A car seat is a specially designed child's safety seat that is used primarily in automobiles to keep children secured, and include harnesses, padding, and often a protective frame. Car seats are sold commercially in several types of stores, including large chain stores like Target, and baby specialty stores such as Babies R Us.

The United States government has instituted strict standards and laws for what types of car seats must be used for children of different ages and sizes. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a "4 Steps For Kids" campaign to help parents understand which seat is right for their children, which can be found at the Administration's website. The general guidelines for the programs outline that all infants should be in rear-facing child safety seats, toddlers and preschools should be in front-facing safety seats, slightly older children should be in booster seats in the backseat until they have reached the age of 13.http://www.healthychildren.org/english/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families-2010.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token

Car seats typically cost between $35-$500 to purchase new in stores. The use of used car seats is not recommended, as the car seats may no longer be structurally sound due to an accident, or may be old enough to not be current with modern government safety standards.http://www.healthychildren.org/english/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families-2010.aspx

The NHTSA recommends that all car seats involved in moderate to major car accidents not be used any longer--even if there is no sign of damage to the seat itself.http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/ChildRestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

Each car seat comes with specific instructions in the packaging for a safe installation. Consumers are advised to follow the instructions to the letter. The NHTSA also recommends that once the car seat is fully installed that it gets checked by a trained professional to make sure it was done properly. For these purposes, the NHTSA has a database on their website that allows people to search by zip code for local places where car seats can be checked. Most of these places are either police departments or fire stations.http://www.nhtsa.gov/cps/cpsfitting/Index.cfm