Car seats aren’t just a tool for transporting our babies conveniently from one place to another. They’re essential for the day-to-day safety and protection of your child. The reality is that motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of accidental death in children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This has a lot of parents worried and rightfully looking to keep their kids as safe as possible with the “best” car seats available.
It’s true that properly used car seats can significantly decrease the risk of crash-related injury and death in children it can reduce the risk of fatalities by up to 71% according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). But, is one car seat safer than the other? That’s a question we’re going to explore today regarding convertible car seats (where your child will spend most of their car seat journey).
Here’s what you need to know about car seat safety:
How Do You Know What the Safest Convertible Car Seat Is?
Here’s the thing: all car seats are crash-tested and meet the same high standards for safety. This is required by law! Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213 lays out the standards the car seat manufacturers must meet before their products can go on the market. So, this means that any car seat you buy has passed these standards, whether it’s the most budget-friendly or the most expensive option. There’s no need to have any mom guilt either way!
That being said, there IS a big factor that can make or break your car seat’s safety: correct car installation and use. For your car seat to effectively keep your baby safe as intended, you MUST install the seat correctly and harness the child correctly every time. Additionally, you must use the correct seat for your child’s age and size. Many kids stay in the infant car seats too long or move out of the booster seats too fast, putting children at increased risk of injury or death.
To maintain your car seat’s safety, double-check that you’re not making any common car seat mistakes. You need to:
- Have your child in the correct type of seat for their age and size
- Be using the correct car seat installation method for your child’s weight
- Have the chest clip positioned at the armpits
- Have the car seat in the rear-facing position until they reach the max height, weight, or head height limit
- Set the harness height (below the shoulders for rear-facing or above for forward-facing)
- Set the recline position according to the manual
- Tighten the straps each time to pass the pinch test
- Be using the top tether or rear-facing tether when instructed by the car seat manual
Are There Advanced Safety Features for Some Car Seats?
Though all car seats pass the same tests and meet the same requirements, some car seats manufactured and sold go above and beyond the minimum criteria and offer advanced safety features. These safety features can potentially further decrease your child’s risk of injury or death in a collision. Here are some of the top advanced safety features you may be interested in looking for when shopping for a convertible car seat:
anti-rebound bar (ARB)
You may be asking yourself: what really happens in a collision? When a crash occurs, the car seat will move forward, towards the front of the vehicle, and rotate downward. As we all know from high school physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction — so after that initial movement, the car seat will rebound or “bounce back” towards the backrest of the vehicle seat. The ARB minimizes this bounce-back effect, helping limit the car seat movement and your child inside it!
load leg
Load legs also prevent movement! They brace the car seat against the vehicle floor to limit it from moving forward. The load leg absorbs a lot of the crash forces during the initial movement toward the front of the vehicle, which in turn reduces the rebound.
rear-facing tether
Rear-racing tethers act similarly to a load leg, helping to prevent the amount of movement in a crash.
Rigid Latch System
We’ve discussed how important the right installation is for car seat safety. There are actually two installation methods with car seats: LATCH or seat belt. The LATCH system provides ease of installation for kids under a certain weight! Rigid Latch (as opposed to flexible LATCH), helps make your car seat more secure and stable to further prevent movement in any kind of impact.
Extended Rear-Facing Capabilities
Keeping your child rear-facing as long as possible is the safest option. It protects your child from many of the dangerous movements that happen in a crash. However, many car seats cap out at 40 lbs. However, there are car seats out there that allow extended rear-facing up to 50+ pounds! This will enable you to keep your child in that more favorable position longer.
SensorSafe
SensorSafe is like a car seat monitor. It’s a special clip that’s connected to an app on your phone that alerts you of things like you left your child in the car, the car has reached unsafe temperatures, your child unbuckled their chest clip, or your child has been in their car seat for too long. It’s a great extra safety tool to keep your baby safe in their seat. You will find this feature on some Cybex and Evenflo seats.
What Is A Convertible Car Seat?
A convertible car seat is a type of car seat that can be used for multiple car seat stages. These seats can, at minimum, be both a rear-facing five-point harness seat and a front-facing five-point harness seat. However, some car seats go even further and can be high-back and possibly backless booster seats.
These are great because they can be used for years, making them a cost-effective, long-term solution to your car seat needs. You could even use a convertible car seat from birth if you choose one that fits newborns well (not all do, despite saying they fit from 4 or 5 pounds). For more information, here’s how to choose a convertible car seat.
What Are The Safest Convertible Car Seats?
As we mentioned, all car seats are safe! However, below, we’ve listed some car seats that offer the advanced safety features previously mentioned.
