Parents have a lot on their plate these days, but one less thing to worry about should be their children’s safety when on the road.

It’s Child Passenger Safety Week in Iowa, a time dedicated to educating parents and caregivers about the importance of correctly choosing, installing, and using car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. State Certified Instructor and former state director for emergency medical services for children Katrina Altenhofen shares why this annual week is needed, “Because we still realize that most of our parents even though they are using child safety seats, we’re still not using them correctly. Plus there’s a lot of confusion as to when do we need to turn that child around and when I don’t have to rear face anymore. When can I take the kid out of a child safety seat and wind up having them just in a seatbelt system. And I think a lot of parents don’t realize that all children under the age of 18 have to be in a seatbelt no matter where they are in the vehicle, and I think a lot of folks just get some of these details mixed up.”

Katrina says rear-facing car seats should be used from birth to 40 pounds, depending on the car seat manufacturer, forward-facing car seats should be used from 50-90 pounds, depending on the seat’s weight limit, and a booster seat when your child exceeds the weight or height limit of their forward facing seat. A child is large enough to only wear a seat belt when their feet can touch the floor. If you have questions or need help correctly installing a child safety seat, you can find Altenhofen or other certified technicians that live near you by visiting here.