Infant Car Seats

Choosing a car seat for your baby can be a bit confusing. There are lots of brands and styles to choose from and lots of safety guidelines to go along with them. Here are some definitions of the different types of car seats and how they’re designed to be used.

• Infant Car Seats – These seats are designed for use on babies up to 20 pounds. Most of these seats are the “infant carrier” type of seat that comes with baby travel systems. However, you can buy this car seat style separately, too. Your child should ride in one of these seats until he has reached 20 pounds and one year old.

• Convertible Car Seats – These car seats are designed for children 20-40 pounds. They can be used rear facing and forward facing. They should be used rear facing until your child has reached one year old – even if the child is over 20 pounds before his first birthday. They should then be used forward facing until the child weighs at least forty pounds.

• Booster Seats – Booster seats are used forward facing and are designed for use with children who are between 4 and 8 years old and weigh between 40 and 80 pounds. These booster seats are used with the regular seat belts. It’s important to always use a shoulder and lap belt with a booster seat. It’s not enough to just use a lap belt.

It may seem as though you don’t use each car seat type for very long, but it is important to use the right style for your child’s age and weight. Baby car seat carriers that are used with infants up to 20 pounds offer a great deal of convenience in addition to safety. Because these carriers typically snap into a car seat base that’s installed in your car, you can move the actual baby carrier in and out of the car. This means you don’t have to take a sleeping baby out of his carrier in order to get him out of the car. And, if you buy an infant car seat as part of a travel system, the car seat will snap right onto the top of your stroller, too.

Your infant car seat is a product you’ll need to purchase before baby is born. Most hospitals in the US will not allow you to leave with your baby without having an appropriate car seat for taking baby home. So, choose a car seat with good safety ratings and the features you desire and keep your little one safe and sound on the road.