Choosing and Using the Right Seat at the Right Time

Secure your child in a rear-facing seat as long as possible, from the moment your child is born until your child reaches the weight and height limits specified by the seat manufacturer. Securing children in rear-facing seats until they are at least 2 years old is highly recommended, and it is sometimes possible to keep using rear-facing seats until children are 4 or 5 years old.

Installing a rear-facing seat

1. Place the rear-facing seat on an incline, based on the instructions indicated on the seat.
   • To adjust the rear-facing seat’s position, you can place a foam noodle or rolled-up towel under the seat, where the vehicle seat’s backrest meets the seat cushion.
2. Attach the rear-facing seat to the vehicle seat with the universal anchorage system (UAS) or the seat belt.
   • The UAS or seat belt must pass through the openings of the car seat that are closest to the vehicle’s backrest. Check the labels on the seat to find them.
   • If the rear-facing seat is an infant seat with a detachable base, attach the base first, using the UAS or the seat belt, then put the seat on the base. You should hear a click.
3. Tighten the UAS or the seat belt so that the seat or the base does not move at all toward the front and no more than 2.5 cm from side to side. If you need to, push your knee against the seat or the base to tighten the UAS strap or seat belt.
   • If you are attaching the rear-facing seat with the seat belt, follow the instructions in your vehicle owner's manual to lock the seat belt.
4. If the rear-facing seat is an infant seat, check the seat manufacturer’s instructions to see whether the carry handle must be folded behind the back of the infant seat or left up.

Placing a child in a rear facing seat

1. Thread the harness straps through the slots located slightly below or at shoulder level.
2. Insert the buckle tongues into the buckle.
3. Fasten the chest clip at the baby’s underarm level.
4. Adjust the harness straps as closely as possible to the baby’s body. There should be space for no more than one finger between the harness straps and the baby’s shoulder. If you can pinch any excess fabric along your baby's collarbone, that means the harness straps are not tight enough.
5. Make sure that the space between the top of the child's head and the top of the rear-facing seat is at least 2.5 cm.

The baby's feet can safely touch the backrest of the vehicle's seat and the baby's legs can be bent.

Special Measures for a Premature or Low-Birth-Weight Baby

Rear-facing seats: for how long?

Given that children are safer in rear-facing car seats, it is recommended that they be used as long as possible.

You can secure your child in a front-facing seat once he or she turns 2. However, you should ideally keep using the rear-facing car seat as long as your child does not exceed the weight or height limits indicated by the seat manufacturer.

Special precautions for infants

Infant seats should be used only for travelling with an infant in a vehicle.

Car seats should never be used as cribs because they are not safe for sleeping.

During the first few months of life, an infant should not be left sitting in a car seat for trips lasting more than one hour at a time.

If you are making a long car trip, take frequent breaks to change positions and to hold the baby in your arms.

Installing a front-facing car seat

1. If the car seat has a recline mechanism, make sure that it is inclined in the recommended position for when it is facing the front.
2. Secure the seat with the UAS or the seat belt.
   • The UAS or seat belt must pass through the openings of the car seat that are closest to the vehicle’s backrest. Check the labels on the seat to find them.
3. Attach the tether strap to the vehicle’s anchorage point.
4. Tighten the UAS or the seat belt so that the seat does not move at all toward the front and no more than 2.5 cm from side to side. If you need to, push your knee against the seat to tighten the UAS strap or seat belt.
   • If you are attaching the seat with the seat belt, follow the instructions in your vehicle owner’s manual to lock the seat belt.
     Once it is locked, pull the seat belt to secure the seat.
   • Tighten the tether strap.

Placing a child in a front-facing seat

1. Make sure that the harness straps are threaded through the slots located at or slightly above the child’s shoulder level.
2. Insert the buckle tongues into the buckles.
3. Fasten the chest clip at the child’s underarm level.
4. Adjust the harness straps as closely as possible to the baby’s body. There should be space for no more than one finger between the harness straps and the baby’s shoulder. If you can pinch any excess fabric along your baby's collarbone, that means the harness straps are not tight enough.
5. Make sure that the top of the child’s ear is no higher than the top of the child’s safety seat backrest.

Front-facing seats: for how long?

Because of their harnesses, front-facing car seats offer better protection than booster seats. It is therefore preferable to continue to use front-facing seats until children reach the weight or height limits specified by the seat manufacturer.

Children should not use a booster seat until they weigh at least 18 kg (40 lb).

Children who tend to fall asleep, move around in their seat, or unbuckle their seatbelt while the car is in motion should be secured in a 5-point harness car seat.

The booster seat raises the child to ensure that the seat belt can be correctly adjusted so that it crosses over the middle of the shoulder (collarbone) and over the hips (pelvis).

It is recommended that you purchase a booster seat with a built-in backrest and headrest if the back of the vehicle seat is low or does not have a headrest to support the child's head in the event of a collision.

A high-back booster seat should be used for children who tend to fall asleep while the car is in motion. High-back booster seats come with a shoulder guide that does a better job of keeping the shoulder belt in place on the child’s shoulder than other types of seats. If the child has fallen asleep, the headrest on a high-back booster seat will also assist in protecting the child’s head from the head curtain airbag deployment zone.

Using booster seats

The vehicle's seat belt is all that is required to hold the seat and child in place. No additional straps should be used.

Some booster seats come equipped with a UAS, which should be used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

When the seat belt is fastened, it should cross over the middle of the shoulder (the collarbone) and the hips (pelvis). The collarbone and pelvic bones are best able to absorb the impact in the event of an accident.

Booster seats require the use of a 3-point seatbelt, which has a lap belt and a shoulder belt. Two-point seatbelts (lap belt only) are not suitable for installing a booster seat.

Booster seats: for how long?

A child no longer needs a booster seat only when both of the following conditions are met:

Condition 1—When the child is sitting in the back seat

When the child's back is flat against the seat, his or her legs must be long enough that the child’s knees are bent over the edge of the seat. The child must be able to hold this position comfortably for the entire trip. 

Condition 2—When the seat belt is fastened

The seat belt must cross over the middle of the child's shoulder (over the collarbone) and over the child’s hips. It should not cross over the neck or abdomen.

It is highly recommended to keep your child in a booster seat until they have reached the maximum weight and height indicated in the car seat owner’s manual, even if your child is 9 years of age or older.

• One out of two children are improperly restrained when riding in a car, which increases their chances of sustaining injury in the event of an accident.  
• Each year in Québec, around 1,000 passengers aged 9 or younger are killed or injured in traffic accidents.
• When child safety seats are used correctly, the probability of death or serious injury among children is reduced by up to 70%.
• According to a 2015 SAAQ survey, 86.4% of children under 5 years of age are secured in a seat that is adapted to their weight and height.
• When those children are secured in a seat that is adapted to their weight and height, in only 50.1% of cases are those seats actually used correctly (in other words, the child safety seat is properly anchored on the vehicle's seat and the child is properly restrained).
• This means that more than one out of two children under the age of 5 are improperly restrained, and their safety is therefore at risk.

When a vehicle hits an obstacle at 50 km/h, an 18-kg child becomes a 360-kg projectile

At 50 km/h, a person’s or an object’s weight is multiplied by 20 at the moment of impact. An improperly restrained child may be thrown against the front seat, the dashboard, the windshield, or another passenger. The child may even be ejected from the vehicle.

You only have a short way to go?

Put your child in the car seat anyway, just as if you were going on a trip! Many accidents occur near the home, and more than half occur in zones with a speed limit of 50 km/h or less.