Free Car Seats Available to Qualifying Parents
Keep your baby safe with a free car seat!
Baby gear is expensive, and it can be hard to find a highly-rated car seat for under $100. Buying a used car seat is not recommended, because they have expiration dates and should not be used if they’ve ever been involved in a crash (which can be difficult to verify).
Thankfully, there are programs that provide free and reduced-priced car seats to families in need! Keep reading to learn more about the resources available for parents in need of this essential baby gear.
National Car Seat Programs
If you’re eligible for Medicaid, you may qualify for a free car seat after taking a short car seat safety course. Some national insurance companies may offer at least a partial reimbursement for the purchase of a new car seat too. Contact your insurance company directly to find out if they offer this benefit.
If you’re enrolled in WIC (a supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children), they also have a program that provides vouchers that can be used to purchase a car seat. In most cases, you’ll be required to take a short class on car seat safety first.
Buckle Up for Life is a child passenger safety education program that has donated over 60,000 car seats to low-income families. This national partnership between Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Toyota works with different local organizations to provide resources, education, and training to parents in need. If you qualify, you can take one of the organization’s child passenger safety classes to get a free car seat.
Statewide Car Seat Programs
In addition to these national programs, every state in the US has its own resources that provide free car seat education, installation services, and safety checks. Many of these programs also provide free and reduced-price car seats for families in need. Check out this handy guide for finding these services in your home state.
Local Car Seat Programs
Remember to check your local area for resources too! Police stations and fire departments often offer free car seat installation services, and they may also be able to point you toward local organizations that provide new parents with car seats.
The hospital where you’re giving birth may also have a program in place to ensure that every family, regardless of income, has access to a safe car seat for their newborn baby. If not, they may be able to put you in touch with an organization in your area that can be of assistance.
Finally, you can call 211 to get Essential Community Services in your area. Powered by United Way, 211.org serves people who need help finding food, obtaining housing, and paying their bills. Depending on the services available in your area, they may even be able to direct you towards a local organization providing free car seats for parents in need.
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Has anyone heard if Target or Walmart will be doing their car seat recycling event?
want to know the same thing. my kids are out of their booster seats and they are expired. Don’t want to throw them away
https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2019/08/29/walmart-and-terracycle-to-host-nations-largest-car-seat-recycling-event Last time Walmart did the event, booster seats were not eligible.
Mom I don’t know where you’re volunteering at, but those issues are something with your paperwork department not processing income or home fragility properly.
I am interested in how I can qualify
Wondering same!
With covid, I haven’t been able to find anywhere that will check if the car seat is properly installed. I’ve called the hospital, fire department and police.
Try your local public health dept
Hi Emily! I had the same experience and was shocked since itâs so important! I found a local one, not sure if they will do it for non local people, but it doesnât hurt to email them. Itâs done over zoom or FaceTime and I learned a lot. Email me and Iâll send over the website. Angelajcheng@gmail.com
Check to see if your area has a local Safe Kids Coalition. I know a lot of them are doing virtual car seat checks. Or you can go online to the cert.safekids.org to look up who does them in your area. Hope that helps!
There are some offered over zoom. You could also join a Facebook group like CarSeat Safety, and they can check it over through pictures and videos.
the link below is a much better option than the fire or police dept…most departments dont have anyone who’s actually been trained in anything related to car seat safety (i tried 4 or 5 area cities and found none); hospitals often don’t either:( when i did a google search for “car seat technician near me” i had much better results and a knowledgeable person.
https://portalskcms.cyzap.net/dzapps/dbzap.bin/apps/assess/webmembers/secure/manage?webid=SKCMS&pToolCode=CERT-SEARCH&pAdd=Yes
if you’re on fb, you might as your friends if you have any car seat nerds amongst your people that would want to help…in my experience, anyone who gets sucked in to the research involving car seat safety is bubbling over with info and excitement and ready to help…even if not certified yet! the tech near me told me i knew more than she did when i met with her…just cause i’d become a bit of a research junkie about car seat safety. i have numerous friends who regularly ask for advice. you probably have someone too that just may be hiding their obsession:)
vboos@ hotmail. com
So to be fair itâs not âfreeâ, taxpayer funded car seats is what they are.
Iâm not saying itâs a bad program though, Iâm sure itâs very helpful to those who need it.
Also, check with your local fire dept for low cost car seats.
You are a 100% correct that it is taxpayer funded. They like to use words like âraise revenueâ which means raise your taxes. Government funded is basically âtaxpayer fundedâ. Because like any government agency or nonprofit agency they do not manufacture or make anything to pull in an income ……
Iâm sure itâs a great program Iâm not bashing the program. Iâm just tired of having my taxes used for unnecessary items that do not affect me while my streets fall apart, my freeways are a mess and thereâs criminals running all over.
