I don't know if this is what you are looking for or not? Its stuff I've collected from here and other websites for information for car seats. I don't have booster info since the ladies I've been giving it to are moms of young babies. Feel free to use any/all of it if it works for you. Hopefully I've copied and pasted everything accurately, someone let me know if I've goofed something please.
Car Seat Basics
* Your carseat should be rear facing until baby is at least one year AND 20 lbs.
* Check your owners manual for when to switch from an infant seat to convertible, most infant have a weight limit of around 22 lbs (though some go higher) OR have a height requirement of 1 inch of space between baby's head and top of the hard shell of the seat. If your child outgrows the infant seat by weight or by height you will still need to rearface to one year of age in a convertible seat
* You can rearface longer than a year, some convertible seats RF to around 33 lbs. It is safest to leave baby rear-facing as long as possible. Here’s a video about extended rearfacing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8
* Do not install your carseat with LATCH and the seat belt at the same time. Seats are not tested using both methods, this could be dangerous. Pick ONE method of installation only.
* The safest place to install the seat in your car is the one with the tightest fit. Seat should not move more than 1 inch in either direction at the belt path when installed correctly
* All car seats have a an expiration date. Most are 6 years
from the date of Manufacture (DOM). It is not safe to use a seat beyond that date because they do start to degrade.
http://home.comcast.net/~dcbsr/test...Child_Facing_Forwards_ten_years_old_seat.mpeg
* Remember that the laws in place are really the MINIMUM guidelines, not the top.
* There are NO, I repeat NO after market products that are safe to use with your car seat.
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/aftermarket.aspx
*A pool noodle is acceptable to help with the recline angle for RFing seats.
A few other useful videos:
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59s3PjcntQ&mode=related&search
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
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More Rear Facing Information
1) rear-end collisions are less frequent than front-end collisions
2) rear-end collisions statistically occur at much lower impact speeds than front-end collisions
3) side impact collisions are less dangerous when RFing because of the way the carseat rotates in a side-impact collision.
4.) A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times MORE likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash and that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection and that there has never been a single reported case of hip/leg/foot injury from rear-facing.
5.)What about big babies? A 95th percentile baby may look stronger than his 5th percentile friend, but in a crash the bigger baby is likely MORE at risk if he's riding forward-facing. The rigidity of bones and the strength of ligaments in the spine is likely the same in children of the same age, no matter their size. And a 95th percentile baby likely has a much larger, heavier head, which will pull forward which much more force than that of a 5th percentile child.
6.) Many parents in the US think it's "weird" to have a 2 year old rear-facing--most children are switched to forward-facing around their first birthday. But if you lived in Sweden, the idea of a 2 year old FORWARD-facing would be "weird," as they keep kids rear-facing until the ages of 3 or 5. In Sweden, children go straight from rear-facing seats to booster seats! Because kids sit rear-facing for so long, fewer than 1 child a year dies in a rear-facing car seat in Sweden. If we also kept more kids rear-facing, we would not only see fewer deaths, but also fewer injuries--especially the really hard to fix ones like those to the spinal cord and head.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html
Rear Facing is the Safest Way to Travel
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible (to the limits of a convertible seat) for the best protection, which would be to 30-35 lbs. OR when the head is 1-inch from the top of the carseat.
http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm
According to NHTSA, a rear-facing car seat is 71 percent safer than no restraint at all, and a forward-facing car seat is 54 percent safer than no restraint at all.
When a child is forward-facing, there is a lot of stress put on his/her neck in a crash. The weight of a child's head in a crash causes the spinal column to stretch...the spinal cord, however, is NOT meant to stretch! This can cause a tear...which means paralysis or even death. This is referred to as "internal decapitation"...the child's head would be slumped forward and it would look as though he/she was sleeping. It doesn't matter if the child has great head control...that means nothing. New data is showing that a forward-facing child is 4 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rear-facing child of the same age.
(note: having a carseat that allows tethering RFing reduces this risk (only two brands on the market currently allow this feature, Britax and Sunshine kids, soon Recaro will have a convertible carseat out that also allows RFing tether). New carseats can almost always can be tethered FFing which reduces head excursion in an accident. Even older cars can be retrofitted to add Top Tether Anchors)
Rear-facing seats do such a great job of protecting children because the back of the carseat absorbs the crash forces. The child's head, neck, and spine are kept in alignment, allowing the carseat to absorb the forces. The child's head is also kept contained in the carseat, decreasing the risk of coming into contact with projectiles.
Car Seats MUST be replaces after an accident
Even in a minor crash the seat MUST be replaced and I don't know of an insurance company that won't do it. Only Britax allows minor crashes to not replace seats (no air bags and no structural damage to the vehicle) ALL other seats must be replaced NO MATTER WHAT!
*NHTSA recommends that child safety seats be replaced following a moderate or severe crash in order to ensure a continued high level of crash protection for child passengers.
*NHTSA recommends that child safety seats do not automatically need to be replaced following a minor crash. (Most car sear manufacturers do though, Britax is the ONLY one that doesn't)
* Minor crashes are those that meet ALL of the following criteria:
The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;
The vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged;
There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;
The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
There is no visible damage to the safety seat
* Clarifying the need for child seat replacement will reduce the number of children unnecessarily riding without a child safety seat while a replacement seat is being acquired, and the number of children who will have to ride without a child seat if a seat were discarded and not replaced. The clarification will also reduce the financial burden of unnecessary replacement.
