What Is A Booster Seat
Unlike a car seat that uses a five-point-harness, a booster seat allows your child to use the seatbelt restraint of your car. Your child can sit on top of a booster seat to “boost” them up to the right height for the seat belt. The seat belts in your car are designed to fit adults, so a booster seat mimics the height of an adult when your child sits in it.
What Type Of Car Seat Should I Use
Rear-facing car seat:
- All infants must use a;rear-facing car seat. A rear-facing seat provides the best protection for your childs head, neck, and spine in a sudden stop or crash.;Once your baby outgrows the infant seat, use a larger, rear-facing seat. As long as your child still fits within the manufacturers weight and height limits, they are safest using a rear-facing seat until 2, 3, or even 4 years old.
Forward-facing car seat:
- Once your child has outgrown the larger rear-facing car seat and is;at least2 years old; they can move to a;forward-facing car seat with a 5-point harness.;Keep your child in a 5-point harness until they weigh;at least;18 kg ;and can sit straight and tall without moving out of position or unbuckling. This may be at 4, 5, or even 6 years old.;If your child outgrows the seat before they can sit correctly, you may need a 5-point harness that will hold a taller, heavier child.
Booster seat:
- When your child is;at least 18 kg and at least;4 years old, and has outgrown their forward-facing car seat with a 5-point harness, they may be ready to move to a belt-positioning;booster seat.;To safely use a booster seat, your child must be able to sit correctly. Keep your child in a booster seat until they safely fit the adult seat belt. For most children, this will be between 9 and 12 years old.
Seat belt:
If your child cannot sit like this for the whole trip without slouching, continue to use a booster seat.
Child Safety Seat Tips For Baby
The following are some important child safety seat tips for your baby:
- Your infant or toddler should ride in a rear-facing car safety seat as long as possible, until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their seat. Most convertible seats have limits that will allow children to ride rear-facing for two years or more. Don’t be concerned if your child’s legs bend at the knees or touch the back seat of the car when rear-facing; this will not harm her feet or knees.
- Always put your infant in a rear-facing child safety seat in the back of your car. A baby riding in the front seat can be fatally injured by a passenger side air bag.
- The shoulder straps must be at or below your babys shoulders. Child safety seats have several pairs of harness slots so you can adjust the harness as your baby grows.;Make sure you use the harness correctly by following these tips:
- The harness must be snug so you cannot pinch a fold in the harness material after buckling in your baby.
- The straps should lie flat in a straight line without sagging or twisting.
- The top of the chest clip should be positioned at armpit level.
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When To Stop Using Your Toddler Seat The Latest
Step 1: Check the weight/height limitation of your seat
If your toddler seat is approved to UN R129, you have to stop using your seat once the maximum height of your seat according to its approval is reached. In addition, ISOfix-installed UN R129 seats also have a weight limitation which you can find on your seats approval sticker and/or user manual. It is time to change to another seat once your child has reached one of the two limitations, whichever comes first.
If your toddler seat is approved to ECE R44-04, the seat has a maximum weight which you can find on your seats approval sticker and user manual. Once your child has reached this maximum, you have to change. However, practically you might not always be able to use the seat until the maximum weight as your child can outgrow the seat in height before. Check step 2 for this!
Step 2: Check the shoulder belts and ear-to-headrest level
When the top of childs ears reaches the highest point of the headrest, it is high time to change.
Additionally, check how the shoulder belts are sitting on your childs shoulders and what your seats user manual advises about this. Many manufacturers say that the shoulder belts should not come from below your childs shoulders. So if the shoulder belts are not coming straight onto the shoulders anymore when having the headrest/belts in the highest setting, then its time to change as well.
Important Things You Need To Know About Heated Car Seats
What are Heated Car Seats?
Initially regarded as a luxury feature on cars, heated seats have become commonplace now, thanks to continued efforts by car makers to provide consumers with more comfortable driving experiences.
