More parents are beginning to buckle up their young children in car booster seats, the government reported Friday.

About two in five children between the ages of 4 and 7 were buckled up in booster seats in 2006, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It was higher than previous estimates of booster seat use.

The government recommends car seats for children up to 40 pounds and booster seats for children over 40 pounds until they are 8 years old or 4-foot-9. All children should ride in the back seat until age 13.

Beyond the 41 percent using booster seats, the survey found that 33 percent of the young children wore seat belts and another 17 percent used child safety seats. Nine percent were not wearing a seat belt.

'Restraint use is much better than we expected it to be and we can build off of that,' said NHTSA administrator Nicole Nason. 'Parents have an interest in keeping their children in their seats longer - they've started to get the message.'

Nason said the data showed the need to educate parents about finding the proper car seats and when their children can move into only wearing seat belts.

Safety experts stress that car seats in the back are the safest place for children in a vehicle. About 350 children age 4 to 7 die in traffic crashes each year and about 50,000 are injured.

For booster seat use, previous studies had estimated that about 21 percent to 37 percent of children in the age group use the seats.

The new data was collected in July 2006 through the observation of 5,300 children in 3,500 vehicles at about 400 establishments across the nation, including gas stations, day care centers and fast food restaurants.

Some safety experts said more work needs to be done to guide parents about car seats and seat belts.

Flaura Winston, principal investigator of Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a safety group formed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Co., said many parents turn to state laws for instruction. About a dozen states lack booster seat laws.

'If there is no law, many people just don't think it's important,' Winston said.

Transportation officials said earlier this year that some parents do not recognize the importance of the child safety seats or are confused about the variety of seat models and installation methods.

The government plans to upgrade rules on the seats and launch a consumer campaign later this year.

'It's become very complicated for parents to understand the different types of restraints available,' said Anne McCartt, a researcher with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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