Archive for the ‘Car Seats’ Category
It is best for your child to ride in the rear facing car seat position for the highest weight and height allowed. Twenty pounds and one year old are the very minimum requirements before your turn your child around. If the child reaches 20 pounds at eight months, they must stay in the rear facing seat until they are one year old. The child must remain rear facing for at least one year.
We are anxious to turn the child’s seat around for many reasons, but it is best to keep the child rear facing for as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics confirms that it is best to keep the child rear facing to the highest height and weight allowed by the manufacturer of the car seat.
Baby equipment choices can be overwhelming. For example, when you begin looking for the car seat, which is the best choice for the newborn baby? You probably want to take into consideration what equipment is needed as the baby grows older.
The starting point can be the infant carrier. Infant carriers are seats that can only be used in the rear-facing position. Although parents sometimes question whether they really need an infant carrier, here are some of the advantages to starting off with the infant carrier.
The carrier is portable. You can use it just as a baby carrier. It will also click into the base of the car seat when you are driving in the car and click it out again when you reach your destination. So many babies fall asleep from the movement of the car. There is no need to awaken the baby when you reach your destination. You can just click the carrier out of its base and carry it into the house, while baby sleeps.
If you have more than one vehicle, you can purchase the bases for all of the vehicles, but you need only one baby carrier.
Most carriers are compatible with strollers. You can take the carrier out of the car and click it into the stroller, without disturbing the baby.
The infant carrier is just for baby and is made to fit babies. You will find that they fit better into the carrier’s than they do in the car seats that are designed for small infants as well as toddlers.
A news article from the November Issue of “Pediatrics” contains information on a study of injuries caused when babies were taken out of the carseat and the carrier was placed on elevated surfaces, such as the table or kitchen counter. The child can wiggle in the seat and in some cases it has overturned. When a carseat does overturn, there are reports of mostly head injuries, but also broken limbs. If it were to overturn on a soft surface, there is the danger of suffocation.
Baby safety in these situations can be ensured by taking a moment to think about where the baby is placed in the busy time of unloading the car after car travel.
When choosing a car seat for your newborn child, it is important to choose one with a simple, five-point harness system. This system can be adjusted for use with newborn infants or for children of up to 40 pounds.
The five points of the harness system are two shoulder straps, two upper hip straps and a crotch strap. When purchasing a convertible car seat, its five-point harnass system will adjust to fit children of all sizes. You will notice that the points that are strapped in are the strongest areas of the body.
Most car crashes occur from the vehicle being struck from behind or head-on. The side impact crash is not the most frequent, but seems to cause the most fatalities in children. There are presently no safety standards set by the government for car seats and the side impact car crash, but such standards are being developed.
Some manufacturers of baby and kids car seats have researched and provided their version of the side impact protection in car seats. This is another standard parents should examine in their purchase of a car seat for their child.
The early stages of parenthood can be tiring; the process of putting a newborn baby to sleep is a trial in its own right. Beyond behavioral issues and fussiness, which just come with the territory, parents also have to navigate the unfamiliar world of child safety concerns. Once an adequate crib is chosen based on stability and integrity of materials, it’s time to shift one’s focus to the car seat.
Luckily, the federal government imposes strict safety standards that apply to all child car seats. Attentions can be turned to style, comfort and price, however, all of which vary greatly from brand to brand and model to model. Some parents choose an Evenflo car seat that matches or complements the interior of the family car, while others prefer a seat that stands out.