Before you take your new baby home in your car you will need to buy a suitable car safety seat.
Seats for new born infants must be rear facing for safety. This is because a baby younger than about 12 months old does not have neck muscles that are strong enough to support the head. When a car stops suddenly the back rest of a rear facing child seat is designed to support your baby’s head and helps prevent serious injury.
In some European countries a rear facing child seat may be used in the front passenger seat, but in most US states and Canada it must be mounted on the rear seat. A front facing child seat must never be used in a front seat where air bags are fitted.
Many safety seat manufacturers produce seats that can be used in forward or rear facing positions. These can be turned around once your baby is about a year old.
Another popular alternative is to buy a baby car seat that doubles as a baby carrier. These seats have a fold out handle that makes it easy to carry your baby into the house. You can strap your baby into the seat in the house, especially convenient in bad weather, and just mount the seat using the car safety seat or the Latch system, if that is fitted in your vehicle. Consult your vehicle manual to see if the Latch system is fitted to it.
If you are looking to buy a child safety seat that has been used you need to check to see if it has been subject to a recall. Many older seats do not meet the most recent safety regulations. Additionally, if the seat has been involved in a major accident the integral harness may have stretched and no longer be safe. There is no obvious way of checking that the harness is in its original condition.
Child safety seats are expensive items, that you will only need for a short time, but you cannot really skimp on your child’s safety.
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