Carseats

Ok so those of you who know me know that there are a few things that I am very passionate about. Breastfeeding being one but I will do a blog on that another time. This one is on carseats. Im sure all of us know WHY a child needs to be in a carseat. But is your child in the Right carseat? Yes there is a right and wrong carseat for your child. First off I am NO expert in carseat and carseat saftey but I have done my research. This board has many men and women who are much more educated then I am on carseat safety and if you have ANY questions I highy recomend going to them and they will be more then happy to help you. http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7645/car_seat_questions

As a general rule a child MUST be in a rear facing car seat / infant car seat until 1 year old and 20 lbs. Front facing car seat until 4 years old and 40 lbs. Booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs. They keywords there are AND it does not say or. You can check for yourself what YOUR state says about carseats by going to: http://www.elitecarseats.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=car_seat_laws.

HOWEVER those are just the laws for your state. What about the maximum SAFTEY of your child?? Sure it might be easier to put your 1 year old who weighs 25 lbs in a forward facing seat. Sure it might be easier to put your 4 year old who weighs 40 lbs in a booster seat with just the carseat holding them in.

BUT research has shown that a child is SAFER to be rearward facing until the maximum of the carseat. WHICH most convertables do until 30 or 35 lbs. A child should be rearfacing until the limits of their car seat hieght or weight whichever comes first. The general rule is if your childs head is 1 inch above the top of the carseat she is to big for it. I do not have a video YET on the importance of extended rearfacing besides this one...its a little old and I am currently working on making a new one. But for those first time parents or even parents with more then 1 child who think its okay to make the switch before 1 AND 20 I suggest watching this. It is what helped me make my decision. My oldest went forward facing at 9 months...thank god nothing ever happened.

Now for the bennifit of extend harnassing....all i will do for this is post a video. Because of this video my oldest is now harnassed...again. And will continue to do so until she is to big height wise which at that point I will buy a new carseat. The video is a tear jerker so please have a tissue handy if your like me and cry easily.


In end PLEASE do your research when purchising a carseat for your child. When making a transition from one car seat to the next. It is very important! AND especially remember to go and get your carseat imspected by professionals! To find YOUR local place go to this website and type in your zip code! http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/CPSFitting/index.cfm