Home  |  Health & Fitness  |  Children's Health  | 

Keeping your Infant Safe

What kind of car seat should I get for my baby?

To properly view this site, javascript must be enabled and Flash version 9 or higher must be installed.
Get the latest Flash player
Dr. Ann Kellams
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Virginia

Dr. Ann Lenox Kellams, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics and medical director of the newborn nursery at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, is an expert in newborn care and breastfeeding. Kellams teaches pediatric clinical skills to students and residents and authored the Newborn Nursery Resident and Student Curriculum and Orientation Manual for UVA Children’s Hospital. Kellams serves her surrounding community by being a mentor for the African American Student Mentorship Program, by serving on the Virginia Breastfeeding Advisory Committee and by hosting various community education workshops on newborn and infant care. She received the Outstanding Graduate Designation from her alma mater, the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

What kind of car seat should I get for my baby?

In this video Dr. Ann Kellams discuss the many issues surrounding how to properly care for a newborn baby.

This expert: 68,539 views

This series: 8,945 views

Download to Mobile Device
Tags:

Baby

,

Infant

,

Newborn

,

Women

,

Health

,

Safety

,

Care

,

Pediatrics

Comments:

0 (Read Comments) (Add Comment)

Print

Transcripts

Dr. Ann Kellams: Hi, I am Dr. Ann Kellams with the University of Virginia Health System. I am a Pediatrician and we are going to talk about how to keep your baby safe.

Host: What kind of car seat should I get for my baby?

Dr. Ann Kellams: There are many, many car seats on the market. The general recommendations are that it be a relatively new car seat, so purchased within the past three years because the different models change. They keep up with being current. You don't want to have a used car seat that's ever been in an accident, because there is a concern that things could have shifted such that it could somehow be not safe for the baby. Infants and newborns should be rear facing and we generally recommend putting the car seat in the middle of the backseat. They should never be in the front seat if there is an air bag and that vehicle. So generally, backseat in the middle is best and rear facing for that entire first year of life and until, they are 20 pounds. So, both of those criteria have to be matched. So if you have a baby that's one year of age and still weighs 16 pounds, they are still facing backwards in that infant car seat. If you have a baby that's 20 pounds when they are six months old then it's time to switch to one of the convertible car seats that can hold a 20 pounder facing backwards in the car until that first birthday.

Other Videos