The safety of your infant, toddler or child is top priority and you are solely responsible for this. When in a moving vehicle, infants and toddlers have to be secured tightly through the use of special car seats or restraints. This is very important as it keeps your little one in place and safe to avoid falls, injuries and in fatal cases, death.
Despite the unarguable importance of these safety measures, a few people still ignore them, and some others make minute mistakes which result in irreversible damage. It has been discovered that about 80-90 percent of infant have one or more installation problems. Here, we have gathered some of the safest car seats for your infant and some of the general steps to take in installation.
Getting the Safest Car Seats for your Infant
Using an appropriate carrier car seat is the safest ways to keep your infant safe when riding a vehicle. There are various types of car seats for kids of varying ages, height and weight. Getting the right type of carrier car seat for your infant is top priority and this process can be a bit confusing, especially for first time mums or expectant parents. Here we some of the safest types of infant car seats
Rear-Facing-Only Car Seats
The rear-facing-only car seat is the topmost and safest choice of car seats for infants. It is to be used until your infant grows past the recommended age, weight and length by the manufacturer. After your infant has grown past the recommended requirements, he can then ride vehicles in the rear-facing convertibles. The rear-facing-only car seats are easy to use as they are small and easy to carry, most times come with a base which allows you to leave it in the car, saving you the stress and time of installation when you need to use it.
Most rear-face-only car seats are made for infants that weigh between 22-35 pounds and they are made strictly for vehicle rides.
Evenflo Car Seat
One of our recommended car seats is the Evenflo Nurture Car Seat. This seat is absolutely safe and comfy for your infant. It comes with a handle, canopy for shades and additional bases. Fun part is that it can be used with or without a base. It can be used for infants who weigh about 5-22 pounds and children even up to 1 year.
Rear-Facing Convertible Car Seat
The rear-facing convertible car seats are used as rear-facing seats and then converted to forward facing car seats when the recommended weight or height limit for rear facing car seat is surpassed. For this reason, this car seat can be used for a longer period of time and for a larger range of ages. They are used mainly for bigger infants, babies and toddlers and are designed to stay permanently in the car as they are usually heavy weight and come with no handles.
They also come with 5-point harness which attaches at the shoulder, hips and in-between the legs
How you Can Safely Install a Car Seat for your Infant
These steps, although not specific to any car seat, follow the general principle that each of them is designed with. These infant carrier car seats are installed at the backseat of the car and also installed with the use of a seat belt or latch.
Using a Seat Belt
- Trace the path of the seatbelt and buckle it at its base
- Ensure you lock the seat belt very tightly and if you find this difficult, check your vehicles manual, to see instructions.
- Locate the center of the base, press down to remove any lags and check to ensure it is firm enough – this can be done by pulling the base firmly (use the force of a handshake) to check for any lax,
- Fix/ click the carrier car seat unto the base and ensure that is placed in the designated position
- Recline the carrier car seat, using the recline indicator as a guide
Using a Latch
- To use this, ensure your vehicle has a lower latch anchor and latch connectors
- Locate the base of the latch anchors and hook the latch connectors at this point
- Locate the center of the base, press it down and then pull the strap to ensure its firm
- Check to ensure the base is firm enough by tugging it firmly (not too hardly)
- Fix the carrier car seat to the base in the right position
- Recline the carrier car seat using the recline indicator as your guide.
Conclusion
Infants require special care and to give them this, you need to get the right products at every point. The right carrier car seats for your infants have been listed and should be used in all vehicle rides. Ensure that these seats are used strictly for vehicle rides and nothing else as this could easily dent or spoil your car seat.
