Choosing Between an Infant and a Convertible Newborn Car Seat
A car seat for newborns, also known as an infant safety seat or a baby car seat, is a way to protect babies from injury and death from car accidents. They come with a harness that distributes the restraining forces over the child’s body and head instead of the neck and spinal cord.
They can be rear-facing or convertible and are available in a variety of height and weight limits. They can also be a part of a set for travel that snaps into the base of a stroller.
Rear-facing
Rear-facing infant car seats provide unmatched protection for infants in crashes. They are designed to support and cradle children, ensuring their neck, spine and head. They also help to reduce the force of a crash from hitting your child’s body, reducing injuries. This is because your child’s body isn’t hitting the car seat or the front seat, but rather a soft, cushioned surface inside their car seat.
Parents should ensure that their child is rear-facing until they reach maximum height or weight limit of their car seat, according to the AAP and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Around the age of one, most children will outgrow the infant car seat and move on to a convertible car seat that can be oriented forward. However, many parents will prefer to keep their child in a rear-facing seat until their 2nd birthday.
There are two types: infant-only car seats and convertible car seat. Both are safe, but offer different conveniences. Infant-only seats, for instance, are smaller and lighter. They also come with a quick-release base that can easily be detached from the vehicle and reattached to the stroller. Convertible car seats are larger, heavier, and do not come with a built-in stroller base.
No matter what type of seat you choose regardless of the type, you must adhere to the instructions of the manufacturer and ensure that you use the seat in the back seat of your vehicle. It is also recommended to place washcloths that are tightly rolled or blankets between the crotch straps and your child to ensure that there isn’t any slack in the harness. Also, ensure that the lower anchors are attached to the lower attachment points of your vehicle’s lower anchor bars and that the car seat is correctly fitted and secured.
Research suggests that babies who face the rear of the car are less likely to get injured in an accident. Baby car seats that face rear also have less impact when they crash into the front of the car, in contrast to the rear of the car seat which could result in serious injuries.
Forward-facing
Many parents have given a lot of attention to their baby’s car seat. It was an important item on your baby registry as well as the method you took your baby home from the hospital. Now that your child is getting older, you might be thinking about turning the car seat around to forward-facing. However, it’s important to keep in mind that children aren’t yet ready for this until they reach the weight and height limits set by the manufacturer of their car seat.
When your baby is at least 20 pounds and a year old, they should stay rear-facing. This is because kids under one year old don’t have enough neck muscles to handle the whiplash that results from being thrown forward in an accident. They also face greater risk of suffering from injury to the spine when involved in head-on collisions.
You can purchase a convertible car seat or an all-in-one one that will allow you to keep the child rear-facing until the child is at the weight and height limit of the seat. These seats are usually bucket-style infant seats that have the base that you can install in your car and can be detached from the base and reattached to strollers to create travel systems. They are typically lighter in weight and height restrictions than a standard car seat for Newborn seat.
You can also get an extra booster. They are typically equipped with a harness for young children and can be converted to a belt-positioning seat once your child is ready. This type of car seat has the primary benefit of being used in your vehicle throughout the duration of your child’s childhood which makes it much easier to transport the child from one vehicle to another.
It doesn’t matter what car seat you select be sure to read the instructions and follow the guidelines. It’s also a good infant car seats idea to consult a certified car safety technician to make sure that the child’s car seat is installed and used properly. Incorrect use of a car seat is common, and well-meaning parents can injure their children if they don’t know what they’re doing. It is best car seats for infants to study the instructions on the car seat and follow the recommendations of a CPST.
Convertible
Many parents choose a convertible infant car seat because they can grow with their baby and allow them to travel safely through infancy and toddlerhood. These seats are cheaper than infant car seat in front seat seats and offer an extended life. It’s important to select the right model that is compatible with your vehicle and is simple to install. Additionally, be sure to protect your lightweight baby car seat by buckling them up in a proper manner each time.
Snug straps stop the head from slipping into the dangerous chest-to-chin position that could result in strangulation or asphyxiation. Many infant carseats have straps that are unbuckled or loose and pose a major safety risk. Straps that are not buckled can result in a dangling neck that has been the cause of many accidents. The crotch buckle can also cause danger in the event that it is not secure enough to pass the pinch test. This test will determine if the crotch strap is sufficiently tight to stop the legs of a newborn from slouching in the seat which could cause them to be cut or trapped.
Some convertible car seats for newborns come with an adjustable torso-height that allows you to adjust the height limit based on your child’s growth. The torso’s minimum height should be the same as the height of your infant’s shoulders or one inch lower. Some models come with an infant insert to bring your child up to the proper height for the seat.
The best convertible newborn car seat should be a snug fit, comfortable padding and a slender base to allow you to put it in your vehicle. It should also feature a secure, tight harness that passes the pinch-test and a small, tightly-rolled towel or blanket for an emergency. It should also come with an attachment tether to the anchor points of your vehicle, which will help reduce injuries during an accident by reducing the impact force. It should also include a travel set that includes a stroller and car seat that you can use to transfer your infant from the vehicle to the stroller.
Safety features
When it comes to choosing the best car seats for their newborns parents face a variety of factors to consider. However, car seats are an essential purchase for new families because correctly using them reduces the chance of fatal collisions in motor vehicles by 70 percent. The decision between a child’s car-seat and a convertible one is based on a variety of factors, including safety features, compatibility with your vehicle, and the ease of use.
Infant car seats are made with the delicate physiology and baby’s physiology in mind. The base of the seat is typically in the car and the infant carrier snaps into place. This makes it simple to transfer your baby from stroller to car and back without causing any disturbance. They also come with built-in harnesses and a crotch strap to keep your baby secure.
Some infant cars come with side-impact protection, which distributes the crash force away from the baby’s head and neck. Plastic, metal and foam absorb energy and protect the baby’s face from direct contact with the frame of a vehicle or any other object involved in the event of a collision. Some come with a special pod that extends beyond the door to protect the head of the child.
A chest clip is a different safety feature that is becoming more popular on infant car seats. It keeps the harness straps flat against your baby’s chest. This prevents the straps pinching or bending around shoulders, which could put your child at risk of injury. If you choose a seat that has this feature, make sure that the chest clip is set at the armpit height. It is also important to be sure to avoid dressing your child in bulky clothing which could hinder the harness’s fit.
No matter what type of car seat you pick ensure that it’s mounted in your vehicle in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Look for the lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system comprising connectors that clip into the lower anchor points of a car and an tether strap that is attached to the top rated infant car seats of the seat and connects to an anchor in your vehicle. If your vehicle does not have LATCH, a belt can be used to secure the car seats.