As the name suggests, heated seats are designed to keep people warm when driving in cold weather. How do these seats work? They have an electric heating coil is installed underneath the seat covers to generate heat.
With a simple flip of a heated seat switch, car drivers can turn on the heat and keep their butt and back feeling warm and comfortable.
What If Your Car Doesnt Come with Heated Seats?
While cars that come with heated seats are no longer considered a reserve for the rich, many cars still come with standard, non-heated seats.
People whod like to turn their standard car seats into heated seats can do so by using heated car seat covers.
These heated seat covers come equipped with built-in heating elements to provide instant warmth.
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Stop Further Damage From Happening
The seats in my car are showing a lot of wear with fair bit of damage
Alls not lost when you own an older vehicle with damaged upholstery. As mentioned above, your seats have to be pretty badly damaged with chunks of foam missing before you really need to consider reupholstery. Custom seat covers are an excellent choice to cover up the old, worn seats.
While that distressed look might be trending in fashion, it definitely doesnt look that great in your car, nor is it very comfortable. Split leather or vinyl sucks!
Installing seat covers is an effective way to cover up wear and tear even if there is a decent amount of it.
Here are a number of seat cover material options just to give you an idea. You can get seat covers in:
- Neoprene and Neo-Supreme
- Camos like Real Tree, Moonshine, Mossy Oak
- Hawaiian
- Imitation Leather/Genuine Leather
- Imitation Sheepskin/Genuine Sheepskin
There are tons of choices out there. I am not here to recommend one over the other, or tell you to choose one company over the other. Do your research and youll be able to find something that suits our needs.
Pricing varies from company to company and depends on the material choice. For instance, you can pay around $150-$200 for a set of Neo-Supreme seat covers from one company, while another might charge you $250-$350. The difference in price is mostly due to the different brands of Neo-Supreme seat covers out there.
What if I have leather seats?
I Thought My Child Could Turn Forward
This is NOT correct. Many years ago, in the days before the iPhone was invented, the minimum to turn forward facing was 1 year and 20 pounds.
In 2011 both the AAP and NHTSA updated their recommendations to reflect the latest research in child passenger safety. The AAP now recommends that kids sit rear-facing until at least age 2 and for longer if possible. NHTSA now recommends: Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seats manufacturer.
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What Is A Convertible Car Seat
A convertible car seat is a car seat that can be used with children of various sizes and can change from a rear-facing to a forward-facing seat. A convertible seat starts in a rear-facing position for babies and toddlers and is then turned forward-facing as your child gets older. A convertible car seat can take you from day one through the preschool years and beyond.
When Do I Turn The Car Seat Seat Around
With the massive amount of literature thats out there about car seat safety, its easy for parents to start to feel a little overwhelmed about what type of seat to use when, and how it should be installed. Some parents see turning their childs seat to forward-facing as a milestone to complete around her first birthday, but the most recent recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to keep their children rear-facing until theyre at least 2 years old.
Why are parents making the switch sooner?
Though the current recommendation is to keep car seats rear-facing until at least the childs second birthday, the AAP recommendation that came before said that childrens seats shouldnt be turned until the child was at least a year old and weighed 20 pounds at least. For parents with older children, this may be the recommendation they heard first, or that sticks in their mind. Beyond that, most state laws only require children to be rear-facing until their first birthday. Only four US states require that childrens seats be rear-facing until age 2. Between the language of the previous recommendation and minimum age laws in most places, its easy to see why many parents decide that one year is the right age to turn the car seat around so young children can face forward like the rest of the family.
How long should my child stay rear-facing?
What are the advantages of keeping my childs car seat rear-facing?;
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The Dreaded Motion Sickness Won’t It Help To Turn Around My Child
The long and short: most kids do not puke less when forward-facing compared to rear-facing.
Weve got lots of information on motion-sickness over here including an explanation of why it is believed to occur, things you can do to decrease the chance of your kid puking, and how to minimize the mess and clean up if your kid does puke.
