Deciding which car seat will be best for your precious cargo is a stressful decision for many parents. There’s a lot to consider, like safety ratings, finding the right size of seat for your vehicle, ease of use and installation, and comfort features, such as padding and fabric choice. And now there’s something else parents need to think about: Transport Canada’s new car seat safety regulations, which come into effect January 1, 2012*.

As of January 2012, all car seats sold in Canada must comply with new design and testing standards, which include wider and longer seats with greater weight limits. It’s a well-known fact Canadian children are getting heavier (read: “chubbier”), and current seat limits don’t account for these weight increases. The new regulations will help accommodate bigger babies and kids, and get Canada more in line with U.S. car seat standards. The new regulations mean infant seats will allow babies to stay rear-facing until they reach 10 kilograms (up from the current nine kilos), and forward-facing seats will go up to 30 kilograms (from 22 kilos currently). The new seats will also feature more padding and be widened for better comfort. Car seat testing is also getting an overhaul with bigger crash-test dummies that are more representative of the shape and size of today’s kids.

If you’re using a car seat based on current regulations, or will be shortly, don’t worry. There’s no need to replace a child seat unless it’s been in a car that has been involved in an accident (even if your child wasn’t in the seat at the time), or the seat itself has expired (Transport Canada doesn’t recommend using a car seat for more than 10 years). However, if you purchase a car seat manufactured between May 12, 2010 and December 13, 2011, it’s recommended you contact the seat’s manufacturer directly to ask if it’s compliant with the new regulations.

Visit Transport Canada for more information on the new car seat regulations, or to learn more about child safety and car seats, including installation tips.

* The original compliance date of January 1, 2011 was amended to January 1, 2012 to allow manufacturers time to design seats to meet the regulations, and allow appropriate testing.

This editorial was sponsored by Orbit Baby.  The Orbit Baby G2 Travel system complies to all upcoming restrictions.