• Child seat laws in Connecticut apply to children who are either under the age of 6 or weigh less than 60 pounds.child in the car image by Natalia Pavlova from Fotolia.com
  
  Connecticut state law requires drivers to provide and ensure the use of safety seats for small children. Safety seat laws were recently amended to apply to a greater number of children--since October 2005, child restraints have been obligatory for children who either weigh 60 pounds or less or are under 6 years old. Booster seats may only be used as child restraints if a seat belt (including a shoulder belt) is used in conjunction to tie the child in.
  
  

Children up to one year old/twenty pounds

• Drivers transporting children who are either younger than 1 year of age or less than twenty pounds must use rear-facing children restraints. These restraints must be approved for use by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
  
  

Children between one/six years and twenty/sixty pounds

• For children between the ages of 1 and 6 and 20 and 60 pounds (both conditions must be met), front-facing seats approved by the DMV may be used. Child restraints are no longer obligatory after a child reaches the age of 6 and exceeds 60 pounds.
  
  

School transportation vehicles

• The laws for child restraints in school buses or other forms of transportation provided by a school are slightly different. In these situations, students under the age of 4 and under 40 pounds must use child restraints approved by the DMV, while students over the age of 4 (or 40 pounds) may simply use seat belts.
  
  

Penalties

• A first-time violation of the laws above results in an infraction. A second-time offense may lead to a fine of $199 or less. Violators in either case may be required to attend a safety course regarding child seats. A third offense and any further violations are classified as class A misdemeanors.