Car Seat Safety for Children with Special Needs
General Guidelines from the American Academy of PediatricsAll children must ride in cars and other vehicles as safely as possible. Some children with certain medical conditions can ride in the standard types of car safety seats that are commonly found in stores. Children with breathing or muscle control conditions, casts or other health care needs may need to use special medical car safety seats or restraints. If your child has special needs, a variety of child restraint options are available.
No matter what type of seat you choose, there are some general guidelines that you should keep in mind:
- Talk to your pediatrician or surgeon about your child's positioning and transportation needs.
- Remember that some children with special needs are able to use standard child restraints such as infant-only seats, convertible seats, forward-facing seats/restraints or belt-positioning booster seats.
- Check the label on the car safety seat and make sure it states that the seat meets or exceeds Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
- Never try to alter a car safety seat to fit a child with special needs. Never use a car safety seat that has been altered to fit a child with special needs unless it has been crash tested with the change.
- Stay up-to-date on what might be available for your child. New child restraints offer more options every year.
- Keep your child in the type of car safety seat that gives the most protection until your child reaches the top weight or height recommended by the manufacturer.
- Your pediatrician.
- A local children's hospital.
- Your rehabilitation therapist.
- A Child Passenger Safety Technician in your area. To find one check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Technician Contact Locator at or 1.888.DASH.2.DOT (1.888.327.4236).
- Easter Seals at 1.800.221.6827.
RESOURCES
Car Seat Transportation
- Safe Transportation of Your Child with Disabilities
- Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2006
- Car Seat Shopping Guide for Children with Special Needs
- Transporting Children with Special Needs by Condition (Includes Behavioral Challenges, Casts, Cerebral Palsy, Low Birth Weight and Premature Babies, Spina Bifida, and Tracheostomy)
- Types of Car Seats for Children with Special Needs
- Car Seats for Children with Special Needs — Using Your Seat Safely
- Car Seats for Children With Special Needs — Transporting Older Children
- Car Seats for Children with Special Needs — Premature Babies
- Car Seats for Children with Special Needs — Casts and Wheelchairs
Transportation
- School Bus Transportation of Children With Special Health Care Needs
- Adaptive Driving through Assistive Technology
- Vehicle Modifications
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