What are the best baby car seats? The best baby car seat is the car seat that fits your baby and your car best. Check to make sure the seat is appropriate for your child?s height, weight, and size. The price is not always the most important consideration. For good guidelines on how to choose a car seat that fits your baby, check out the safety standards of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.?
Important Safety Considerations for Baby Car Seats?
No matter how old, tall, or heavy your baby is, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now says that all children less than one year old should be in rear-facing baby car seats when they are in the car. This supercedes earlier guidelines that stated that said whether a baby under one year old should be in a rear-facing seat depended on the baby?s size. The NHTSA still says that babies older than one year should be in forward-facing car seats if they weigh between 20 and 40 pounds. Babies older than one year who weigh more than 40 pounds need to be in special ?toddler? car seats.?
What Kind of Baby Car Seat to Buy??
There are essentially three categories of baby car seats, when it comes to safety: ?infant-only? car seats that only face toward the rear, ?toddler-only? car seats that only face forward, and ?convertible? car seats that can switched from rear-facing to forward-facing when your child grows older than one year and weighs more than 20 pounds.?
Advantages of ?Infant-Only? Baby Car Seats?
?Infant only? baby car seats are the smallest, and therefore the most portable and the best fit for newborns. ?Infant only? baby car seats often have great features such as a detachable base, so you can simply unlock the seat proper from the base, which stays in the car. This can save time buckling the seat into the car every time you want to take it out. Just make sure the base fits your car properly.
Advantages of ?Convertible? Baby Car Seats?
The obvious advantage of ?convertible? baby car seats is that they do not have to be replaced when the baby gets older than one year and heavier than 20 pounds.
You might need to buy a ?convertible? car seat anyway. ?Infant-only? baby car seats can usually only hold babies who weigh up to 22 pounds. If your baby grows to more than 22 pounds while still less than a year old, you will have to buy a convertible seat and face it toward the rear. Check to make sure the convertible baby car seat you buy can handle your baby?s weight when it is in rear-facing mode, since the rear-facing weight limit is usually lower than the forward-facing limit.
No matter what kind of baby car seat you buy, make sure to register the product by sending in the registration card, or using the telephone number, email or web site set up for registration by the manufacturer. If you can?t find the registration, call the manufacturer; the telephone number should be with the manual, and possibly printed on the seat itself. Registering the seat means that you will be notified in the case of a recall or other safety warning.
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