Car Seats - The Basics

You have no more precious cargo than when you have your baby in the vehicle with you. You put on your seat belt and try to be responsible. That responsibility must continue with a car seat for your baby. The type of seat best suited for your child depends on age, size, and type of vehicle the seat will be used in. The purpose of a car seat is to protect the child from spinal cord injury in a crash.

Infants must be in a rear facing car seat from birth until one year of age and weigh approximately 20 pounds.

Toddlers and Preschoolers should ride in a rear facing seat as long as possible, but they may ride in a front facing seat at one year of age and weigh 20 pounds. They should not continue to use that seat if their head is above the back of the car seat or they reached the maximum limit for the particular seat they are using.

From that point, about age 8, they will use a booster seat.

One of the first and most important purchases you can make for your baby is a car seat. Hospitals will not allow you to take the newborn home unless you have a car seat. It is not safe to hold a baby on your lap, either in the front or back seat. I would much rather spend the time and money necessary and buy the proper car seat and know that my baby is safe and secure. The number one cause of death in children in the United States is from a car crash.

When a baby rides facing rearward the whole body including his or her head, neck and torso is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. It also protects better in other types of crashes, particularly side impacts, which are extremely dangerous.

If the baby is riding in an infant-only seat it should be replaced with a rear-facing convertible seat before the baby reaches the maximum weight which is about 22 pounds or when the top of the head is within an inch of the top edge of the seat. An infant only seat has a base which is left in the vehicle and it has a handle for ease in carrying the child. Never use a rear facing car seat in the front seat of a vehicle that has airbags. If your child is asleep in the seat when you get home, do not leave the child in the car unattended. The child could get tangled in the straps.

If a friend or family member is expecting and you would like to give the ultimate gift, give a car seat. If you are unsure about the type/model, etc., then give a gift certificate for a car seat. It is a potentially lifesaving gift. The 50 states all have differing laws regarding the use of car seats. It may not be a law in your state to use a car seat, but it is a moral obligation.