch to a car seat forward facing with a 5 point harness. Children should remain in a rear facing car seat until they are at least two years old minimum. Children should remain rear facing as long as possible. Click here to read more about the benefits of extended rear facing.
Children should remain in a 5 point harness until they have the maturity to sit properly in a booster seat. "In the interest of safety, do not rush to move a child into a booster seat before they’re ready".
Children should remain in a 5 point harness until they have the maturity to sit properly in a booster seat. "In the interest of safety, do not rush to move a child into a booster seat before they’re ready".
When using a forward facing car seat the harness should always be at or above the shoulders. The chest clip should always be at armpit level. The harness should always be tight enough that you can not pinch any slack at the shoulders.
Remember that when installing a car seat you should never have more than one inch of movement at the belt path after the installation is complete.
When installing a forward facing car seat with the 5 point harness the car seat installation can be made safer with the top tether.
When you use the top tether you reduce head excursion by as much as four inches. Top tether anchors were made standard in cars starting in 2001. If you have an older vehicle there are programs to get tethers retrofit (added) to your car. There are no standard locations for top tether anchors in vehicles. You should always check your car manual to be sure that you are attaching the top tether to the correct location. Additionally you should always check your car seat manual to be sure that you are attaching the top tether to the anchor properly.
1. Whitman, G. R., Yannacone, J., Burton, J., & Shanahan, D. F. (2003). Occupant Kinematics with Child Safety Seats Tested Under Real World Conditions.Association for Advancement of Automotive Medicine.
