Another informative article from Levi Quinn.

Having your child restrained properly in a car seat, booster seat or seat belt is very important. Not only does it give your child a better chance of withstanding an accident but it is also the law. Laws vary from state to state as far as age, weight, height and what type of seat the child should be restrained in. So you should check with the state you live in to find out what the laws are for that particular state.

However the best rule of thumb is to follow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) guidelines. The NHTSA recommends that children stay in appropriate car seats through 8 years old, 80 pounds, or up to 4’9″ in height.

Birth to Age One

For birth through one year of age, NHTSA recommends that infants should be an infant-only or rear-facing convertible seat and should ride rear facing up to one year of age or at least 20 pounds. Rear-facing seats should be at a 30 to 45 degree angle.

It may be hard for some parents to drive with their infant facing in the opposite direction. It almost seems unnatural not to be able to see your baby. But just as it is important to support a newborn’s head as you cradle them in your arms, it is also important that their head and neck be protected in a vehicle. Since baby’s neck muscles are not fully developed all those bumps in the road, twist and turns and sometimes-sudden stops can really impact a tiny baby. The rear-facing seat helps minimize these motions for the baby. You can purchase some mirrors to use so that you can keep an eye on your baby while they are in the rear-facing car seat.

One to Four Years

Children 1 to 4 years old and weigh 20 to 40 pounds should be in a convertible or forward facing car seat.

Four to Eight Years

Some states only require children to be restrained in car seats until the age of four. However, seat belts usually don’t fit most four-year-olds properly. The NHTSA recommends that children who are 4 to 8 years old and more than 40 pounds, should be in a belt positioning booster seat either backless or high back.

Eight Years and Up

All children under the age of 12 should ride in the backseat. Never seat an infant or child in a position where an airbag can be deployed. When used with seat belts, air bags work very well to protect teenagers and adults. However, air bags can be very dangerous to children, particularly those riding in rear-facing car safety seats and to child passengers who are not properly positioned. Even in a relatively low-speed crash, the air bag can inflate, strike the car safety seat, and cause serious brain and neck injury and death.

Remember to Follow Manufacturer’s Instructions

Always read and follow manufacturer’s instructions. If you do not have the manufacturer’s instructions for your car safety seat, write or call the company’s customer service department. They will ask you for the model number, name of seat, and date of manufacture. The manufacturer’s address and phone number are on the label on the seat. Also be sure to follow the instructions in your vehicle owner’s manual about using car safety seats.

[Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/]

Technorati Tags: carseat laws, carseat safety

A convertible seat will likely fit better than an infant carrier.

I should mention that I drive a Honda Accord Coupe, and all of the seat belts in the back are shoulder belts, which makes installation a little difficult.

Thanks again!
My car is a 2000, and is too old to have LATCH

Our son is really tall too. We got a Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL which lets you rear face to 45lbs and forward face to 80lbs. Our son is tall but not very heavy either, and he seems comfortable in this seat not very often putting up a fuss when we put him in it and often napping off even on short trips.

However, check on installation because I have a 2004 Focus and it has LATCH which makes installation very easy. It’s also a four door but the passenger seat has to be moved up to knees-through-the-dash discomfort level while it’s rear facing (which is fine usually for us because mom rides in the back seat with our son and I don’t give too many rides to other people except half mile jogs to the train station).

I know to look at the ease of installation in car,5-point harness(this is my personal requirement.I’m NOT buying a seat without it),tethers,comfort,washability,weight & height limits,ease of adjusting the harness,.

Any suggestions on what else to look for/consider when looking? Also what’s your take on car seat bases? I’ve had people tell me they won’t use a seat without one even if it’s allowed and then I’ve had some tell me they refuse to use one. I’d rather stay under $200 for the travel system just in case you have any actual seat/system suggestions.

The links below are websites that I have been looking at,there’s more but these are the main ones.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-buy-an-infant-toddler-car-seat_430.bc

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/bb/infant_car_seat.htm

http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/choosing-a-car-seat.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_109289_choose-car-seat.html

Oh and I’d like to thank you all for your help in advance! =)

I skipped the ‘travel system’ and went straight for a convertible seat. We have both Evenflo Triumph 65′s, great for babies and last from birth up to age 8 or 65 pounds and straps VERY EASY to adjust. Same as our Sunshine Kids Radians 65. SK seats are steel frame and much safer. We use a Slingling baby pouch sling to carry baby, hubby uses a ring-sling and we never had problem of ‘waking baby’ when going in and out of the car. Our grocery store (the only one in town) has shopping buggies that don’t click in an infant seat, as most restaurants in town too didn’t seem to have safe ways to sit an infant bucket. We used a lightweight stroller for our walks. I babysat my friends baby with her infant seat. It is no picnic trying to wrap a seat belt around one of those things. Better to have a base to click it into. One snap, you are done. And test the strollers first. Some with the travel systems have crappy strollers. They look great, but don’t move around well.

This is the car seat

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Evenflo-Chase-Booster-Car-Seat-Morse-Code/10929158

wow obvisously some people dont understand. i know the carseat has LATCH!!!!! my car dont have the LATCH system! my other car did … but this one doesnt!

Here’s the evenflo website. There’s a link here to a video demonstration on how to install the Chase.

http://babycare.manualsonline.com/manuals/device/car_seat.html

http://www.seatcheck.org/

Duration : 0:4:38

Technorati Tags: babies, baby, car seat installation, child, expert carseat, farm, insurance, parenting, parents, proofing, state, statefarm

This episode is an installation video for Graco Turbo Booster car seat with back

Graco’s Ready for the Road Ahead is an interactive Web site where parents can get all the information they need to know about car seats, from state regulations and laws to proper instillation and sizing. In addition, parents can join the Ready.Safe.Go! Car Seat Club and receive travel tips, special offers and help Graco donate car seats to families in need.

Duration : 0:0:51

Technorati Tags: booster, car, carseat, graco, install, installation, seat, Turbo