Best Way to Use Car Safety Seats
Facing with the fact that a large number of young children are killed or seriously injured in car crashes, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2005 recommends some ways of using car safety seats and seat belts in order to prevent your child from these tragedies.
Remember these basic things:
No one seat is the "best" or "safest".
Price doesn’t matter, but fitness to the size of your child and your car does.
Always use a car safety seat, starting with your baby’s first ride home from the hospital.
The safest place for all children to ride is in the back seat.
All infants should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
It is best for your child to ride rear-facing until he reaches the highest weight and height limits allowed by the car safety seat.
The article also talks about the best way of using infant-only seats, convertible seats, forward-facing seats, booster seats. As seat belts are made for adults, it is best for children to use booster seats until they reach about 4′9" in height and are between 8 to 12 years of age.
Wish you all have safe and sound travel.