Infant Car Seats and Car Seat Safety tips
From the moment you leave the hospital (or in the case of a homebirth; from the moment you first leave home) with your new baby, infant car seats are required. It is now proven that for maximum car seat safety babies in infant car seats should face the rear of the vehicle until they are one year old and weigh 22lb’s (10 kg).
If your baby outgrows his/her infant car seat but has not turned one year old yet you will have to buy a convertible car seat. Convertible car seats are made to face the rear of the vehicle too, once baby turns one you can turn car seats around to face the front of the vehicle.
As mentioned above, the next step after infant car seats is a convertible car seat. These car seats fit a baby or child up to 40lb’s (18kg) or more. Toddlers/preschoolers should stay in child safety car seats until they are 4 yrs and 40 lb’s.
Kids ages 4-8, roughly 40-80lb’s and under 4’9”, should ride in a booster seat. Otherwise, poor fit across neck and stomach could cause serious injuries in the event of an accident. Infant car seats are recommended for under 4 years of age.
Some Helpful Infant Car Seats Safety Tips
- Read your vehicle’s owners’ manual and the car seats manual to ensure infant car seats and baby car seats are correctly installed.
- All car seats must be tethered to a proper tether anchor.
- Seat belt straps on infant car seats and baby car seats should be snug. Only one of your fingers should fig between the car seats’ belt and your child’s body.
- Make sure that the shoulder belts on the car seat are in their proper slot. To determine this you should make sure that the belts are in the slot that sits at or slightly below your child’s shoulders.
- Remember that airbags can be a lifesaver, but they can be deadly to children. Never put car seats in the front seat of a vehicle that contains air bags.
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Nikki Jade is a successful author and the talented publisher of many
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