Are Baby Seats Safe

Today there are a number of baby seats to choose from.

Options are increased safety incorporating deep torso, double head support and adjustable height head support. True Side Impact Protection, developed by Britax engineers, has been confirmed through rigorous side impact sled testing to better contain a child in dangerous side-impact crashes.

The Sit-Rite by Sunshine Kids helps level rear-facing child safety seats to position your child at the proper angle. Its dense foam construction adds firm, lateral support to the vehicle seat to help discourage sideways tipping. Fits all rear-facing safety seats and
infant carrier bases. that will greatly simplify child safety seat installation and will help protect children by keeping seats more secure in vehicles.

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to keep children in rear-facing car seats as long as possible--ideally up to the car seat's weight limit--because it's generally safer.

But when we crash-tested rear-facing car seats at manufacturers' claimed weight limits, several had significant problems.

By contrast, when the child car seats had car safety belts connected, all performed fine. So if you already own one of those car seats, you don't need to throw it out. Just install it
with the car's own safety belt, not with the LATCH connection.

Other things to check are. There appear to be problems in the way some car seats or their LATCH straps are designed. On multiple units, the LATCH strap broke on the Combi Avatar and the seat disconnected from the base on the Evenflo PortAbout 5 We noted a similar though less severe problem with the PortAbout 5 when we tested that model two years ago.

A number of seats in the rear-facing position did a poor to fair job restraining the head of our test dummy from rebounding into the vehicle's back seat after a crash.

We also found that some $70 seats performed as well as those costing $200.

Moreover, designs in general appear to be getting better. More boosters have shoulder-belt guides to allow proper belt retraction in a crash. Attachment tethers are more secure.

Manufacturers have adopted safer, five-point harness systems. And many LATCH connections make car seats simpler to install.

Consumer Reports is the only organization in the U.S. to rate car seats for crash protection. My advice is to check what they found before buying a car seat.

About the Author

About the Author:
Barbara Farrar became a grandmother recently and wanted the safety for her grand daughter so did some research on baby seats.
For more information, please visit http://www.allaboutbabyseats.com