Car seats that ensure baby on board is snug and safe

As soon as expectant parents go public with their big news, the baby gear bonanza begins: cribs that transform into toddler beds, self-folding strollers that charge cellphones and the millions of smaller-ticket items, like the $15 Swedish-designed contraption that does a superior job of clearing out your baby’s nose. (It really does).
But there is one essential piece of gear that even many hospitals won’t let newborns leave without: a car seat.

Beyoncé’s daughter had been spotted around town in the Orbit Baby infant car seat, which retails for about $440 — paparazzi shield included. But my cab-hailing toddler occasionally uses a $44 seat, the Cosco Scenera Next, manufactured and packaged in 10 minutes on an assembly line in Indiana.
Many parents may be willing to spend more in the name of safety, especially in a world where defective ignition switches and exploding air bags manage to escape the attention of safety regulators for far too long.

Not necessarily.
Car seats need to meet federal safety standards, but nearly half of all car seats are not installed properly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which could lessen their effectiveness. Other studies put the misuse rate much higher.
“A seat is only as safe as how well it is used,” said Alisa Baer, a pediatrician who has installed more than 10,000 car seats and is one of the certified child car safety experts behind the Car Seat Lady, an advocacy group. “Anytime something is easier, there is a greater chance you will be using it properly.”


The lingo

• All seats can be secured using a seatbelt or the LATCH system (which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children), essentially a set of metal clips buried in the back-seat cushions and a top tether, the position of which depends on the car.
• Regardless of which seat or installation method you choose, children up to 2 years old should be seated rear-facing (that is, looking at the back seat), which is the safest position possible. It’s strongly suggested they continue to ride that way until they are too tall or heavy for that style of seat.

The seats

• There are generally three broad categories: infant seats, convertible seats (which can be rear- or forward-facing) and boosters, for older children. Many parents choose rear-facing infant car seats, which typically last until the child is 6 to 15 months old, on average, according to the Car Seat Lady. These seats are convenient because they can also serve as a baby carrier, albeit an unwieldy one. They can snap into a base installed into the car, as well as into a stroller frame. Convertible seats, which typically last until the child is 4 to 6 years old, are heavier and generally far less portable.
• By the time those seats are well-worn, children graduate to the booster, which many states require until the children are 6 or 8 years old. But Baer said that it was safest to use them far longer, or until the seatbelt fits the child properly without a booster, typically when they are 10 to 12.
• There are also “all in one” seats that are designed to work from birth to booster.

“What we find is the more the seat tries to do, the less good it does at each role,” said Jennifer Stockburger, the director of operations at Consumer Reports national automotive test center and head of its car seat testing program.

Ease-of-use features

• Several items can make the seat less of a hassle to install and use, although they may add a bit to the cost. Depending on how many features you want, prices can range from $100 to much more.
• Some seats have separate straps for each half of the body, which makes it less likely the straps will twirl or become uneven, which can be dangerous in a crash.

“More expensive seats often, but not always, have separate straps,” Baer said.

• As your child grows, you’ll also need to adjust the shoulder strap height. Some seats require you to pull the straps out and rethread them through the seat, while others are much simpler (look for a “no rethread” harness).
• Other features make the seat installation less laborious. Push-on LATCH connectors (as opposed to a less expensive hook) are easier to attach to the vehicle’s metal anchor and disconnect with the push of a button.

Safety features

• All seats must meet strict federal safety standards, which, among other things, include passing a frontal crash test in a lab at 30 mph.
• Baer said a few features that enhanced safety, such as seats with “rigid LATCH” systems, which leave less room for error during installation. (Examples include the Nuna Pipa seat base or the Clek Foonf, when forward-facing only.)
• There’s also something called a “load leg,” a metal bar that comes down from the bottom of the child’s seat and rests on the floor.

“This significantly decreases the forces on the head and neck during a crash,” Baer said. “That doesn’t mean seats without it are dangerous. These are just some features that you can buy that enhance safety.”

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