Car Seats

Perhaps the most important thing you'll buy for your baby is a car seat. It's one of the few baby products that is required by law throughout the U.S., so you will likely need to show that you have a car seat just to bring your baby home from the hospital. Car seat safety advocates estimate that at least four our of five car seats are used incorrectly in some way, and car seats can't always function properly when misused, so be sure to learn how to use the car seat you select for your baby.

Go to www.seatcheck.org to find a FREE location near you for proper car seat installation.

Also, here's a great site to reference when trying to figure out which infant seat is right for you.

Top Infant Car Seats

Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killer of kids.

Why? In many cases, children are either not properly buckled into their safety seats or parents don’t realize that a booster seat is vital to ensuring children fit safely in their vehicle’s seat belt. Don’t take a chance. Have your child’s safety seat inspected!

Find a location near you at www.seatcheck.org.

When to turn the seat.

Recently my younger sister started asking me about "the next" car seat she'll need for her 9 month old daughter who is now weighing in at 20+lbs.

We started talking about how this next car seat she should think about how long she's going to use it. Is my niece going to be in this for the next 3+ years? Probably. (my son is 4-1/2 and is still in his from when he was 18 months) So I gave her my "2 cents" about how she should consider trying to keep my niece in the 5pt harness for as long as possible. That means buying a car seat that lets you keep them in the 5pt. harness for more then 40 lbs. BUT she also still has to use it backward facing at the minimum until she's a year old. Here's where the controversy came up at a recent family gathering. Both my mother (who is a mother of 5) and my other sister (mother of 2) told her that now our niece is 20lbs. they can turn the car seat around... NO! It's not just about weight, it's about spine development. I immediately recommended calling her pediatrician and get her thoughts on the matter. But the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends " All infants should always ride rear-facing until they are at least 2 year of age AND weigh at least 20lbs." Now my sister and my mother insisted I was being to protective. I had my other sister check with her peditrician, and guess what... I hate to say it but I was right. So I thought I'd share a quick guide here for you from the AAP web site.

Infants	Infant seats and rear-facing convertible seats	All infants should always ride rear-facing until they are at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
Toddlers/Preschoolers	Convertible seats	It is best to ride rear-facing as long as possible. Children 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds can ride forward-facing.
School-aged children	Booster seats	Booster seats are for older children who have outgrown their forward-facing car safety seats. Children should stay in a booster seat until adult belts fit correctly (usually when a child reaches about 4' 9" in height and is between 8 and 12 years of age).
Older children	Seat belts	Children who have outgrown their booster seats should ride in a lap and shoulder belt in the back seat until 13 years of age.

Thanks to the AAP Car Seat Safety Guide 2009.

Also don't forget you can have your seat (any size) installed FREE professionally by a car seat safety inspector. To find out where check out www.seatcheck.org.