Time To Move To The Next Type Of Car Seat
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Lack Of Evidence Of Leg Injury From Actual Crashes
There are ZERO documented cases of rear-facing children breaking their legs, hips, feet, etc., due to their feet touching the back of the vehicle seat. In fact, studies show that forward-facing kids suffer many more leg injuries than rear-facing kids. The leg injuries to forward-facing children occur when the childs legs fly up and hit the back of the front seat as the child and car seat are moving forward. This traps the childs legs, putting tremendous pressure into the leg bones. This pressure can break the legs.
I Already Turned My Kid Forward
Yes! When we know better, we must do better. A few months ago when you turned her forward facing you did what you thought was best, but now you know differently. Avoid regrets, and give your child the best protection.
Many parents worry that it will be a disaster turning an older child back rear-facing. Here is one moms experience turning her almost-3-year-old son back rear-facing:
I was initially very hesitant to move my almost three year old son to rear facing from forward facing. He has been sitting forward facing for over a year and can be strong willed when it comes to change. However, after hearing how much safer it is I was willing to try. The first three or so drives were very difficult as he asked to look out mama and dadas window almost the entire time. We ignored and distracted and I was about to give up when I noticed that although he still complained about sitting rear facing it happened less and less. Now he asks maybe once every other drive if he can sit forward facing and was even fine the other day when his friend joined us and sat forward facing. It was a tough first few drives, but I am very happy we did it and I feel so much safer.
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Is My Child Ready For A Booster Seat
The safest way for your child to ride in a vehicle is to remain in a five-point harness until they exceed the maximum height and weight requirements of their car seat. Many convertible car seats and harness-to-booster car seats on the market can accommodate children up to 65 pounds. But if youand theyare ready to move on to a belt-positioning booster seat, make sure your child meets the following booster car seat requirements first.
1. Age.
Each state has its own laws and regulations for booster seat age and weight requirements. What is the law for booster seats? Always check your states requirements! That way, youll be best informed before moving your child into a different type of car seat. Most state laws and booster seat manufacturers require children to be at least 4 or 5 years old before using a booster. However, age isnt as important as the other three factors.
2. Weight.
Even if your child is technically old enough to legally ride in a booster seat, they may not weigh enough to safely sit in one. At a minimum, your child should weigh at least 40 pounds before using a belt-positioning booster car seat.
3. Height.
The height of your child is of equal importance to weight when deciding whether theyre ready for a booster seat. You can safely make the switch only if your child is at least 35 inches tall and can sit in the booster seat with their back against the vehicle seat and their knees bent comfortably at the edge of the seat cushion.
4. Maturity.
How To Keep Your Child Entertained While Rear
Rear-facing doesnt have to be boring! Older kids can ride quite upright so they can see out the side and rear windows. If theres a head rest blocking your childs view out the back window, you can usually remove it. By 9-12 months your baby knows youre there when you talk to them from the front even though they cant see you. So you can calm and entertain your child with songs, stories, and for older children games of I spy, all while theyre rear-facing.
Weve got lots of suggestions for great car seat & travel toys for babies & toddlers ;because sometimes we all get a little cranky when were bored!
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What About Their Legs
Many parents express concern about the fact that their child seems cramped or that their legs must be folded before they have reached the maximum height or weight for their rear-facing seat.
Children can safely sit with their legs crossed, extended, or hanging over the sides of their rear-facing seat. Leg injuries for rear-facing children are very rare, according to the AAP.
Simple Change: Buy Some Stylish New Mats
Wary of fitting new carpets or just cant afford it? A quick and affordable way to give the floor a facelift is to buy a brand-new set of car mats. Mats come in a variety of styles, finishes and textures these days, so you can get a premium look thats more in line with your style. A set of premium mats will also help protect the carpet, so you can safeguard your cars resale value.
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