A popular acronym that you are going to run into when shopping around for a car seat is "LATCH." It stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, and is a development that has made the installation of car seats far more convenient for parents all over the world. In addition to the benefits of convenience, there are also safety benefits which naturally result from the ease of use. From 2003 on, LATCH has been a standard feature for cars, so you can be fairly sure that most cars on the road today will be compatible with LATCH seats. The easy way to find out is to look for two anchor hooks that are between the back and bottom seat cushions. These are the connection points for the car seat.
LATCH Encourages Convenience and Ease of Installation
The LATCH system really boils down to simply lining up the anchor points on the car seat with the hooks in between your car cushions Most of the time you can just push them together and wait to hear a "click" sound which tells you the pairing has been successful. In the pre-LATCH days, you generally had to use a seat belt threaded through a tiny slot in order to secure the seat in your car. This was always a real pain when you were in a hurry to get somewhere and you needed your child to come with. In other words, LATCH represents a huge step forward for convenience.
Increased Child Safety
The LATCH system is primarily about convenience, but there are safety benefits that result from that convenience. Since we no longer have to rely on the seat belt based solution, there's less of a chance that the child will simply unclasp the belt. This is basically impossible with the LATCH system because it's unlikely that a child will have the strength to detach heavy, metal anchor points.
