Choosing Between an Infant and a Convertible Newborn Car Seat
A car seat for newborns or infant safety seat, or a baby car seat, is a way to protect infants from harm and death from car accidents. They have a harness that distributes the restraint forces across the head and body of the child instead of the spinal cord and neck.
They are available in rear-facing as well as convertible versions, and come with a range of weight and height limits. They could also be part of an entire travel system that snaps into and out of the base of a stroller.
Rear-facing
Rear-facing newborn car seats offer the most complete protection for infants during crashes. They are designed to hold and support children, protecting their neck, head and spine. In addition, they help to disperse the impact of a crash from hitting your child's body, reducing injuries. This is because the child's body does not collide with the car seat or the front seat. Instead, it is an upholstered, soft surface in their car seat.
Parents should ensure that their child is rear-facing until they reach the maximum weight or height limit of their car seat, according to the AAP and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Around age 1, most children will outgrow their infant car seat and transition to a convertible seat that can be oriented forward. However, many parents will want to keep their child in a rear-facing car seat until the 2nd birthday of their child.
There are two kinds of rear-facing car seats convertible car seats. Both are equally secure however, each has its own features. Infant-only seats, for instance are smaller and lighter. They also have an easy-release base that can easily be detached from the vehicle and reattached to the stroller. Convertible car seat are heavier and larger. They also don't come with a stroller base.
It is essential to use the back seat, regardless of the type of seat. You can also put a blanket that is tightly rolled or washcloth between the crotch straps and your child to ensure the harness is securely secured. Check that the lower anchors of your car seat are correctly installed, and that they are connected to the lower attachment points on the lower anchor bars.
There is a lot of debate about how long a baby should ride rear-facing, research shows that infants as young as 12 months old are less likely to suffer injuries in car accidents if they're facing the back of the car. Babies in rear-facing car seats also experience a lesser impact when they crash into the front of the car, in contrast to the back of the car seat which can cause serious injuries.
Forward-facing
Most parents have given lots of attention to their baby's car seat. It was an important item on your baby registry as well as the way you brought your child home from the hospital. You may think about changing the car seat to face forward as your child gets older. It's important to keep in mind that your child isn't yet ready until they reach the weight and height limits established by the car seat manufacturer.
Rear-facing is recommended until your baby weighs at minimum 20 pounds and reaches the age of one year. Children younger than one year do not have the neck muscles needed to withstand whiplash when hit in a crash. They also have greater risk of suffering from injury to the spine when involved in head-on collisions.
You can buy a convertible or all-in-one car seat, which allows you to keep your child facing the rear until they reach the height and weight limit for the seat. These are typically bucket-style infant seats that come with the base that you can install in your vehicle. They can also be removed from the base and connected to strollers to create travel systems. However, they tend to have smaller maximum weight and height limits than a standard convertible car seat.
You can also purchase a booster seat. These are typically fitted with a harness designed for smaller children and can be converted into a belt-positioning booster seat once your child is ready. This kind of car seat has the principal benefit of being used in your car for the duration of your child's childhood which makes it much easier to move the child from one vehicle to another.
No matter what car seat you pick be sure to read the instruction manual and follow the installation instructions. Get a certified safety technician to ensure that your child's car seat is properly installed and is used in a safe manner. The misuse of car seats is common, and well-meaning parents could injure their children if they don't know what they're doing. It is best to study the instructions on the car seat and follow the guidelines of a CPST.
Convertible
Many parents choose a convertible newborn child car seat because they can expand with their child and enable them to travel safely through infancy and toddlerhood. They are cheaper than infant car seats and offer a long lifespan. However, it's important to choose a model that is simple to install and will fit in your vehicle. Also, make sure that you secure your baby in the correct way each time.
Snug straps keep the head from moving into a potentially dangerous chin-to-chest posture which could lead to strangulation or asphyxiation. Many infant carseats come with straps that are loose or not buckled and pose an extremely risky safety issue. Unbuckled straps can lead to a dangling neck, which has been the cause of many accidents. The crotch buckle can also pose a risk in the event that it is not secure enough to pass the pinch test. This test determines whether the crotch buckle is tight enough to prevent the legs of a newborn from slouching in the seat which could cause them to be cut or trapped.
Some convertible newborn car seat have adjustable torso-height, which allows you to adjust the height limit based on the development of your child. The minimum torso must be the same as the height of the shoulders of your infant or one inch lower. Some models include an infant insert to help bring your child up to the correct height for the seat.
The ideal convertible car seat for newborns should be snug, have soft padding and a slim base so that you can install it easily into your vehicle. It should also come with a secure, tight harness that passes the pinch-test as well as a small and tightly-rolled blanket or towel for emergencies. It should also include an attachment tether to the anchor points of your vehicle, which will help reduce injuries during an accident by reducing the force of impact. In addition, it should come with a travel system, which includes a car seat that is paired with a stroller and has an attachment that allows you to carry the baby from the car to the stroller.
Safety features
When choosing the right car seats for their infants parents must consider a myriad of things to take into consideration. Car seats are a must-have for families who are just starting out because using them reduces the chance of fatal child motor vehicle collision injuries by 71 percent. click this over here now between a baby car seat and a convertible car seat is based on several key elements, including safety features, compatibility with your vehicle and user-friendliness.
Car seats for infants are created with the delicate body of a newborn in mind. They typically come with a base that stays in the vehicle and the carrier snaps into the position, making it simple to move your baby from car to stroller and back again without disturbing them. They also come with harnesses built-in and a crotch strap to keep your baby secure.
Some infant cars are equipped with side-impact protection that disperses the force of the collision away from a newborn's neck and head. Plastic, metal and foam absorb energy and shield the baby's face from direct contact with the frame of a vehicle or any other object involved in a collision. Some have a special sock that extends from the door to shield the head of the child.
A chest clip is a different safety feature that is becoming more common on newborn car seats. It keeps the straps of the harness flat against your baby's chest. This stops the straps from getting caught or bending at the shoulders, which could expose your baby to higher risk of injury. If you select a seat with this feature, make sure that the chest clip is placed at armpit height. Avoid dressing your baby with heavy outerwear since it could cause interference with the harness.
Whatever kind of car seat you choose ensure that it's mounted in your vehicle according to the manufacturer's instructions. Look for the lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system comprising connectors that clip into a car's lower anchor points and the tether strap, which is attached to the top of the seat. It then connects to an anchor inside your vehicle. If your vehicle doesn't have LATCH, a belt can be used to secure the car seats.