Lets talk about Car seats

Waaaay before I found out that I was pregnant, I read a post written by Erin over at Growing a Foosa regarding car seat safety. It really got my brain juices flowing and now that I am pregnant I know exactly what we are going to do with Claire, to ensure her safety.

After doing some reading up on car seat brands, we decided to go with a Britax. We chose the B-Safe model. They also have a Chaperone model, but it's much larger and heavier than the B-Safe. If you want to skip the infant seat, you can purchase a convertible car seat, which will fit your child up to 70 pounds (depending on the model), opposed to the 30 pound limitation on the infant seats above. Although it makes more sense economically, I find it comforting to know that if Claire falls asleep in the car, she can continue her slumber once we arrive at our destination.

Now, onto safety. You know that you need to keep your baby rear facing while in the infant seat, but did you know how incredibly unsafe it is to turn them around once they outgrow it. Even when your little one is big enough for a convertible seat, they should continue to be rear facing until they are too big for their car seat (as described in the above chart taken from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

Here's a video that shows the difference between rear-facing and forward-facing car seats.

and one to tug at your heartstrings.


Here are some other tidbits regarding car seats :)

add your emergency info on baby's seat in case of an accident

 

straps- snug or not snug enough?

Now go read up and educate yourself about your baby's/child's safety!
This blog has a great post about safety.
And this one too!