Thursday, June 18, 2009

car seat advice

As I had mentioned earlier we are on the verge of needing new car seats for the babies.

We have started doing some research on car seats and we are a little overwhelmed at the options. My first inclination was to find the car seat that would last the longest, thus saving us from having to buy yet another set in another year or so. Some seats have weight limits from 5-100lbs. Meaning that your child can go from the hospital and them almost to college all while sitting in the same car seat. This seemed a little extreme. According to most growth rate charts, most babies will not reach 35 lbs until they are about 3 years old.

In our research we have also found that the AAP is now recommending that, while 1 year old and 20lbs is the minimum recommendation for moving a child into a forward facing seat, children should stay rear facing for as long as possible.
  • Read the AAP article.
  • Click here for an article explaining the benefits of keeping a child rear facing for as long as possible.
What else should I take into consideration when choosing a car seat? What have been your preferences, etc?

she's got the whole world in her hands