If you are going to be a new parent, the best child car seat is a very important item in your baby’s gear.
In the commercial world, this is called a booster seat, child seat, child restraint system, baby seat, or infant safety seat.
So can you imagine, this is a widely spread industry in the commercial world so you need to be very alert when you are selecting a car seat as new parents?
VEHICLE COLLISIONS BECAME A VERY COMMON AND CAUSED SEVERE DAMAGE IN THE MODERN BUSY WORLD.
The importance of a child seat takes vital importance in protecting your child from injury or death in travel incidences.
Nowadays most hospitals won’t discharge the baby without the baby seat. So as parents you should have a good understanding of purchasing your infant’s car seat.
When you use a car seat, you can simply click in and out of the base where you install it in the car.
Many jurisdictions require children defined by age, weight, and/or height to use a government-approved child safety seat when riding in a vehicle.
Also, proper installation of an infant car seat is an important part to take the maximum function out of it. That will make it easy to take the baby into a house or a stroller.
You can see videos and other resource guides of the child safety experts and take proper training and you can install your infant car seat then.
Table of Contents
Why do you need to buy the best child car seat?
Your baby is a treasure and ready to enjoy life with a new life gift. Nowadays most hospitals won’t discharge your baby without a properly installed infant car seat ready to travel safely.
A need for quality infant car seats is an essential part of your life as a new parent.
According to the research, over 600 children ( Aged 0-12 ) die due to car accidents. More than 35% of those incidents are not followed by seat belt instructions properly.
So, Car seats are essential for every parent they are more fond of traveling with a child in a car
Most of the time the babies are propelled forward during hard braking. So in accident times, it is more common in having head injuries which we should prevent essentially.
If you use a convertible car seat type, it provides adequate safety measures including the lower center of gravity of the child and the steel bars of the car seat avoiding the forward bending of the whole seat unit including the baby.
By using a car seat, you can get used to the cushions and foams which provide a high level of safety. These cushions and foam layers are methodically added to the car seat by the manufacturer.
What should you do?
When you select a baby car seat, the first thing you need to do is to refer to the car seat manufactures instruction manual.
Then look at the installation instructions and try to make them clear to you. You need to get a clear understanding of the seat belt all-over anchors (LATCH ) and tether, if available.
The important part is to install the car seat correctly and that means TIGHT. If you can do this simply without a child safety instructor, that particular car seat may be more user-friendly for you.
We suggest that is the first thing you need to consider when selecting a car seat.
If you are going to buy a used car seat, we recommend buying it from a person whom you can trust. Because a lot of complications may be present later in using an infant car seat for years.
Things you need to know before buying a car seat
When it applies to the term top-rated car seats, those products have to match the guidelines and set of regulations.
Please concern the following key points. The installation process of the seat should be very easy and simple.
Characteristics of a top-rated car seat
The seat should have enough options such as latch systems and clumsy chest clips etc. This latch installation is a more secure system in car seats.
Also, the detachment facility should be very easy in a good infant car seat, with no complex seat belt patterns or lock-off mechanisms.
These seats need to meet the federal safety standard. A good infant car seat should have a good seat base to facilitate the child.
Handy and easy-connect seat bases allow you to simply install the seat base without interrupting your sleeping baby. Machine-washable infant car seats are very popular among mothers.
You need to wash your car seats for at least 2 -4 months to get rid of sweat, drool, and diaper leaks. Here you should look for washable car seat covers.

Types of car seats
Infant car seat
The first seat for new parents is the infant car seat. It can only be installed rear-faced and have a removable carrier installed into the base of the seat.
This is the best-fitted seat for smaller babies and new babies. The infant carrier has a typical weight recommendation of 5-20lbs. These infant seats s normally called bucket seats.
They are having a bucket with a handle. Some seats do not have bases. Infant carriers are mounted rear-facing and the US children should position in this rear-face position until they reach one year of age and at least 20 pounds.
Convertible car seats
This seat type should be purchased no later than the 1st birthday of the child. This seat can be placed in a forward-face or rear-faced position.
Convertible car seats can be accommodated in comparison to the ground level of your child. That transforming ability is money-saving.
These convertible seats can be changed from rear-facing to front-facing according to the weight and height of your child.
This seat has a higher rear-facing weight limit that the position kids can travel longer safely.
It can be installed rear-facing for children younger than 1 and weighing less than 20 lb.
This seat has a rear-facing weight limit of up to 40 lbs. The seat can be turned and used as a rear-facing seat and after it can be converted to a booster seat.
Rear-Facing seats
This is a special type of infant car seat. Specially designed seat type always faces the rear side of the vehicle and can only accommodate up to a certain height and weight.
