There are so many choices when it comes to buying car seats for your little ones and it's quite easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices available out there. If you have to transport your little ones by car however, it is a purchase you will no doubt have to make.

There are many reasons to buy a car seat the most obvious being the arrival of a newborn. There are however, other important reasons and arming yourself with the right information can make choosing and ultimately buying the best car seat for your child a simple and streamlined process.

You may find that your infant who used to be all but swallowed up by the rear facing car seat you originally bought has now suddenly become a toddler and is in need of something much bigger. Perhaps you just bought a car and need to buy a car seat that will work in this (now very different) back seat. Perhaps your old car seat was damaged in an accident or because of improper storage and now you need to replace it.

Whatever your reason for this all important purchase you can simply follow some basic guidelines to make the right choice for your child:

1. Familiarize yourself with the basic types of car seats:

Rear Facing - this is the first car seat your baby will travel in and are used for babies weighing between 5-40 pounds.
Front Facing - once the child outgrows the infant car seat they can usually be placed in a front facing one as long as their muscles have developed enough to enable them to support themselves sufficiently
Convertible - this type is usually designed to be used by infants and toddlers. It starts out as a rear facing car seat and then as the child grows you have the option to turn it around so it becomes a front facing car seat which can accommodate a bigger child.

2. Determine what your needs are before you make a purchase. You can quite easily go overboard when shopping for your little ones so exercise some common sense and you could save yourself a bundle. If you plan to travel by plane then a car seat bag may be a worthwhile purchase. If it's not something you do often though, it may be a waste of money. Additionally you can buy a stroller/car seat combination (often called a travel system) but be aware that you may be able to buy a stroller more to your liking for less money that you can still safely attach your infant car seat to.

3. Before you let someone sell you on the benefits of the latch system over the regular seatbelt harnessed car seats take a quick look in your car to determine if you even have that option on your seats. Not all cars are equipped the anchor points required for the latch system to work.