Your child’s safety relies on using a car seat, so it’s crucial to know the latest information about proper installation and usage.
While you may chose to use a convertible car seat from when your kid is born, most new parents prefer an infant seat for their newborns.
This is primarily because of the convenience infant car seats give. However, it’s important mentioning both are safe solutions so long as you follow the manufacturer’s requirements for that particular car seat.
Let’s talk about the many varieties of car seats, when it’s the right time to upgrade to a convertible seat, and how to use each one safely.
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What’s the Difference Between Baby Seats and Convertible Seats for the Car?
When taking a baby on the road, parents can select either an infant seat or a convertible seat. Both are safe options if your kid fits the car seat’s height and weight standards.
You also have to make sure you know how to securely install the seat.
Finding the right car seat for your infant and your lifestyle is essential. Listed below are the primary distinctions between baby and convertible car seats.
The Importance of Using an Infant Car Seat
More and more new parents are opting to use infant car seats for their newborns. The only way to utilise these car seats is with the backs facing backwards because of the base that must be fitted in the automobile.
An infant car seat may be detached from its base with the push of a button, making it convenient for parents to transport their child. Infant car seats also offer a handle for moving your infant to and from the car, making it easy to transport your baby without having to remove the youngster from the seat.
Infant car seats are convenient, and they are often sold together with a stroller as a travel system. All-in-one travel solutions typically consist of a suitable car seat and stroller. Because of this, you won’t even have to remove your baby from the car seat to attach the infant seat to the stroller.
Although it’s common for infants to nod off in their car seats, it’s best practise for parents to remove a sleeping child from their seat once they’ve arrived at their destination or returned home. Never take a baby—sleeping or awake—out of the car seat when you are in the car.
When not in a car, sleeping newborns should be placed alone, on their backs, in a crib bassinet or play yard that has a solid level surface with no blankets, toys, or stuffed animals in it.
Automobile Seats That Convert
Convertible car seats can be used rear-facing throughout the first several years of a child’s life, unlike infant car seats, and then turned around to face the front of the car.
Per the AAP standards, children should ride rear-facing in their convertible seat until reaching the max rear-facing height or weight limit—and only then should the convertible seat be turned forward-facing.
When the child is tall enough or weighs enough, whichever comes first, they should switch to the forward-facing position. It should be noted that the rear-facing restrictions (height and weight) are usually always lower than the forward-facing limits.
As Soon as Possible is when You Should make the Change.
While infant car seats have weight limits ranging from 22 to 35 pounds, practically every baby is too tall before reaching the weight limit, especially for the ones with 30+ pound limits.
Too tall is when the child’s head is 1 inch below the top of the seat. It would be ideal if you educated yourself with your car seat’s height and weight regulations to guarantee your child is travelling safely.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests moving your kid from the infant seat to a rear-facing convertible seat, after they hit the minimum height or weight criteria for their infant seat.
If a child is beyond the weight restriction but still within the height limit, it is not safe to use the seat (and vice versa also is not safe) (and vice versa also is not safe). Your kid is too big when they’ve reached the last restriction.
The Importance of Safety Factors
Switching to a convertible car seat is a huge change that parents should not take lightly. When purchasing and installing your new car seat, it’s crucial to keep certain safety concerns in mind to safeguard your child in the event of a catastrophe.
Take Care to Put the Seat in Properly
Either the seatbelt or the LATCH system should be used to install the car seat, but not both. When installing a car seat for a child, it is important to follow the instructions provided in the user manual. The precise installation of a car seat ensures that it will not swivel or move forward and backward more than one inch.
The Laws Vary From State to State, So Be Sure to Check Before You Act
Although many states allow you to turn your child forward-facing at a year, certain states mandate that youngsters ride rear-facing in car seats until age two. Rear-facing seats are more secure for children than front-facing ones.
Young children who ride in car seats with their backs to the door experience a significant decrease in head, neck, and lower extremity injuries.
For this reason, the AAP advises keeping children rear-facing in their convertible seat until they reach the maximum height or weight for that seat, which is usually between the ages of three and five for most children.
Make Sure Your Kid is Safely Buckled in.
When your child is rear-facing, the straps of the car seat should be at or below their shoulders; when they are facing forward, they should be at or above their shoulders.
If the straps are twisted or not lying flat, they are not in good condition. When you’re all fastened in, make sure the straps of your harness are as tight as possible. Every car seat has straps that can’t be tightened too far, even by an NFL linebacker.
Almost every kid is travelling with straps that are too slack, therefore the priority should be on getting them just right. The kid’s life may hang in the balance of this harness.
Never assume your youngster is safely restrained. Every time you buckle your child in, make sure the straps are snug. The pinch test doesn’t take into account the fact that most bras have massive amounts of extra slack around the hips and bellies. The chest clip should end up just below the armpit.
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Last Words
Most parents start with a baby’s first car seat, a rear-facing infant carrier, and then go on to a convertible seat. Picking the right car seat for your child is crucial. It’s important to use a car seat that has never been in an accident and that fits properly in your vehicle.
If you want to protect your child from harm in a car accident, the safest thing you can do is keep them rear-facing until they are at least 2 years old. Make sure the car seat is installed and the youngster is buckled in as directed.