Car seats are required if you are bringing a baby or child in the vehicle. It is vital for the safety of your child. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and various insurance companies go through the time and effort to evaluate all car seats produced by the different manufacturers to ensure your child’s safety in the vehicle. They conduct product inspections to ensure the quality of the product and ease of usage. They perform simulated tests to observe and determine the strength and durability of the car seat during an accident. All types of crashes are performed to see how the car seat withstands the impact and damage on the vehicle. Here are some car seats for consideration.
Infant car seats are normally rear-facing and have a weight limit of twenty pounds. If your baby is less than one year old and within the weight limit, use the infant car seat. The infant car seat should not be placed in a vehicle face-forward. There are Infant car seats that have bases for permanent installation in a car and a latching system that can attach a baby carrier.
A convertible car seat can be rear-facing and forward-facing. The rear facing position has a weight limit of about twenty pounds. Once your child becomes greater than one year old and heavier, the car seat can be placed forward-facing. The forward facing position has maximum weight limit of forty pounds. The disadvantage is it lacks the feature of the removable baby carrier from a permanent base for ease of securing the child.
The combination car seat is both a forward facing car seat and a booster seat. A booster seat is a car seat for a small child that lifts the child by several inches. It is designed for use with an adult seat belt. The forward-facing option normally holds a child up to forty pounds, after which it must be converted to the booster seat configuration and use the vehicle’s seat belts instead of the car seat harness. The average maximum weight capacity for the booster seat is about a hundred pounds.
The three-in-one car seat may be cheaper in the long run since it can function in three available positions. It can serve as a forward-facing, rear-facing and booster car seat. It appears to be ideal since you can use it for different stages of the child. The ratings by the NHTSA for this category are lower than the other types of car seats because it tends to be more complicated than other types. You may have to re-install the car seat when moving from one stage to the next. Be sure to verify your installation with any authorized qualified person.
The booster car seat is the last stage before a child gets used to the vehicle’s car seat. The rating on most booster seats is higher than other types of car seats, since it is only used as one type of car seat and is not as complicated as the others. Once a child reaches close to five feet in height and is between eight and twelve years old, they can start using regular seat belts.
