Choosing the Right Baby Car Seat - A Checklist

When considering the purchase of a car seat for your child there are many factors to consider, such as price, design, warranty and safety ratings. These points are often well covered by the manufacturers and retailers in the literature. However, we included some additional factors under which many parents do not take into account (until its too late!) In addition, make sure you know how to fit a baby car seat properly before buying.

Ease of removal and installation of

• how difficult it is based? many places to weigh more than 25 pounds, it can be difficult to maneuver the car and hard to adjust to a snug fit inside.
  
• Is it possible to easily remove / fit the seat without straining? Sometimes a combination of the size of seats and narrow door openings on smaller cars, it can be very disadvantageous position on the seat correctly
  
• the headrest / backrest / tensioning system is easy to adjust? Do you constantly refer to the manual for every little adjustment is needed, or all adjustments intuitive and easy?
  
• Is it easy to quickly get a good fit? Is it hard to fit snugly seat with respect to the shape / size of the rear seats, some cars have a very tight spot, which makes it difficult to fit a baby seat without fouling the seat belt buckles and fittings. If you have 3 children who all require baby seats - you can fit three across the back benches? Many cars can not.

Ease of use

• the tape is easy to loosen / tighten? If you adjust the straps each time to ensure proper fit (as you do), this is a simple and straightforward to do, and frustrating, difficult and uncomfortable?
  
• Is it easy to place the child in the seat comfortable? Some baby seats have substantial side airbag protection - which is great! However, it can be difficult - depending on model cars - for a child to maneuver around these side supports, and blend them into the seat without tires!
  
• Are there any additional features such as the convenience of one-hand strap adjustment? The best seats are filled with modern features like this, and worth paying extra for. Imagine the rain is pouring down, you are laden with shopping, the late (as usual) and you have to spend 5 minutes getting soaked to the skin, a baby was screaming like tinkering with the car seat accessories!
  
• Can you set back from sleeping / sitting positions smoothly (so as not to wake your child!) Well baby car seats have a smooth damped adjustment mechanism allowing you to adjust the seat without disturbing baby.

cleaning

• the fabric color show any grubby finger mark? We all know that the seat will get dirty - with small children it is impossible to avoid! So, you want to choose a place that does not appear every now and see the grubby marks almost immediately.
  
• Can you remove the cloth and wash in the washing machine? (great feature). Better seats will have that option, and it makes life easier.
  
• Does the manual gives clear instructions on cleaning? On many seats you pay extra for luxury fabric designs such as Disney characters. You know exactly how to clean seats to avoid the destruction of the fabric.