Choosing and properly installing a child safety seat will help protect your baby from serious injuries. Remember, infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat as long as possible, until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their seat. Once an infant-only seat is outgrown, most convertible seats have limits that will allow children to ride rear-facing for 2 years or more. In some states, the law requires that children under 2 ride rear-facing. Always check your car seat manual for maximum weight and height guidelines, and refer to the Governors Highway Safety Association for updated child passenger safety laws in your state: http://bit.ly/2TXAm0Z For more information, tools, and educational videos to help keep your child safe in the car, please visit: http://bit.ly/2TL5CS0

Dr. Marilyn Bull, professor of pediatrics in the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University, explains the safety benefits of children riding rear-facing in vehicles for as long as possible.

This video shows the protective benefits of keeping kids rear-facing longer. Here two 12 month crash test dummies experience a severe frontal crash while one is riding forward facing and the other rearward facing. The head and neck of the rear-facing occupant are both supported and kept relatively aligned during the crash and thus protected from extreme loads. In contrast, the forward facing child's head is thrown forward while the child's shoulders are held back, severely loading the occupant's neck.

Learn how to install a rear-facing car seat.

Learn how to install a forward-facing car seat.