A Convertible Infant Car Seat is a Safe and Sound Purchase

A changeable infant car seat, also known as an infant-kid car seat, is one that can be used for both baby infants as well as larger toddlers. By purchasing a changeable seat, you won't have to hold two break seats in the first one to two years of your child's life. If you by now have an infant only seat for your car, purchasing an infant-kid car seat as a replacement for of a kid seat will allow you to keep your child in the rear facing position longer.

For infants, there are two basic types of seats to consider for your automobile: infant only seats and changeable infant car seats. The infant only seat only faces the rear of the car, and can generally hold an infant from 5 lbs to 22 lbs (depending on the seat manufacturer). These rear facing car seats are generally lighter than the infant-kid seats, and many of them attach to a base that stays in the car, allowing you to carry your infant in them. The changeable seat can stay in the rear facing position from about 5 lbs to 32 lbs (depending on the seat manufacturer). It is recommended that infants stay in this position until they are at least 20 lbs and a year ancient, but it is better for the infant to stay in this position as long as the seat manufacturer limits aren't exceeded. So, with a changeable infant car seat, your infant can stay in the rear facing position much longer.

For toddlers, there are also two basic types of seats to consider: kid only seats and changeable infant car seats. Kid car seats are forward facing seats, and can be used when your infant is older than 1 year and over 20 lbs. Although these are safe for your young kid, it would be best to keep them in the rear facing position as long as possible (lacking going over manufacturer weight limits). A changeable infant car seat can be converted from a rear facing seat to a forward facing seat when your child becomes heavier. With these changeable infant seats, you can generally keep your infant in the safer, rear facing position longer.

Even if you hold an infant only seat, you will need to get a second seat once your infant gains weight. You can hold a forward facing kid seat, or you can hold a changeable infant car seat. Purchasing a changeable seat will allow you to keep your infant in the safer rear facing position longer (generally about an extra 10 lbs), but still allow you to have the forward facing seat. There are now even some changeable infant car seats that have a booster seat attachment, so you can use the same seat from 5 lbs all the way up to 80 lbs.

Author: Daniel Wegner
Condition Source: EzineArticles.com