Safest Car Seats That You Never Considered

New 10 Cans of Enfamil Premium Infant 125oz
US $110.00

New 14 Cans of Enfamil Premium Infant 125oz
US $155.00

Bulk boys clothes size 00 long pants bottoms jeans trackies leggings Target baby
US $16.70

Fashion1set 2pcs bear flush baby toy Soft Puppy Child Favor Phone chain 6CM
US $.99

by Jayna Ginny

In order for any car seat to be sold in the United States, the product must pass safety ratings and crash tests.

It's not possible to determine the safest car seats based on these tests, because the manufacturers aren't required to make the test results available--and so they never will. Still, we can at least be confident that each car seat sold in the United States matches or even exceeds governmental requirements.

That's why we have Consumer Reports, which tests car seats and their effectiveness in car crashes. However, it's worth noting that scientists have often discounted these tests for reasons such as past mistakes, and also for what they see as poor parameters and poor reporting. However, Consumer Reports is still a good place to start.

Although Consumer Reports had shared its top picks over the years, remember that even the safest car seat in the world isn't going to be very safe at all if you use it improperly. If it isn't properly installed and used each and every time the child is in the car, of course it's not reliable.

Recently Consumer Reports conducted a test involving rear-facing infant car seats. This was an effort to make up for the previous year's test, which had errors. All the seats they used (eleven in total) passed crash test standards as defined by the government when secured with a seatbelt and when using the LATCH.

(LATCH is an acronym for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children.) Once again, the US' system of testing fails to gives us any idea of which were the best and worst performing models.

Consumer Reports addresses this problem by trying to identify the safest car seats. They do it by rating the car seats on Ease of Use and Fit to Vehicle. These two things will have an enormous impact on the safety of car seats.

If it doesn't fit in the car properly, it's impossible to install it safely, and the harder a car seat is to install, the more likely that someone will not have it properly and safely installed.

With these guidelines in mind, Consumer Reports determined that Chicco Key Fit was the best, safest car seat. Britax Companion came in second place.

For the Best Buys, Consumer Reports deemed Baby Trend Flex-Loc and Graco SnugRide as having the best value and features for your money.

About the Author:

Before you buy a car seat make sure to visit Car Seat Reviews to find in-depth reviews on the Best Car Seats and other Car Seat Ratings.

Bulk boys clothes size 00 long pants bottoms jeans trackies leggings Target baby
US $16.70

Fashion1set 2pcs bear flush baby toy Soft Puppy Child Favor Phone chain 6CM
US $.99