Infant Car Seats Reviews

Rating and testing of infant car seats

This report covers car seats for newborns up to about 30 pounds (or up to 32 inches tall) in the rear-facing position. Infant car seats also double as carriers. They come in two parts: the car seat itself and the base unit, which stays in the car at all times. The seat itself can snap out of the base and double as a carrier, so you don't have to wake a sleeping baby. We have a separate report on convertible car seats, which can be used rear-facing for newborns or front-facing for older babies up to about 40 pounds. Convertible car seats don't double as an infant carrier, however. Also see our report on booster seats for older kids.

ConsumerReports.org is the most credible reviewer of infant car seats, since it is the only U.S. non-government source that conducts crash testing. "Baby Bargains," a popular baby-gear advice book, also has an excellent section on infant car seats. Although authors Denise and Alan Fields don't conduct their own tests, they do include thorough write-ups that take into account both professional test results and parent feedback. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the government body that's responsible for testing car seats, has detailed ease-of-use ratings for each infant car seat. We also found some useful owner-written reviews at Amazon.com, Viewpoints.com, Epinions.com and Target.com, as well as video reviews at ExpoTV.com. Parent ratings are helpful for judging factors like comfort, ease of use and everyday durability.

In March 2009, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative report about government crash testing. The crash tests were used to rate the safety of cars, not to test car seats, but 66 car seats were used in the crashes, with disturbing results that had never been publicized. In standard car seat testing, car seats are tested on a sled bench that simulates a head-on crash at 30 mph. In these tests, actual cars were crashed into a wall at 35 mph. Tribune editors noted that 31 car seats either flew off their bases or exceeded injury limits in frontal test crashes.

While this report initially sounds like a huge benefit to parents, there are too many variables to draw any sweeping conclusions. The car seats were tested on a wide variety of vehicles without any consistency. Some car seat models were tested once in a high-end vehicle, while other models (not the same actual car seat) were tested a number of times on lower priced cars that might have had lower safety standards in general. Overall, it's impossible to determine from this testing if any car seats are best or worst since the government testing did not provide apples to apples comparisons. It is sobering to note that no car seat model that was tested on multiple occasions passed every test. Tribune reporter Patricia Callahan writes: "What the newspaper unearthed calls into question the rigor of safety standards for such seats. The investigation also highlights how little information parents are armed with as they make one of the most important safety decisions for their babies."

In April 2009, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, wrote in his official blog that he had introduced some new child car seat safety actions. These include a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration recommendation for new side-impact standards as well as increased front-impact standards. The NHTSA will also ask car manufacturers to recommend specific seats in various price ranges that will work best in specific cars. "We need to constantly improve our track record and help parents to choose a child seat that fits in their vehicle," said LaHood. The recommendations will begin with the 2011 car model year. Carmakers such as Volvo and Nissan already have similar programs running in other countries.

Also in April 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children should remain in rear-facing car seats until they are at least 2 years old. According to the article, children are five times safer in rear-facing car seats than in front-facing seats up to their second birthday. Until now, safety experts have recommended the rear-facing position until your child is 1 year old. It remains to be seen whether other groups will follow the lead of the American Academy of Pediatrics and begin recommending rear-facing seats for babies 24 months and under.