Tools · Car Seat
Louisiana Car Seat & Booster Checker (2026)
Enter your child's age, height, and weight to see the minimum seat stage Louisiana law requires and the first-offense fine ($100 first offense). This is the legal minimum — not best safety practice.
Louisiana car seat checker
4′9″ = 57 in. Enter only the boxes you have. Louisiana uses booster required from age 4 until age 9, or until the child outgrows the seat; the practical height marker is 4′9″.
Heads up: Louisiana’s current four-stage rules (rear-facing under 2, harness to 4, booster to 9, rear seat under 13) took effect with the 2019 overhaul (Act via SB 76). Older summaries citing "age 6 / 60 lb" describe the repealed pre-2019 version.
- Child
- Not entered
- Minimum legal stage
- Enter age / height / weight
- Booster-exit rule
- booster required from age 4 until age 9, or until the child outgrows the seat; the practical height marker is 4′9″
- First-offense fine
- $100 first offense
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
This shows the minimum legal requirement in Louisiana, not best safety practice, which is usually stricter, and not legal or safety advice. Always follow your car seat's manufacturer instructions. For the full four-stage rules, front-seat rule, and citation, see the Louisiana car seat law reference, cited to La. R.S. §32:295 (last reviewed 2026-07-11).
How Louisiana car seat law works
Louisiana rewrote its child restraint law in 2019, and unlike states that leave orientation to the seat manufacturer, it wrote the stages into the statute by age. Rear-facing under 2 is law here, followed by a forward-facing harness through age 4, then a booster until age 9 or until the child outgrows the seat. The exit is age-driven: a child reaches an ordinary belt at 9, or earlier if they outgrow the booster’s height or weight limit, with 4′9″ as the practical fit marker. Front-seat placement is also real law, not advice: a child under 13 must ride in the rear seat when one is available. First-offense fines start at $100 and climb for repeat violations.
This checker shows the Louisiana minimum legal requirement — not best safety practice, which is usually stricter — and is not legal or safety advice. For the full four-stage rules, front-seat rule, and citation, see the Louisiana car seat law reference.
Car seat checkers for other states
Same tool, each with its own booster-exit rule.