Finding the Right Car Seat

January 13, 2016

By Kevin Woo for YourMechanic

Picking the right car seat isn’t easy. The size and type of chair you buy will, in part, be based on the weight of the chair, and the weight of your child.

Nearly forty years ago, Debbi Baer, R.N., became involved in a grassroots movement in her home state of Maryland to raise awareness for the use child car seats. As a result of her efforts, Maryland passed its first car seat law in the early 1980s.

Car seats are now mandatory throughout the U.S.

Over the first twelve years of a child’s life a parent can expect to buy at least three child safety seats.

The first car seat is an infant seat. It is a rear-facing seat, and according to Baer, should hold your baby comfortably until they’re between 22-30 pounds or, depending on the baby, up to two years old.

Some manufacturers sell car seats that double as a baby carrier. Those are great, and help insure that your baby doesn’t wake up when you’re moving him from the car to the stroller. The downside: the stroller, the carrier, and the baby can get heavy.

Baer cautions not to let “big baby” syndrome lull you into a false sense of security. Babies in the 95th percentile (for size) have the same strengths, weaknesses, and frailties as those in the 5th percentile. So don’t be fooled by weight alone. Age plays a big part of picking the right seat.

“The rigidity of bones and the strength of ligaments in the spine is likely to be the same in children of the same age, no matter their size,” Baer wrote.

A convertible seat is the second seat you’ll buy for your baby. A convertible seat can do triple duty. They take over the rear-facing responsibilities from the infant seat until your baby reaches about 45-50 pounds.

Then when your child reaches the milestones outlined by your car seat manufacturer, you turn child’s seat around to face forward. It’s important to make sure that there’s at least an inch between the back of your child’s head and the back of the car seat, as this buffer will protect your child in the event of a crash.

Some convertibles also function as a carrier but, they can get heavy.

Depending on the manufacturer kids can ride in a convertible car seat until about 65 pounds or six years old. Then they’ll need a booster seat. These seats are designed for kids who are too big for a convertible, but too small to sit on the normal seat without a boost.

Generally, kids who are about 65 pounds or six years old are ready to graduate to a booster. It’s important for parents to ensure that before graduating their kids to a booster seat they check that the car’s seat belt fits low and snug along the child’s lap, and that the shoulder harness drapes across the shoulder, and not the neck.

States have specific rules outlining when kids can wiggle their way out of the booster seats. Most seats allow freedom when a child reaches 4’9”.