Car Seats
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Choosing a car seat might be one the first major decisions you make about your baby. What color you paint the nursery might have seemed like a
stressful decision, but choosing a car seat directly impacts your child's safety, so at least for me, it sent my stress to a whole new level. Here are some guidelines and websites to help you through the process.
Choosing a Car Seat
www.aap.org
The American Academy of Pediatrics has gathered general information on carseat safety.
www.carseat.org
A fantastic site with a lot of helpful information on choosing a seat, state regulations, even how to travel by plane with your carseat.
www.epinions.com
Look under " Kids and Family", and then " Car Seats". This site is nice because you can read opinions from parents who actual own and use the seats. A seat may look pretty, and do well in a crash, but how easy is it to strap in a struggling toddler who doesn't want to leave the
playground? You can read reviews from parents who have been there. You can also get an idea of what a seat costs, and where to buy it.
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State By State Car Seat Laws
www.inventiveparent.com
Inventive parent offers a summary of car seat laws in each state, and offers link to state sites for more specific regulations. As a bonus, you can do some shopping once you are done researching a car seat. The site also offers tons of helpful products designed by parents for parents.
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Safety and Ease Of Car Seat Use
www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Each year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rates car seats on how easy they are to use. Their rating scale include how easy to understand the directions are, and how easy it is to properly secure your child. You can also find out information about car safety on this site, and keep updated on recalls and defects with car seats.
www.consumerreports.org
Consumer reports does a lot of testing on all things baby and child - everything from carseats to sippies. While
some of the information is free, some of the more useful information - like safety reviews - requires you to buy a subscription.
You can buy just a month subscription, which might be a good choice if you are researching something you plan to buy soon, like a car seat. Annual memberships are not that much more expensive, and are a good deal if you're like me, and like to overload yourself with research for everything that goes near your baby.
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Car Seat Inspection Locations
www.seatcheck.org
Find the location of the nearest car seat inspection. Trained technicians will check to make sure your seat is installed properly, that there are no recalls on the seat, and that your child is restrained properly. Tip: Get your infant seat checked while you are still pregnant. It'll be once less thing to do once your baby is here, and will give you some extra peace of mind.
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Looking for childcare?
Daycarematch is the leading online childcare directory. Click Here to begin searching for childcare.
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