“Do You Know How To Choose The Right Baby Car Seat”

Do you know how to choose the right baby car seat?

As a parent your biggest fear is the thought that something can happen to your child. From the very first second that you laid eyes on your little baby, you had an overwhelming desire to protect him from harm. One of the most important purchases that you will ever make for your baby is an baby car seat. But, you shouldn’t even think about buying one until you do a little research first. It is vitally important that you know what to look for in a baby car seat and how to make sure that it fits properly in your vehicle. Two of the more popular brands of infant car seats are Graco and Evenflo. These car seats may be worth checking out.

The very first thing you should be aware of is that infants must be placed in the rear of the vehicle facing backwards. This will give your little one maximum protection in case of a crash or even a sudden stop. Infants should be placed in the rear facing position until they are a year old or they reach 20 pounds. This is minimum. If you want to continue to keep your baby in the rear facing position longer, that is fine as long as he still fits in the baby car seat.

Now let’s look at some very important points to take into consideration when choosing an infant car seat.

Make sure that the baby car seat you choose has the five point harness system. This system has straps that fit over the baby’s shoulders and straps that come around the baby’s hips. A strap comes up between baby’s legs and they all snap together. This gives the maximum protection for a baby in the event of a crash. Make sure that it is easy to adjust the harness.

Before you go shopping for a baby car seat, get online and check out which car seats have been recalled. It is common practice for the stores to pull all infant car seats that have been recalled from the shelves. However, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared in case some may have slipped through the cracks. You don’t want to risk the life of your child by placing him in a recalled infant car seat.

Try out the baby car seat before you buy it. Any reputable store will let you take the demo model to your car to see how it fits in your vehicle. Every vehicle is different and some baby car seats will just not fit in all vehicles. Make sure that the seat is snug and you are unable to move it more than couple of inches back and forth after it is secured.
Don’t buy a used infant car seat. While it may be tempting to save a few bucks by purchasing a used car seat, it is not a good idea. You don’t know the seats history. If the infant car seat was in a car that was involved in an accident it could have some damage that would impact the safety of the seat. Don’t compromise your baby’s safety to save a few dollars.

After you have made your decision and purchased the baby car seat, read the instruction manual cover to cover. Know exactly how to install the baby car seat in your car. Don’t leave any doubt in this area. If the baby car seat is not properly installed, your baby could be seriously injured if you are involved in a car accident. Your baby depends on you to keep him safe. Don’t let him down.