Instead of choosing a brand or style of car seat, your first decision when choosing a car seat should really be the type that is best for your child.

You are going to have to buy more than one car seat as your child gets older and bigger, but by choosing the right combination of car seats, you can likely get away with buying just two. On the other hand, if you make poorer choices, you may have to buy three or even four car seats until your child is eventually ready for regular seatbelts.

For example, consider that you could use the following two car seats for your newborn up until the time your school age child outgrows his booster seat:

1) An infant only seat with a 30-pound weight limit, which can be used in the rear-facing position for your infant and younger toddler, such as the:

• Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat Compare Prices


• Graco Infant Safe Seat Compare Prices


• Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Compare Prices

2) A combination seat that can initially be used as a forward-facing toddler car seat with a 5-point harness. Once your child is 40 pounds and at least 4 years old, you can then use your combination seat as a booster seat until your older child is 80 to 100 pounds or 57 inches tall. Examples of combination seats with these weight and height limits include the:

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• Graco Nautilus Compare Prices


• Recaro Young Sport Compare Prices


• SafeGuard GO Booster Compare Prices


• Safety 1st Apex 65 Compare Prices

Couldn't you get the same utility from a convertible car seat (used rear-facing for your newborn and infant, then forward-facing for your toddler) and a combination seat for your older child? You could, but many experts recommending starting with an infant only seat. If you were going to go that route, you could even use one of the newer 3-in-1 convertible car seats, such as the Eddie Bauer Deluxe Convertible 3-in-1 (Compare Prices), that can be used both rear-facing and forward-facing with harness straps and then as a booster seat.

If you aren't careful, you could end up needing to buy an infant only seat, a convertible car seat, and a booster seat as your child passes the weight or height limits of the car seats that you buy. The Britax Marathon convertible car seat (Compare Prices) is a very popular model, but it's weight and height limits as a booster seat are only 65 pounds and 49 inches, which most kids reach before they are ready for regular seatbelts. That means you will have to get another booster seat for your child when he outgrows his Britax Marathon seat.

For older kids, choose a car seat with high weight and height limits that is easy to use and will last your child as long as possible. Remember that the AAP states that "no one seat is the "best" or the "safest," so choose a seat that fits in your car, meets your child's height and weight requirements and is easy to install.