What is the difference between car seats

This means that a baby's skull is very flexible — relatively low impacts can result in significant deformation of the skull and brain. The smaller the child, the lower the impact needed for injury.

An impact to the chest can result in the chest wall squashing on to the heart and lungs. The ribcage isn't well developed, and can't protect some of the abdominal organs. The bones in the infant pelvis aren't fused together strongly like an adult's. A well-designed seat will cushion your baby in the event of a crash, and help to divert the crash force away from your baby's body.

Find out how our car seat crash testing goes beyond the legal regulations to check if your car seat can protect your baby.

To make sure you know how to fit your child car seat correctly, we've created a handy video guide that walks you through fitting your child's very first child car seat. Experts agree that the safest way to transport babies is in a rearward-facing infant carrier or baby car seat.

A good baby car seat will help to protect your baby in both frontal and side-impact crashes. However, lie-flat or carrycot car seats can be a good solution for newborns, especially premature babies or those with medical conditions, who need to be transported lying flat. Some carrycot car seats are suitable only for babies up to 10kg, which means parents might change to a forward-facing next-stage seat too early. Our advice would be to look out for a modular system — one that uses a base which is also compatible with a rear-facing baby car seat and then a rear-facing toddler seat.

It's considered safest to keep your baby in the lowest-group car seat until they reach the weight limit, or outgrow it. If you're using a carrycot car seat, you should:. Test score. Babies need specific protection in a baby car seat. Find out what to look for to help keep your little one safe when travelling. Alison Potter. If you want to buy an infant car seat but need to trim costs, consider shopping for a travel system — an infant seat and stroller that are sold together at a discount.

You may find these in the stroller aisle, not the car-seat aisle. Understandably, you want to know which car seat is safest. But all car seats that are on the market have been tested and approved for the current safety standards check for the JPMA stamp on the box which means it's been approved by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. Because the safety technology improves so frequently, the most important thing you can do is buy a new car seat and not accept a hand-me-down. Here Are the Rules.

Other features that bump up the price include cushier fabric, accessories such as a little "boot" around baby's feet, and a larger canopy. Another feature to size up are the straps: To save trouble, check to see if straps of the car seat you're buying will be easy to adjust as your baby grows. Ideally, you want straps that will not have to be rethreaded.

Many brands now have adjustment handles in the back of the seat, or a pull cord between baby's legs, that make rethreading a thing of the past. Seats made with a smooth fabric will wipe clean more easily than a textured fabric such as corduroy. This one's more about cleanliness than safety — but easy-to-clean is a virtue, too.

Just trust us. You're not finished once you walk out of the store. Make use of all the instructions you can — those in the instruction booklet which should always be kept with the seat , and the diagrams on the seat itself — to have the best possible chance of installing the seat correctly. Although all companies continue to simplify the installation process — videos on YouTube supplement some instruction books — it's still recommended that, after you install the car seat, you have your work checked by a professional.

The easiest way to ensure correct installation though? It would be nice if the video would show how the convertable carseat can be adjusted from rear-facing to forward facing.

We received one as a hand-me-down and don't know how to make it rear-facing. Many brands of strollers will allow you to simply click your car seat, of the same brand, into it, therefore making it a travel system in a flash!

Adapters are already included on the stroller. However, if you use a different brand of stroller than your infant seat, the compatibility needs to be verified.

Often times, you can purchase an adapter separately that will allow you to click the two together, creating your own travel system. In this case, make sure the adapters are the SAME brand as the stroller, and compatible with the infant car seat model you are using. Rachel Rising , D. T Founder of Baby Logic. Craving more sweet pregnancy guidance?

Tell us your due date and we'll deliver the scoop straight to your inbox each week! First Name. Wet Nurse says: Option two is to buy a car seat and a stroller that can be connected using an adapter piece. November 24, at pm Reply. Antonio Woolridge says: Right here is the right site for anyone who really wants to understand this topic. August 20, at pm Reply.