Child Car Seats

For parents that transport their children by car everyday, choosing the right car seat to keep your children safe is extremely important. With new rules and regulations in many states regarding child seats, it is more important than ever to ensure that your child is sitting safely and securely in all vehicles you use to transport them. Here are just a few tips to choosing child car seats.

Child car seats are usually referred to as booster seats. These seats can usually secure children that are school age and range from 45-60 pounds (depending on the seat). It should be noted that unlike infant car seats and convertible car seats, child car seats use the vehicle’s seat belt system to secure your child.

A child car seat comes in two varieties; the first is called a high back booster seat and the second is called a backless booster seat.

High Back Booster Seat

A high back booster seat includes padding for the seat and also a padding to support the back, neck and head of the child. High back booster seats are usually the seat of choice for smaller children in the range of 45-60 pounds because they offer extra support. In addition, a high back booster seat is necessary if your child will be traveling in a vehicle with no headrest or if the seat the child is sitting in has a low back. Since most of the vehicles today offer headrests, a high back booster seats is usually an optional choice.

Backless Booster Seat

According to most laws if the vehicle the child is traveling in has no headrest or a low back a backless booster seat can not be used. However, if your vehicle has these features, a backless booster seat can make it easy for you to transport your child. A backless booster seat is a seat with no back. Its main purpose is to raise the child so that the vehicle’s seatbelts fit securely and correctly. If a small child sits in a vehicle without a booster seat and wears a seatbelt. The seatbelt will probably not be against the child’s chest, but higher up against the child’s throat or neck. In an accident, a poor fitting seatbelt can cause unnecessary injury to a child.

There are many booster seats available for almost any size child. When purchasing a booster seat have the child sit in it to ensure it fits correctly. The better the fit, the more secure and safe the child will be. It should also be noted that many new cars, SUV’s and minvans include booster seats making it easy to transport children.