The American Academy of Pediatrics has formally recommended that parents 
keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.  They also advise that most children 
will need to ride in a belt-position booster seat until they have reached 
4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age. 
(published April 2011 issue of Pediatrics - link below)

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/carseat2011.htm  

The South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance established the Child Passenger Seat (CPS) Inspection Campaign in 2000.  The Campaign is a long term commitment by the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance to organize train technicians and organize inspection events.  The goal of the Campaign is coordinate random inspection events, throughout the four county region, in an effort to reduce the number of incidents of misuse, and thus resulting injuries, hospitalizations, and even deaths to children.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of deaths of children over the age of six months.  The proper installation of child car seats is one of the simplest and most effective ways of protecting your child in the event of a accident.   National studies indicate that eighty percent of all child passenger seats are installed incorrectly and will not protect a child as intended during an accident. 

To make sure your child safety seat is installed correctly contact the Alliance for the name and contact information of a certified technician near you or attend one of the monthly Fitting Stations.

www.THECARSEATLADY.com - the best place to go for all kinds of child seat safety information, from types of seats, to airplane use and product links.

Recalled Information - To find out if your child safety seat is recalled go to www.nhtsa.gov, click on recalls in NHTSA Quick Links and the click on child safety seats.    

Special Healthcare Needs and Child Safety Seats - Some children who have certain medical conditions or procedures require special consideration when selecting restraints.  Oftentimes, a conventional child safety seat will meet the safety and positioning needs of a child with special health care needs and other times, an adaptive or specialized restraint will be necessary.  For assistance with your child's special health care needs contact a CPS Instructor.  For more information visit  www.preventinjury.org/SNTmedCond.asp 

Using child safety seats after a minor crash.  As of February 2004, NHTSA defined a minor crash and published guidelines to determine if you could reuse a child safety seat that had been in a crash.   Press Release  

Using old car seats - Most car seat manufacturer guidelines recommend that a car seat only be used for a limited amount of time, usually between 6 and 10 years.  Older car seats may not meet current federal safety standards, certain parts may have deteriorated from sitting in the elements and may not protect the child as intended in a crash and replacement parts may no longer be available.  C

Using used car seats - Never use a used car seat unless you know the history and it has all the labels attached.  Even though you may not see any damage to the outside of the seat there may be structural damage on the inside or the seat may be missing critical parts or pieces or it may have been recalled.  Without knowing the history you cannot be sure that the seat will perform as intended in a crash and protect your child. 

Seat Registration Forms - It is important to send in the registration form when you purchase a new seat.  This is how manufacturers will notify you of any recalls.  If you do not have or do not remember sending yours in, use this e generic seat registration.