car seat shopping

Car seats have been the most dreaded purchase on my mind from the beginning. I think more so than even picking our midwife. They are such a vital piece of safety equipment and there are many options out there. Picking the right one can be a little intimidating. Going into a blind decision my reliable source is consumerreports.org.

However, learning a little something from unbiased sources is my preferred method.

I luckily got a little hand holding and education the other night with a twitter party hosted by @IBPAbabyplanner and @JPMA.

Via the party there were a number of great free links that included how to choose a seat and use it properly, carseatdata.org, car seat info on safekids.org, where to get your installed seat checked for safety before you use it, and car seat recalls.

I also learned great things like:

• Check your car owner’s manual for what seats will work.
• Some places you buy car seats from will let you try out the seat in your car before you buy.
• The child needs to be at least 1″ below the top of the seat for it to work.

Armed with all kinds of knowledge my husband and I took our bounty of gift certificates to Target today to look at car seats.

We did not make a purchase today but looked at many details of these seats. One funny things was the Evenflo Symphony 65 where the rear-facing weight-capacity was listed as 35 pounds on the Target price sign and the car seat box, however the warning label on the seat listed the rear-facing weight limit as 20 pounds. I tried to call the Evenflo customer line while in the store but that line is only open Monday through Friday. We have a list of seats we really liked but wanted to come home and check out customer reviews and a few other sites regarding each of these seats.

We’ll get a seat soon and then have it checked out by a safety inspector. After all, this is such an important purchase.