How To Choose Infant Car Seats
Choosing an infant car seat is not easy. There are belts and buckles to secure, latches to anchor, and weight limits to consider. This is where our handy, easy-to-follow guide to infant car seats comes in. We’ll help you decide which car seat you need and how to install it.
An infant car seat is an essential part of car safety. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the risk of an infant dying in an accident drops by over 70% if they are securely strapped in a car seat. It’s not necessary to buy the most expensive safety seat either. Consider your baby’s age, height, and weight and whether the car seat meets safety standards.
Infants should always use rear-facing seats. An infant is a child between birth and about 2 years of age. Their weight mustn’t exceed that allowed on the seat’s weight limit.
Read your Car Manual
Before you buy a car seat, read your vehicle’s owner’s manual. You can attach a car seat using either the LATCH system or the seat belt. You can decide before purchasing which one you want to use and then seek out a product based on your preferred method of installation.
All new vehicles are equipped with the LATCH system. If you decide to use it, you should ensure yourself that the corresponding attachments are available in your car. The safest position for an infant is middle and rear-facing, where there may not be any.
To know how much room there is for the seat, measure the back seat. A small car might not have room for a car seat with a large base. You might need to choose one with a narrower base instead. Consider the number of people who will be sitting in the back seat and how many of them will be in car seats.
The Seat Should Grow with the Infant
It might pay off to choose a convertible car seat that’ll grow with the infant. You don’t want to have to buy a new seat one year from now. Convertible seats first faces the rear, then you turn them to face forward. You’ll save money on a convertible car seat because it lasts through infanthood and it’s very safe. On the downside, you can’t take it in and out of the car.
If this is a deal-breaker for you, but you still want to save money, consider shopping for a travel system. Stores often sell infant seats and strollers together at a discount. Look in the stroller and not the car seat aisle.
Safety Considerations
The JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) has tested and approved all car seats that are on the market. We’d advise against buying second hand though. Buy a new seat because the safety technology improves so often.
Look at Critical Features
The lower end of the price range is up to $200. If that’s the limit of your budget, look for a model that has what is known as a five-point harness. This is a system incorporating a strap between the legs, two waist straps, and two shoulder straps. Also look for side-impact protection – air pads or extra foam at the side of baby’s head and LATCH compatibility.
Your next pricing tier – premium car seat – is from $200 to $350. These products come with extra features, such as cushier fabric, an anti-rebound bar at the foot of the seat, a bigger canopy, and accessories such as a little “boot” around the infant’s feet.
The straps should be easy or at least possible to adjust as the child grows. You don’t want straps that you will have to rethread. Many brands now have a pull cord between the child’s legs or adjustment handles in the back of the seat, relegating rethreading to obscurity.
Experts recommend keeping infants in a rear-facing seat until they outgrow the weight and height limit of the car seat manufacturer. A rear-facing car seat will protect the infant’s neck during a collision. A seat’s weight limits can go up to 60 pounds.
The laws on children’s car seats vary by state. If the infant’s seat is not the right one, you face a fine of $100 or more in some states.
Assessing Infant Seat Quality
We’ve discussed the type of car seat you need at length, but what about the model and brand? Look for the following features.
Ratings
Check the ease of use ratings system of the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Your seat of choice should have four or five stars. All of the seats in this category will have clear instructions and be easy to use.
Safety Label
The seat should be labeled as exceeding or at least meeting Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) encourages parents to buy new car seats unless they are familiar with a used seat’s accident history.
How to Install an Infant Car Seat
A safety seat might look secure, but that doesn’t mean it is. It is estimated that 75% of parents are driving around with incorrectly installed infant seats. Obviously, this puts their children at risk. Our final section will discuss how to install a convertible or rear-facing car seat.
To start off, NEVER install the infant seat in the front seat of the car. That’s where your child is safest before they reach the height of 4 feet 9 inches or turn 13.
Read your car’s owner’s manual instructions and the car seat manufacturer’s installation instructions fully and completely. Assure yourself you know how to use the LATCH or seat belts with your infant seat before you begin the installation process. As you thread the seat belt through the infant seat belt path, do not deviate from the car seat’s instructions in the slightest.
Then, buckle the seat belt and lock it. To tighten it, press down on the seat firmly. Once installed, the infant seat should not move more than 1 inch forward and backward or from side to side.
