Having a child means having a lot of decisions to make, from picking a name to decorating the nursery, and everything in between. Selecting a car seat is among the very important choices parents must make—and more than once, since children outgrow their seats. This decision should indeed be a multi-faceted process based on quality, safety, desired features, compatibility, practicality, and to some degree aesthetics. As long as a child’s car seat has passed the government’s approval process it will offer adequate protection for your tiniest passenger. But while that seal of approval helps, it’s understandably not enough for many parents.
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices of approved models, your next step might be to check Consumer Reports and similar bias-free reviewers as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s ratings list, found at
http://www.nhtsa.gov/CPS/CSSRating/Index.cfm. Online forums where actual users of a product post their opinions also offer great help, as they’re a resource for practical information from real-life experience; a simple Internet search will supply infinite material.
Be prepared to spend a little bit of money, as seats cost anywhere from below $100 to nearly $300. Although a well-meaning person may offer you their child’s outgrown car seat free, you shouldn’t take it if you don’t absolutely know its entire history: whether it was involved in a crash or it’s the subject of a recall (note: you can find a list of recalled car seat makes and models at the NHTSA website). The same goes for purchasing a secondhand car seat—although this is even riskier since you don’t know the person it came from. Don’t take a chance—purchase a brand-new,
approved car seat with complete instructions enclosed. This is about your child’s safety, and it’s no time to look for a bargain. Note as well that car seats can become outdated as technology advances, so if a seat is more than five years old there’s definitely something better out there.
Of course, the highest price does not necessarily indicate the highest quality. There are parents, though, who will actually be comforted by a high price, if only because it makes them feel they are giving their child the best, or it gives them more confidence in the integrity of the seat. And since selecting a car seat is a personal decision, this may indeed be a deciding factor for some—including those who are just concerned that anyone who happens to glance into their backseat in the daycare parking lot will see the “right” car seat back there. This kind of thinking does play into decision-making for some people, and they’re within their rights and certainly not hurting anyone, so let them buy what they will.
Conversely, other parents will look for a lower-priced seat to save money, which does not at all mean they are cheaping out on their child. You can compare any number of seats in a wide range of prices and not determine a noticeable difference in quality and therefore conclude that if you buy the expensive seat you are just wasting money. If you’re looking for an approved car seat made of attractive and easily-cleaned materials that employs a five-point harness system and you can find these criteria in a 100-dollar seat, then what reason is there to buy the 250-dollar seat? And, since the arrival of a baby (or an infant’s outgrowing his/her first car seat) is never a surprise, you’ll have ample time to shop around and watch for your preferred make and model seat to go on sale.
Once you’ve selected a seat, try it in your vehicle to make sure it installs properly (this should not be a problem with any seat you buy today, especially if you have a newer car (2003 model year or newer) with the LATCH system. Especially with older and more active children, make sure that the seat is comfortable yet fully secure, with the harnesses and clips sitting where they should: for example, the front clip should be at armpit level, not higher or lower. If it isn’t right return it and try another—the perfect car seat for your little one is definitely out there.
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