Car seat safety for baby adventurers
Naturally, your first instinct is to keep your child safe. They rely on us for everything (feeding, warmth, light entertainment) but it’s not always clear what’s best. We were chatting in the office about the sheer number of cars of the roads now and started thinking about babies. Sacha has moved up the car seat bracket and Jules mentioned that she found it hard to decide what he needed. We thought others might have struggled too, so hopefully this post will make things a bit clearer!
In the UK, the weight of the child who’s going to be sat in it decides which car seat is best. All car seats have to meet EU standards (they will be marked with a capital ‘E’ on their labels.) But what kind of seat is best for your baby?
- Babies up to 13kg should travel in rear-facing baby seats
- Children from 9 to 18kg can travel in forward or rear-facing baby seats
- Children from 15 to 25kg should travel in forward-facing child car seats (booster seats)
- Children over 22kg must use booster cushions
- Children over the age of 12 years or over 135cm tall (whichever comes first) no longer require a booster seat but must use an adult seat belt
If you’d like more information, you can head to the gov.uk website or the direct.gov website.
As with anything, you should really do your research beforehand and definitely read the instructions (we can hear the groans from here!) when installing the seat. We also suggest that, as with any baby or child product, you only ever buy from a reputable manufacturer and retailer. You can get full guides on choosing and using car seats all in one place on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Child Car Seats website.
Now all you have to do is enjoy your trips out! Don’t forget to send us pictures 😉
Image: http://bit.ly/1tFTpJb