When taking young children in a car with you, it's very important to make sure that they are kept safe. Children should always have suitable child restraints or seat belts on, and children under a certain age and height should have booster seats. Babies and toddlers should always be in suitable car seats in order to protect them if you have to stop the car suddenly or you are involved in a collision. Babies and young children will obviously be injured more seriously than adults as they are not as strong, so necessary precautions must be taken in order to ensure that they are kept as safe as possible.
Parents are always looking for the safest options for their children, which is exactly why convertible car seats are highly recommended. Rear-facing seats are by far the best and the safest, so if you have to choose between rear-facing and front-facing, you should always opt for the rear-facing one. Perhaps surprisingly, rear-facing is the safest option for both children and adults, but you should keep your child in a rear-facing seat until they are at least 1 year old. The good thing about a convertible car seat is that it can be either front-facing or rear-facing. Convertible car seats aren't considered to be the best choice for newborn babies because of the way that the harness is designed; however, once your baby gets a bit older, you can buy a good quality car seat that will face either way in the car.
Statistics show that the main cause of death in children under 14 in the USA is motor accidents; therefore, you should really take care whenever your children are in the car. Although it may seem like you're spending money on something, in reality, you're investing money in a product that could potentially save your child's life. Even if you are involved in a minor collision, the car seat will protect your child against whiplash and other such injuries.
When choosing a convertible car seat, you should bear certain things in mind. One of the first things you should be looking at is how the seat actually latches onto your car. Poor quality car seats will not be very stable when inside the car, and this is a very important factor. Once you have decided whether the car seat will latch on properly or not, make sure that it is easy enough for you to install, especially if you don't know much about car seats or haven't had any experience using convertibles in the past.
Finally, look at the type of harness that the convertible car seat has. The harness must not be too thick or uncomfortable for your baby, or it could lead to disaster if you're involved in an accident. A "five point harness" is the best one to get, as this will have a crotch strap, shoulder straps and hip straps. This provides the ultimate comfort and protection for your baby, as the strongest parts of the baby's body will take the majority of the force in the case of a collision.
The best convertible car seat models of 2011 include the Cosco convertible car seat, the Scenera convertible car seat, the My Ride 65 convertible car seat and several others get great reviews and safety ratings including the Roundabout 55, Comfortsport and Evenflo, which is one of the safest models on the market.
Try not to sacrifice your baby's safety because you think the price of a car seat is too high. Remember that your choice of car seat could save your baby's life one day.