So you consider protecting an innocent infant or child worthless. How bout letâs let the children suffer so you donât have to pay taxes. I pay enough for several people on hear and they are more than welcome to use mine. The children can not help what their parents do or are forced to live in. So keep sticking your head in the sand!!!!
I agree. Definitely not âfreeâ and us taxpayers pay for it. But if a family is truly in need Iâd say itâs a good program. Car seats are important.
The problem is,’in need’ often comes with parents raising high cost sneakers, newest iphones, Beats high cost headphones, hair and nail appointments every week and they say they are truly in need. That’s what’s a slap in the face to hard working families budgeting. I have been volunteering with a Foodbank drive and there is Lexus, Mercedes, BMW with rim kit, ceiling glow lights, sound system etc. Meanwhile, I go to serve and drive a 2000 model modest sedan. My hair is highlighted with silver (get it?) and I bought my kids car seats on sale.
Agreed. If you can’t afford a car seat, how can you afford to raise a child?
THANK YOU!!!!!!
AMEN! I SAY THIS ALL THE TIME!
Mom I don’t know where you’re volunteering at, but those issues are something with your paperwork department not processing income or home fragility properly.
The federal program is funded by grants by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, which of course means tax payer money. However, the program actually saves tax payers money. Numerous studies show that vehicle restraint systems, both adult and child, drastically reduce serious physical injury and reduce medical costs by BILLIONS $ annualy. Since recipients in this program are already on Medicaid and/or WIC, tax money would otherwise pay the medical bills resulting from a car crash. Cheaper for tax payers to buy the car seats now, than to pay the hosptal ER bills later. Consider it preventative health care.
How do we qualify for free car seat
Hi Kim! Be sure to click through the link options above for additional details. Hope this helps!
Oh, Poor you, because you canât always dictate what everyoneâs tax dollars are being used for. This is a great program for those that need it, but what I donât understand is all of you complaining on a freebie page. It makes literally zero sense. Oh and by the way, anything free âisnât true freeâ, so not sure what point youâre trying to make there. Someone has to foot the bill for the free food from this restaurants this page post…albeit a tax write off but still… Why canât you just be supportive of those in need? Thatâs what tax dollars are meant to do…fund programs for people that need it most. Sure here and there, tax dollars could be used more wisely but to say they arenât being used wisely on this program (which youâre basically insinuating) is absurd. You claim youâre not bashing it when really you are. Just own up to it.
I think the key difference between this “freebie” and the other freebies listed on the site is the entity paying for them. Government “freebies” are paid for by taxpayers who don’t have a choice in the amount of taxes they pay or what they’re used for. The other freebies (like the food from restaurants you referenced) are generally from for-profit businesses who have done a cost/benefit analysis, factored the cost of the promotion into their marketing budget and decided that, long term, it makes sense for them to give something away for free – usually because they gain customers and ultimately make more money in the long run.
Some people would argue that tax dollars are not meant to provide social services – rather they are meant to fund military services to protect us from other nations and police services to protect us from each other. Some people could argue that private charities, who receive their operating money from people who give to them by choice, should provide social services instead.
AGREED! Companies make choices in their best interests to set prices and offer freebies, and consumers have a right to purchase from them or not. Government has deviated from its original purposes and taxpayers have no choice in where their tax dollars go. And I think some of the above comments are not faulting those who are truly in need but just maybe some of those who definitely take advantage of these programs and then spend their money irresponsibly. No one wants to see children injured! It would be better if everyone was wise with their money and didn’t abuse these programs.
I’d rather my tax money stay here and help Americans than foreign countries who hates us đ
I’d rather my $$ stay in my bank account instead of our government piddling it away, most of the time it’s used rather poorly IMO.
Iâd love to know how to enroll. I recently got custody of a little boy (2 years old) and I purchased one car seat but need another seat for our husband vehicle does days he is caring for him and I forget to removed the seat
Hi Niki! Be sure to check out the resources listed above and click through the link options for additional details. Hope this is helpful!
My daughter has 3 kids and very qualified. Would like to get her in the program
No matter how it is funded, this is a great program for those that really need it. And sadly, many will use it that really shouldn’t.
I agree with the point being made that these types of programs are abused but I am so glad they are available for people who really need it. Children shouldnât have to suffer or be at risk just because their parents canât afford a car seat.
I am shocked and disappointed by the negative comments here. Car seats are expensive and needing help to buy one sometimes is okay. We all go through hard times and budgets can be tight.
It’s a blessing that we all benefit from many programs offered in the United States, both from donations and tax dollars (such as roads, police officers, public schools, libraries, etc.). God bless you in your time of need.
Letâs not think about ourselves we also have refugees in America that appreciates this help and other groups of people. Itâs a car seat to save a childâs life come on people. đ« whatever happen to humanity đ€