All in one seat
This seat can be used from the birth of the child until they use a booster seat. These seats can be transformed into the weight and height of your child as they grow up. this can be converted from rear-facing to forward-facing.
This seat can accommodate 4-50 lbs. The sitting rear-facing weight limit is up to 20-65 lbs. Forward-facing with booster mode can accommodate 30-120 lbs.
Booster seats
This is a type of forward-facing design and has a minimum weight requirement ranging from thirty to forty pounds. seats can be used up until the child is old.
These booster seats can be used when your child outgrows the weight or height limit. Then it can be used with the car’s own seat belt.
Travel system
This type can be attached to a pushchair as well-matched as a rear-facing car seat.
The best practice is to have your child rear-facing car seat until 2 years of age. After they exceed their height and weight limit in their car seat they can switch to a convertible type.
They can keep this convertible-type seat in a front-facing position until they exceed the weight or height limits.
After achieving the requirements for a booster seat, we can put the child that in front-facing.
Your province/state may have different laws about height and weight requirements, so we would recommend more information.
Some fire or police departments offer courses (sometimes for free!) about the best practice recommendations in your area.
Baby car Seats can be expired within six years from the date of manufacture. This highly debated expiration date can be made according to the manufacturer’s time.
The aging of the baby car seat is mainly due to UV rays and varying temperatures in the environment.
Guidelines for car-seats in the USA
When not a passenger inside a vehicle you should keep a child a very minimal time in a car seat ( American academy of paediatrics-AAP- -2003 )
To avoid flat head syndrome, the baby should be kept in a supine position in the seat ( AAP )
The restraint requirement of the child should be varied according to the states of the USA.
Children who are four years or older can use an adult seat belt without a child safety seat- Florida and South Dakota
In the rest of the country, a booster seat or appropriate child restraint system is required until the child is between five and nine years old, depending on the state.
All infants should be traveled rear-facing until they are one year of age and at least 20 pounds.
Use of child restraint or a booster seat for all children who are shorter than 4 ft 9 inches, regardless of age and weight.
Some booster seats can be used for children up to 60 inches and 120 pounds ( The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -NHTSA).
Children 12 years and younger sit in the back seat if available. ( Many states prefer that ).
Some states require that all child safety seats be used with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Conclusion
Six out of ten children who were killed due to vehicle crashes were not properly restrained. So the child car safety system and equipment are an essential part of our modern lifestyle.
Families with more children may be unable to use child-restrained systems at once. Because child safety car seats are expensive and occupy more space and are bulky in vehicles.
As parents, you can think of larger vehicles and narrower modified car seat varieties meeting legal requirements for transporting children safely.
Getting a car seat for a new baby (or any aged child) can be a daunting task. It’s the very thing that can save your child’s life in an accident. My daughter’s car was broadsided at an intersection when her daughter was 3 weeks old. It didn’t even wake the baby from her nap. The doctor at the ER said that it was because she had been properly secured into her high-quality bucket seat so she had not been jostled at all.
Your suggestions are very well thought out and well researched. I’m positive this will help parents make a great choice. I also agree with your comments about only buying a used car seat from someone you know and trust. Otherwise, you wouldn’t know if it had been mistreated or in an accident.
I would think the “all-in-one” car seat would be the best cost-wise, as it wouldn’t need to be replaced!
Thank you for the wonderful comment and appreciate the work. Your comment through personal experience is very valuable to me
I think you strike a pain point for parents if they have a few young children. Child car seats are bulky, and once you have them fitted at the back, if it is just a sedan, then you can’t fit another adult in. So it limits the family size to just 4. Buying a 7 seater is a solution but depends whether the family can afford it. Cars can be quite expensive in countries like Singapore or Japan for instance. I have 2 children, and one of my problem with my 2 year old is that, she likes to slip her hands out of the seat belt. I didnt want to put it too tight for her to be uncomfortable but she is abusing that comfort. Would you have any recommendation how I can “convince” her not to do that without me having to scream?
thank you very much for the comment on your personal experience. I highly appreciate it. you can choose a rear face type car seat and let your child do hand activity while traveling is a good idea. you can buy hand widgets for toddlers from Amazon to give the child to handle while traveling.it is improving your little one’s hand functions in another way.
I hope you got an answer. appreciate your comment very much.
Choosing and installing a child car seat is a very daunting and an extremely important task before you bring your new born to your home from the hospital. Soon I am going to be an uncle and I wanted to gift something useful for my niece, now I think this child car seat will be the best option. Firstly, it will be very useful gift and secondly, she will come home from hospital to our house in that seat only.
A perfect child car seat must be comfortable for the child and most importantly it must be safe for them.
I will definitely consider gifting her a infant car seat. Thankyou for the information.
thank you very much for mentioning that this article was benefitted for you to make success your every day life.