A Guide to Choosing the Right Car Seats for Kids

Children seem to need an enormous amount of safety items to help keep them safe, and as a thrifty parent you know that can get expensive.  From crib bumpers to outlet covers, you need to ensure that you have everything you need to ensure your child remains safe and healthy.  However, choosing the right options from among car seats is perhaps the most important choice (and expense) you can make.  Without the right car seat, your little one’s life can be put in serious jeopardy every time you take them out for a ride in the car.  Every year, many needless injuries and deaths occur when well-meaning parents neglect to follow basic safety procedures when it comes to choosing the right car seat and positioning it correctly for their infant. So what should you know about choosing car seats?

One of the first considerations when choosing car seats should be the child’s age.  An infant should be placed in a rear-facing car seat in the back of the car (NEVER in the front of the car, where an expanding airbag could injure or kill them, even if securely strapped in. In this case a rear-facing car seat placed in the front seat is a death-trap waiting to happen, should the passenger airbag ever be deployed). They should remain in this type of seat in the back of your car until they are one year old and weigh at least twenty pounds.  Toddlers can be placed in front-facing car seats (again, in the back of the car), but you need to consider several factors here.  For instance, you want to have a car seat with a high weight/age limit, as well as one with a full harness, not just a belt.

Older children will also need to be in a car seat or on a booster, allowing them to use the adult seat belt.  Most states mandate that car seats be used until the child is a certain weight and height.  You will need to check your state’s requirements, but they are usually relatively high.  For children who are too large for regular car seats, booster seats can be purchased and should be used until the child is legally able to ride using the car’s adult seat belts.

Car seats are important considerations, and you should ensure that you choose the right option for your little one’s needs. Take care of it today – you could be saving their life tonight.