A family outing is not complete when you haven’t purchased a car seat for your kiddos. Don’t forget that you might spend hours on the way. Children are not pleased with these long rides, so you need to ensure their comfort. As seen on vivamagz, Here are the available types of child safe seats for your selection.
Infant Car Seat
For those who just welcoming the new member of the family, it is urgent to purchase infant car seat. Pay attention when installing this seat to your car: it should be rear-facing. A set of infant carseat might have or not have a base. The function of this base is to balance the seating position, minimize shaking seat and assure a safe position in case of case accident.
If the manufacturer does not include the base in the set, you could always buy it separately. Installation without base will lower the bearable weight. This type of carseat should be tilted to 35-45 degree and could handle 4 up to 35 pounds weight. Your baby should sit on it until the age of two years old.
The protection system of infant carseat is a rubber band with a detachable end. You simply click the button and the rubber band will be released. Some manufacturers offer more convenient option: seat, stroller and base in one product. After getting down the car, you could install the seat to the stroller set.
Convertible Car Seat
This product gets its name due to the fact that it could be rare-facing or forward facing. It could accommodate newborn baby up to toddlers weighing around 40 pounds. However, you might find some manufacturers that could handle 80 pounds child. The back of the seat could fit for 19 inches tall baby to 50 inches toddler.
When your baby is seated in this seat, you need to set the position to rare-facing. Once your loving kid grows, switch the position to forward-facing. This product will save your money, as you don’t need to buy any carseat for three to four years. The turn down is your kids might not feel comfortable with this seat.
Because it could fit both small baby and a little kid, no manufacturer makes it a set with a stroller. Therefore, you will need to pack stroller on the back of the car. In addition, the handle in convertible car seat works only for babies. You need to wake up your toddlers instead of carrying the whole seat with you.
All-In-One Car Seat
Among the other previous seats, this one is the most expensive. All-In-One or three in one carseat works for several stages: infants, toddlers and young children up to 8-12 years old. So, you basically spend a good amount of money for at least the next eight years. During this period, you only need to learn how to operate one single carseat.
Make sure to check the manual after purchasing one. Not all brands of 3-in-1 carseat are suitable for babies. The seat will only have a forward-facing setting, first, goes with high back booster and later on to the backless booster. One thing for sure: this seat is designed to stay inside the car.
Prepare yourself to pick up the children several times during a trip. The trunk must be bigger because you will put the stroller there. No lifting strap installed, you only have the protection strap.
Since it is made for infants to young children, the bearable weight is up to 40 lbs. The seat is also longer. If you set it to the forward-facing position, it could lift up to 60 pounds. All-in-one carseat will be a perfect choice if you prefer a long use item.
Toddler Booster Combination Car Seat
You might not be able to tell which one is the toddler booster when you see it for the first time in the store. Unlike the other multipurpose car seats, this one is specifically made for bigger children. Keep in mind to read the label correctly. Booster Combination cannot be installed to rear-facing position.
The forward-facing position will be quite dangerous for the baby. Thus, you need to purchase this product if your children reach 8 years old or weigh around 30 pounds. The standard product could handle around 40 pounds weight, but it is recommended to find one that could handle more than 80 pounds. Kids grow and get bigger in a blink in this age.
Make sure you follow you follow the instruction in the manual book about minimum kid weight. The protection belt has five stars harness, which is safer than lap or shoulder belt. If your children have reached the upper part of the seat, do the easy steps to remove the harness. Now you could rely on the back booster to reach the perfect height.
Booster Seats
Older kids have more height and weight. Thus, you need something different to accommodate the big kids. It is quite easy to notice a booster seat: it has no harness belt. The system of this seat is coordinated with the 3 points seat belt.
While the other seats need installation, you could simply put the booster seat on the standard seat. The new model might have “LATCH” (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) label. It refers to a built in system that will hold the seat in its place when the car crashed. Before starting your engine, don’t forget to clasp the belt on the seat.
There are two kinds of booster seat: the one with high back and the backless. The high back one raises the seat position and equipped with guidance for belt position. For the backless one, it appears as a cushion to set the perfect height for the seat belt.
A perfect position will appear as follows: shoulder belt rests on the bony shoulder. Lap belt should cross the hips and thigh. The back and legs should be in a comfortable angle.
Depending on their age and weight, you might need to purchase a different kind of baby car seat. If you want the most comfortable one for your kids, then you will purchase another carseat several years from now. However, you also have the option to purchase the long lasting one. So, have you made your mind?