subject: The Facts of Rear-Facing Car Seats [print this page] The Facts of Rear-Facing Car Seats The Facts of Rear-Facing Car Seats
As a parent, you want to keep your child safe no matter what. One of the best ways to do that, especially on the road, is by using a car seat. Car seats have been around for years as a way to protect your precious cargo, even for a short car trip. One of the safest types of car seats for infants is the rear-facing car seat. Though a few years ago, forward facing car seats were used for infants, it was found through research that air bags and other factors posed a major risk to infants that faced forward; thus the use of a rear-facing car seat instead.
A child should remain in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible. Most car seat brands, however, will limit your child up to 20 pounds, but there are some brands that will hold a child up to 25 pounds. Never allow your child to face to the rear if they weight more than the car seat is designed to hold. If your child's feet hang over the edge of their car seat or their head hangs over the top, even if they are lighter than the maximum weight, they are too big for the rear-facing car seat and will need to be moved to a forward facing booster seat.
Installing a Rear-Facing Car Seat
Major rear-facing car seat brands such as Chico, Britax and UPPA Baby all make it convenient for parents to install car seats in their car. Modern cars now have what is known as the LATCH System. This is a set of anchors that are placed in the back seats that correlate with heavy-duty straps and clips on your baby's car seat. You will use those clips and straps to anchor your child's car seat directly to the seat itself, rather than using a seat belt.
Most modern car seats also come equipped with what is known as a "base". These bases are attached to the car using the LATCH System or seatbelt and then the car seat itself will snap in and out of the base. This helps parents from having to constantly lock in their child's car seat every time they go somewhere. Many large car seat makers such as Chico, Britax, UPPA Baby and Maxi-Cosi make car seats with a matching base.
Never install a rear-facing car seat in the front seat of your car. Just because your baby is considered safe by facing to the rear that does not mean that the front seat air bag cannot hurt them. If you drive a truck, place your child in the front seat facing to the rear, but turn off the passenger side airbag. Many modern trucks have a feature that allows the driver to turn off the passenger airbag or the vehicle will have an automatic sensor to turn off the passenger airbag for you when the weight is measured under a certain amount.
