Stephanie Tombrello: Hello, I am Stephanie Tombrello, Executive Director of SafetyBeltSafe U.

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We are going to talk with you about how to keep your toddler or young child safe in the car.

Now I am going to show you how to secure your toddler or young child in the safety seat. You want to make sure that the strap slots you select are at or below shoulder level for the rear-facing child. Later on when the child is forward-facing the strap slots you'll select will be at or above the child's shoulders' level.

This is due to the fact that the straps are used for different things in both situations. For example, in the rear-facing position the straps are keeping your child low in the seat, in the event of a crash when the seat rotates forward and down.

In the forward-facing position the straps that are holding your child in place and want the youngster to move into the straps just as you move into your safety belt. After the straps are in the right place you want to make sure you buckle behind the system tightly and that the straps are on the shoulders not on the sides of the arms, and that the hip straps are low on hips.

Once you get the child in the safety seat snug the harness until you cannot, no longer pinch any fabric of the harness between your fingers. At that point, you will put the retainer clip at armpit level on the youngster.

Now we've discussed how to secure your toddler or young child in a safety seat whether rear-facing or forward-facing.

Next we are going to discuss common errors that parents and other adults make when securing toddlers and young children in the car.