| By
Terry Ross
Start looking at baby car seats well before your baby is born. You
don’t want to get caught out if your baby is born preterm.
You’ll need a baby car seat before you leave hospital.
Every year thousands of young children loose their lives or
sustain
serious injuries which could have been prevented if through the correct
use of car seats and safety belts.
When choosing a baby car seat don’t make your decision based
on price alone, all seats available to purchase in the USA meet very
strict safety standards but added features in higher price baby car
seats may make them easier to use (thus avoiding fitting errors) or
even safer than the cheaper options.
Always use a car safety seat that is the right size for your baby,
infant or child. You will need to change your car safety seat as they
grow.
The safest place for your baby / child to ride is in the back and you
must never place your baby in a rear facing baby seat in the front of a
vehicle with a passenger air bag.
For all car safety seats make sure you follow the
manufacturer’s instructions to the letter. Ensuring your
baby’s safety while traveling is an essential part
of baby
care and it is not something over which you should become complacent.
For newborn and
up
to around 15 months use a
rear-facing car safety seat. You can get rear-facing seats that are
convertible which means you can use them as front facing seats once
your infant is big enough to travel forward facing safely. Rear-facing
seats which are safe up to 22 pounds are suitable for up
to 6-9 months and
rear-facing seats which are safe up to 29 pounds are suitable for up
to 12-15 months.
Once your infant has reached 12 months of age and weighs at least 20
pounds he can safely travel in a forward facing seat. If you have a
convertible seat you can just switch to using it as a forward facing
seat. Otherwise you can look at a built in, combination or forward
facing seats which are usually suitable for infants up to 40 pounds (4
years).
Many states now have booster seat laws with children between 4
– 6 or 4 - 8 years (depending on the state) having to use
booster seats by law.
There are many booster seats available with some suitable for infants
weighing just 20 pounds (9 months) but are generally geared towards
children from 4 years old ( 33 pounds or more) up to 11 years.
Booster cushions are suitable for children weighing 48
pounds or more
(6 – 11 years of age). Article
Source:
http://www.articleblender.com
Visits my
website to learn more about pregnancy, babies and baby
care.
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