The safety of our child always comes first.  We want to make sure we not only have our eye on them 24/7 but we also want to make sure we make good choices for them and follow by the rules.  Once we have a baby, we need to realize how important it is to get them a child car seat.  These keep them safe while riding in the car with us, it is against the law to not have one and they are a must when we have children.

Although we know how important it is to have a car seat for our child, we also need to learn some facts about them.  Continue reading below to learn more about child car seats and the safety of them.

Car Seat Facts You Should Know:

• Infant car seats should be used rear-facing until they’ve reached the highest weight and height requirement made by the manufacturer.  It’s best to keep them rear-facing as long as possible.
• You shouldn’t turn your child forward-facing until they’ve reached at least 20 pounds AND are one year of age.
• Infant seats are usually used from birth until 22-35 lbs.
• There are 4 different kinds of car seats: infant, convertible, booster and 3-in-1.
• Rear-facing car seats better protect your baby’s head, neck and spine compared to forward-facing seats.
• LATCH stands for “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children” which eliminates the need to use seat belts to secure the child car seat to the vehicle.
• The safest place for a car seat is in the back seat in the middle.
• There are four different types of harnesses:  3-point, 5-point, overhead shield and T-shield.
• Child car seats DO expire so it is important to keep up with the technology and look out for these dates on the bottom of the seat.
• You should never buy a used car seat simply because you don’t know if they’ve ever been in a crash.
• 3 out of 4 car seats are installed improperly in some way and aren’t as safe as they should/could be.
• You can always get your car seat looked over by a fire department or police station for safety.

There is a lot to know about child’s car seats, therefore it is important to take the time to learn about them and keep up with them.  There are several great car seats on the market so be sure to look into a few of them, check out their ratings and see what they have to offer!