Choosing a Front Facing Child Car Seat
Child Car Seat
Sunshine Kids Radian SL Convertible Car Seat Comes with Free Radian Carrying Case
The array of car seats on offer today is quite daunting for any new parent and choosing the correct car seat for your child is not as easy task. However, providing safety for you child while traveling in the car is essential and so make the choice you must.
When your child is very young he should be put into a rear facing car seat and transition to a front facing seat when he gets to the right age. Choosing the right front facing car seat will depend on the car that you drive and the weight and age of your child. But what is the right weight and age for this transition?
There is no absolutely black and white answer to this question but, in general, infant car seats are designed for children up to a weight of 40 pounds and an age of 12 months. Once your child passes his first birthday and the 40 pound mark you should move from using a rear facing to a front facing seat. A forward facing seat will then be appropriate for your child up to a weight of about 80 pounds, at which point you could consider dispensing with the child seat altogether.
These are of course merely general guidelines and each seat will come with its own set of recommendations from the manufacturer. For example, for those people who wish to rely on the added safety of a child car seat for as long as possible there are booster seats available which have been tested for children to a weight of 100 pounds.
In case you are worried that you might have to buy two car seats (one for your infant and another once your child passes his first birthday) there is no need to worry because all of the major manufacturers produce convertible seats which can literally just be turned around when it comes to the time to make the change.
The child seat itself is of course just the first part of providing safety for your child and the second is the harness which holds the child into the seat. In general you will have a choice between using a five point harness and an overhead shield. The former is rather like strapping you child into a racing car with straps which hold the child across the shoulders and also at the hips. The latter is similar to the restraints seen on some fair ground rides with a padded bar that come down over the child’s head and locks into place to hold the child into the seat at the shoulders.
Both the five point harness and overhead shield methods have been subjected to rigorous testing and are fully approved restraint methods so it is really nothing more than a matter of personal choice when it come to which method you select.
One final point to mention is the importance of fitting any child seat correctly into your vehicle. While child seats themselves are extremely safe and do an excellent job of protecting your child many injuries are caused every year because seats are not correctly installed. Make sure that you read the manufacturer’s manual carefully and that you fully understand how you particular seat should be fitted into your vehicle and operated.
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