Baby Carriers and Slings

Opinions favor rear facing car seats for infants, that could protect them from injury or death in possible traffic mishaps. Parents need to be concerned about placing infant car seats in the front seat particularly if there is a passenger side air bag in the front seat. The air bag is a threat to baby's life in the event of a collision. This is one of the reasons why authorities insist that for babies up to about 22lbs from birth to 12 months, infant rear facing car seats are the most ideal.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) went a step further when directiing vehicle owners that all children aging 12 and under should ride in the back seat of the car.

Infant rear facing car seats can protect the baby’s, head, neck and spine better than front facing car seats. However, this is effective only up to particular stage of the baby’s growth. The rear facing car seats cannot give adequate protection when the baby exceeds the weight of the car seats.

Also as the child grows, the seat has got to be converted or replaced so as to adjust with his height to protect his head. Norally parents the replace the seat with another one specifically designed for toddlers. A convertible seat suits the baby at this stage. They are larger and heavier than the usual infant safety seats.

The convertible seats can accommodate larger children and since they are fastened into the car using the vehicle's seatbelt, the baby is well secured. And there are different harness styles as well; mainly the three-point style and the five-point style. Of this, the five-point harness is considered better because it is easily adjusted to perfectly fit your child.

The three-point style is with straps that cross over the shoulder fastening to a buckle close to the bottom of the seat, where as, the five-point style has five straps; two at the shoulders, two at the hips and one at the crotch. There are additional features also with five-point style to increase the safety and security of the child.

Infant safety car seats come with additional features intended to increase the safety and security of the baby. And they can be better adjusted to suit the baby’s convenience. There are models with detachable bases, where the safety seat simply snaps onto the base. In addition, they can be used as baby carriers.