August 28, 2015 Dana

What’s the difference between an infant car seat and a convertible car seat? (video!)

Every industry has its own jargon, and while you wouldn’t think that a simple-looking car seat would need so many exotic words to describe what all the parts do, there’s a lot to say about each part of the seat. In fact, the only American glossary of car seat-related terms I found actually doesn’t even include some of the high-tech features of our best seats! (And the EU uses different terms. Are you confused yet?)

Thankfully, all you need to know at this stage of your education on car seats are these three simple pieces of key vocabulary that will help you find the car seat you need. These apply to the stage of babyhood and childhood that your kid is in:

Infant Car Seat: Usable from birth up to about 30 pounds; optimized for newborns; only rear-facing.
Convertible Car Seat: Usable from birth to up to 50 inches tall; can rear-face or forward-face.
Booster seat: Used to position safety belt correctly on older children; forward-facing only.

This raises a question, of course: if a convertible seat can carry kids from birth onwards, why do you need an infant car seat? Well, you might not – but there are some good reasons why we recommend them. In this video, Eli explains some key differences between infant and convertible car seats:

The next question you might have is: which infant car seat should I get? You’ve got plenty of good choices in our selection, but the right one for you is going to depend on a lot of lifestyle elements (including what stroller you choose).

And that’s where our team comes in: matching parents with products – and not just GOOD products, but the RIGHT products for their lifestyle – is our passion. Have a look at our Car Seat Buying Guide, and then email us at questions@mbeans.com, call us at 866-600-2326, live-chat with us at mbeans.com, or sign up for a FREE consultation.