Convertible car seats are larger than infant-only car seats and more expensive
. However, they can be used for your child from the newborn stage right up to the toddler stage. Choosing a good car seat for your child's protection is a prime consideration for any new parent. To give your child the best chance of escaping injury in the event of a collision, you'll need to a car seat suited to your child's age and weight.
The convertible baby car seat with rear-facing is used until the infant is near to age one and the weight is at least twenty pounds. When rear-facing, the babies head should be one inch below the head if the seat and the babies ears should be below the seat for front-facing.
Many infant car seats come with a base for the car. You attach the base in the car and then you can just pop the car seat into it. This is nice because you don't have to mess with the seat belts every time you put your baby in the car. You have the option to buy extra bases to use if you have multiple cars.
If you purchase an infant car seat, rest assured that the new models have a five-point harness to keep your baby strapped in securely. The disadvantage, of course, is that you'll need to buy a convertible car seat later when your child grows older.
Bigger baby car seats are used for older and bigger babies and are forward facing. Like the infant only car baby seat, this also comes with a five-point harness. Added feature is a padded T-Shield that is attached to the shoulder straps and a padded tray like overhead shields that that swing down around the child.
Not only must baby car seats be safe, installed correctly, and comfortable but you will also need to remember to consider the best way to clean the car seat. Car seats that have easy to remove padded covers make it easy and simple to clean up any spills or food debris. This is particularly important once your child reaches toddler age and begins eating in his car seat. Be sure you regularly launder the car seat covers and follow the manufacturer's instructions for doing so.