Purchasing a car seat can be stressful. They are expensive, sometimes confusing, and there are too many colors and/or designs to choose from. It’s like companies want it to be a hard decision! There are certain factors to take into consideration when buying a car seat. Here are some of them!
Your Vehicle
If you have a smaller vehicle, you might want more of a compact car seat. This will ensure you do not have to have the front seats pushed up to a certain level just to have the car seat in the back. You need to take into consideration where the seat will be (behind the driver, passenger, or in the middle). Your child is safer in the middle in case of a car accident that involves a car hitting the side of your car, potentially the side that your child is on.
Your Lifestyle
If you are always on the go, it seems to be easier to have a car seat that fits your lifestyle. If you are always on the go, you might want a detachable car seat where the base stays in the car so you can undo the whole car seat and take it with you. If you go that route, you might want to see if the car seat can sit on grocery carts for in the store. That is a luxury, but can come in handy for a sleeping baby. On the other hand, if you don’t go to the store very often and like to hold your baby, you might want a car seat that stays in the car and you take your child out. This seems to be easier once your baby can cold his head up so when you put him in the seat you don’t feel like you’re going to break him!
Your Child
Your child will have some say in this decision. You need to think about how tall your child will be and how much he will weigh. This will determine whether you just buy an infant car seat or if you buy a grow with me carseat. Another factor to consider is if the car seat can be rear and front facing. Each car seat is different so make sure you read the manual to be sure when to turn it around and go to forward facing.
The Reviews
The reviews of car seats can be very helpful. For instance, if you are dead set on a certain seat and someone says it does not fit well in their compact car, like the one you have, you might want to look elsewhere. The reviews are there to help you, even if it feels like you are striking out with all the car seats you had in mind.
Your Budget
There are SO many carseats out there and you may have a picture of your dream car seat for your child. However, those come with a pretty hefty price. Your goal should be to purchase the safest carseat you can afford. If you are planing on buying a used car seat, do not buy one that has previously been in an accident. Also, do not buy one that is more than 6 years old, has missing parts (it doesn’t matter how cheap it is), being sold without a manual, or missing a model number or manufacture date label. These are very important because car seats do expire and they need to have a manual for when it turns into a front facing car seat, or if it even does turn forward!
The Future
You want to think about how long this car seat will last you. You don’t want to be buying a car seat that may only last 6 months because of the weight/height limit. That will end up costing you double!
5 Point Harness
The 5 point harness is the safest fastener for babies since it goes around the chest and legs. This make the impact in a car accident more evenly spread out on your baby. Be sure that when you fasten your baby in, the chest strap goes over the chest and not the stomach. That is a common mistake when buckling up the little one!
When buying a car seat, you want to make sure it is up to date with safety features and it’s easy to be properly installed in your vehicle. Remember, if you’re not sure how to properly install your car seat, your local fire department will do it for you while showing you, for free!
Now that you have the car seat, check out what to consider when buying a stroller! Best of luck!
Love,