Babyark Premium
Babyark comes with a lot of advanced safety features. The seat is built from carbon fiber and a special shock-absorbing polymer. The special smart base includes a Rigid Latch, a load leg, and an anti-rebound bar. It also includes a sensor similar to SensorSafe that alerts you if the child is forgotten in the car. There’s even an app that guides you through putting the car seat in so everything installs correctly!
Cybex Sirona S
The Cybex Sirona S is a rotating car seat option with advanced safety features like an anti-rebound bar, a load leg, and the SensorSafe chest clip. The seat also includes an “EasyLock Bar” that makes installation more secure and prevents movement in a crash. You can also rear-face up to 50 lbs in this seat!
Joie Chili Spin 360
Here’s another rotating car seat option! It includes an anti-rebound bar and a belt tensioner to achieve a more stable installation. This seat only allows rear-facing up to 40 lbs, but this is a convertible car seat that fits newborns well!
Nuna Exec
The Nuna Exec is a great option for extended rear-facing. Not only does it allow for this stage for up to 50 lbs, but it also has an anti-rebound bar for added safety. When you turn the seat forward-facing, the anti-rebound bar becomes a leg rest!
Clek Fllo
Clek Fllo is a steel-reinforced convertible car seat that allows for extended rear-facing up to 50 lbs. It has an anti-rebound bar, too! You can buy a rear-facing tether called Q-tether if you are interested in that additional safety feature. This convertible car seat is also a good choice if you want to use it from birth since it has an excellent newborn fit if you buy the infant-thingy insert, which is sold separately.
Clek Foonf
The Clek Foonf is another convertible seat on this list that fits well from birth (with the sold-separately insert named infant-thingy) and allows rear-facing up to 50 lbs. For other advanced safety features, the Foonf includes an anti-rebound bar and a rear-facing tether (called q-tether) that can be bought separately. It also has a Rigid Latch system for forward-facing.
Britax Poplar S
This convertible car seat has an anti-rebound bar and a steel-reinforced frame. You can rear-face successfully in this car seat up to 50 lbs, but it’s not always a great fit for newborns. But, it can be a great seat to graduate into after you’re done with the infant car seat stage or when the baby is a few months old.
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Convertible Kinetic
This Peg Perego seat includes an anti-rebound bar.It allows for extended rear-facing up to 45 lbs, and that includes extended leg room for a comfortable long-term rear-facing position!
Evenflo Revolve Extend Gold
We have many rotating car seats on this list. Here’s another one! This one is great to use from birth and fits up to 50 pounds rear-facing. It has an anti-rebound bar and a “LockStrong” Arm that confirms the tightest install possible. The base has a tether that’s used in both rear-facing mode and front-facing mode, which makes it easy to use with different-sized children. That’s a lot of great features, but that’s not all. The Evenflo Revolve Extend Gold also has SensorSafe!
Nuna Revv
The Nuna Revv is a good choice if you plan to skip the infant car seat stage and go straight to the convertible car seat stage. It fits newborns very well! It’s also a rotating car seat that includes an anti-rebound bar. There’s also a belt tensioner for that tight install! The drawback to this seat is that the maximum limits are 40 pounds or 43.” Because of this, your child will need another harnessed seat once this one is outgrown.
Graco True3Fit LX with anti-rebound bar
This last convertible car seat also has an anti-rebound bar! It’s an excellent choice if you need to fit three across, but it does not fit newborns well.
Are Convertible Car Seat Worth It and Required for All Kid?
Yes, the convertible car seat stage is essential for every child! After the infant car seat stage, this is the next step until they max out all the requirements. Your child will likely spend the most time in this car seat stage, so it’s important to get a seat that fits your lifestyle, budget, vehicle, and safety standards! To help you make the right choice, take our car seat quiz that pairs you with the perfect car seat for your child!
If you need a more in-depth look at the seat buying process, try our convertible car seat buying kit that walks you through every detail of the purchasing process! And, once you have a seat, make sure you read your manual so that you install and use it properly! If you need help, you can book a consultation with one of our Child Passenger Safety Technicians to ensure everything is installed correctly. Peace of mind is everything when it comes to your kids!
For more on the different car seat stages, here are the 5 types of car seats and when you should use them!
All car seats are safe when installed and used properly.
Buying a car seat is no small undertaking, nor should it be! It’s the most important safety gear you’ll buy for your child, so it needs to be something that’s going to provide the peace of mind you’re looking for.
Research these advanced safety features, decide which ones are important to you, and then choose a car seat that fits your budget, vehicle, and lifestyle! You won’t regret finding the perfect seat for your family before buying!
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