When done right, baby car seats are a very important purchase that although expensive can serve you and your child for almost a decade.

Based on our experience, we have collected a few basic tips to make the search for the right car seat easier and get you the best value for money.

Understand your car

Check your car’s user manual to see what sorts of child seats are supported by it. Some use the ISOFIX/LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system which are among the best. Those that use seatbelts are not as safe, but it’s still better than seating your child without a child seat. 

Make sure to scope out the LATCH positions for your car, as certain seats may have it and certain seats don’t. As a rule of thumb, it is best to not place them in the front passenger seat as the passenger airbag may be dangerous in that position.

Back seat space

Ensure that your back seat has enough space to contain the child seat that you have selected. Some child seats are large enough that they may hit the rear part of the front passenger seat when placed. 

Convertible car seats

These are seats that be installed as both rear-facing and forward-facing. They can last for a long time as they will grow with your child until she or he no longer needs to use a child seat. This will save a lot of money as time passes and they will also get comfortable with it. 

When to use Rear-facing or forward-facing 

Newborns are recommended to sit in a rear-facing position until they cross 9 kilograms of weight or the height marked on the seat. Check your child seat’s user manual for the specific recommendations for that particular model. 

Car seat troller

This is a feature that some parents might find to be worth their while. Stroller seats will allow parents to move a sleeping baby in an infant car seat without having to unlatch the 5-point system each time. 

Easy to clean

There are always going be cases when your toddler unfortunately ends up vomiting in the car due to motion sickness or other issues. It is very good if you are able to remove the car seat covers to make it easy to clean. Some car seats do not have this feature.

Choose the Right Child Seat for your Child’s age and height

Car seats are broadly divided into 3:

1. Baby car seats
2. Car seats
3. Highback booster seats

Your choice depends on your child’s age and length.

Step 1: Baby car seat: This one is for kids under 12 months of age, plus or minus a few months depending on height.

Step 2: Car seat: The next step is the Toddler car seat. According to the regulations UNr 129, children must remain rear facing for at least 15 months. Some seats in this group can go rear facing or forward facing, when the time comes.

Step 3: High back booster seats: The final step, group three, is the Highback booster seat. This is the car seat your child will use for the longest time.



Safety indicators: Some car seats come with built-in leveling systems and indicators to signal they’ve been correctly installed. (Most safety issues with car seats stem from them not be installing correctly. Here’s info on how to get a safe install.)

Reference: 6 Things to Consider when Choosing a Car Seat

Other pointers

• If your car supports ISOFIX/LATCH, go for that over seatbelt-based solutions. This is a unanimous recommendation everywhere due to incidents + anchoring to chassis/metal is simple & more reliable.
• There are a lot of models that come certified, but perform miserably (yet still pass) in crash tests. Therefore, IMO it is better to chose the models that have been crash tested by 3rd parties and are rated at the top.
• Due to the above two reasons, I dropped Luvlap and most of the other similar brands with no record.
• Note: While there is no negative crast test on Luvlap, there are no positives to be found either.
• While GRACO/Evenflo/CHICCO brands state that their seats passed 1.5x or 2x of test specifications, others just claim a pass.

Among Convertible All-in-one options in India, these were the most recommended in tests:

 • GRACO 4Ever DLX is the best pick if cost is not an issue @ INR 22.5k: almost all the systematically tested review sites and forums eventually point to this one (Chicco NextFit Zip is as good too and is recommended by TWC, but not available on Amazon right now. Unico is available on Amazon, but compared to the Unico’s Amazon pricing, the 4ever is better value for money). It’s the best of the best.

 • Evenflo Tribute LX is the runner up @ INR 7.2k: What it does have is great safety scores (has been tested way too many times because it feels to good to be true that such a basic model can beat out more sophisticated seats) + it’s very light + approved for air travel. And it features in the top 5 of almost every serious review. This seat is not as lux comfortable as the 4ever, doesn’t have a lot of the configurations either and users say that it is not comfy for newborns. It’s like the early iPhone that didn’t have half of Android’s features on paper, but still got things done reliably.

 In a nutshell:

• If you plan to use the seat everyday from newborn till age 10, get the 4ever.
• If you need a sidekick seat for weekly use + for air travel + for just 3-4 years of daily use, or a mix of all these, then the Tribute LX is great value with stellar safety. (It is rated for 10 years & 18kgs/102cm by the manufacturer)

Reference: Author’s post on “Child Seat” for Babies & Kids – Team-BHP.