Child Car Seat Buying Guide: Why Get The Best Car Seats For Your Child And How
Keeping children safe when in a car is what every mum and dad should aim for. We, as parents, can drive as safely as we can on the road. However, we have no control over other drivers and how they operate behind the wheel, coasting on the same pavement.
Hence, the best way to better control our children in our automobiles is through car accessories meant to protect them. One such accessory is a child car seat, like the recommended all in one car seats from elitecarseats. Below is a brief explanation of why your car should have them, along with a buying guide for choosing the ideal type.
Child Car Seat: Why Does My Child Need One?
The primary purpose for why parents need to purchase child car seats is overall safety. People don’t like hearing news bits that are about car accidents and injuries involving infants and toddlers. But as parents, we have to make ourselves aware of these and what we can do to protect our kids from similar dangers.
What Statistics Tell Us
A child car seat is a very practical means towards raising safety levels, back to back with child-friendliness, in your vehicle. Statistics tell us that in the previous year alone, around 33% of car crashes caused deaths and injuries to kids because they were not correctly seated and buckled in. Collectively, over 97,000 injuries were incurred due to inadequate seating arrangements in cars, and over 600 perished because of the same.
For this reason, purchasing child car seats must remain high on your priority list, mum and dad. It is also why every state within the continental U.S. has included car seats as a requirement (by law) for car owners who have children.
Tips In Choosing The Best Child Car Seats
1. Infant Car Seat
Infant car seats are manufactured only as rear-facing. It’s an indirect callback to parents, reminding them to constantly focus their attention on their children, especially at this stage of their growth and development. And being in a car is no exception. These seats are built to withstand weight from 4 to 40 pounds.
Although its weight capacity is quite high, you will find that your child will have grown out of it in terms of height, even before they get close to the weight maximum.
Extra Tip:
An approach for you to know that your youngling has grown out of their infant seat is via measuring. First, have your child sit on the infant car seat. Then, measure how much headspace is left between the top of their head and the topmost border of the seat’s backrest. If said headspace is a mere inch or less, that’s your cue to switch to the next available car seat in this roster.
2. Convertible Car Seat
This comes next after your child graduates from an infant car seat. It is recommended that it be purchased before your youngling turns a year old. Its name comes from its function — it can be converted to be either front-facing or rear-facing. Something you can switch from according to seating preference.
Though having said this, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) suggests that it should be rear-facing more often than its counterpart, as much as possible. This, most especially if your child currently weighs somewhere between 40 to 50 pounds.
Extra Tip:
Learn about what your state’s regulations are regarding child car seat positioning. There are several that mandate rear-facing up until the age of 2.
3. Booster Car Seat
Since the harness systems of infant and convertible car seats are generally the same in measurement, a booster car seat is next up the car accessory ladder when your child outgrows them.
It “boosts” your child up by having seating cushions that are elevated. This is so that your child will be adequately and safely strapped into the regular, adult-sized seatbelts of your vehicle. There are two common categories of this kind of seat: high back and backless. Still, the high back kind comes recommended because they allow better room for the seatbelt to cross over your child’s shoulder.
Many states continue to require booster car seats for toddlers up until the age of 9, with a maximum weight of 80 pounds.
Extra Tip:
Position the seat so that there is little to no space between its backseat and that of your car’s passenger seat. This will let the seatbelt hold more securely across your child’s chest and into the seatbelt slot. It will also equate to fewer reverberations in the seat itself when you drive.
4. All-In-One Car Seat
An all-in-one car seats have three functions in one. Frequently referred to as 3-in-1 seats, they are convertible (rear and front-facing). And the third feature is that they are boosted, too. Experts say that it should be a supplementary accessory to the rest of the car seats on this list.
It has a bulky size to accommodate larger kids. Furthermore, you’ll end up saving a lot with a seat your children can actually grow with and into.
Extra Tip:
There are various weight limits per seating position you can convert all-in-ones to. Its rear-facing mode can accommodate 20 to 65 pounds. When set to front-facing (with harness fastened), 30 to 120 pounds are the limitations.
5. Toddler Booster Seat
What’s distinct about toddler booster seats is that these entail specificities in terms of the height and weight they can accommodate. These forward-facing apparatuses have harnesses installed for children weighing 30 to 120 pounds. Kids who weigh between 20 to 90 pounds should be in harness mode.
It’s a good choice if your child is at an age, weight, and height that aren’t yet fit for a transition seat. They provide the same level of security as the latter. Plus, they are more economically priced.
Extra Tip:
Be mindful of your child’s age and weight as you utilize these essential components in selecting a toddler booster seat.
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