One of the most important jobs you have as a parent is keeping your child safe when driving in a vehicle. Each year thousands of young children are killed or injured in car crashes. Proper use of car safety seats helps keep children safe. But with so many different car seats on the market, it’s no wonder parents find this overwhelming.

Quick Links:

• Infants (0-13kg)
• Toddlers (9-18kg
• School-aged Children (15 – 36kg)
• Tips for shopping for car seats
• What you should know about air bags

The type of car seat your child needs depends on several things, including your child’s size (height and weight) and type of vehicle you have. Here is some advice on choosing the right seat for your child.

Infants (0-13kg) | Back to top
The best position for infants is rear-facing and should remain in this position until they reach the maximum weight or height   allowed by the car seat manufacturer. This is normally 9-13kg or until the infant’s head is rising above the head rest. The infant should also be able to hold themselves up confidently and ideally be over 8 months. Some experts advise a minimum of 1 year rearwards facing.
Don’t worry if your child’s legs are longer than the car seat – this is completely normal and does not indicate your child is too big for the seat – a broken leg is much easier to mend than a broken back!

Most infant carriers are from 0-13kg but there are car seats available that take a newborn up to 18kg. With this type of seat, the infant will stay in the rearwards position until they reach 9kg then the seat is turned round and the child is forward facing, remaining in the seat until a minimum of 15kg. These seats are ideal for bigger babies. Many parents move their babies from infant carriers to this type of seat if the child is too long for the carrier but has not yet reached the required weight to move up.

Toddlers (9-18kg) | Back to top
From 9kg upwards, your child is able to sit in a forward facing car seat. However, it is safest to keep them rearwards facing for as long as possible – this is the best position for them!
At this stage your child will still be using a harness and either the seat belt or isofix bars will be holding the child seat in.

Although this stage of car seat does up to 18kg , the child can move up to the next stage at 15kg. This is usually when the child is getting too tall for the chair, when the harness is sitting below the child’s shoulder or if their ears have reached the top of the seat. The harness straps should be at, or just above, the child’s shoulders.

Remember the next stage is just a booster and has no harness holding the child in, it is purely the seat belt they will be using at this stage so it is sensible to ensure your child has outgrown their current car seat.

Like the last stage, there are seats which will suit more than one stage. The majority of these seats do from 9kg to 36kg (stage 1/2/3) but there are a couple which do from 9kg to 25kg (stage 2/3). With this type of car seat, the harness is used up to 15-18kg, then removed. The child is then strapped in with the seat belt, and the chair is used as a high-backed booster.

School-aged Children (15 – 36kg) | Back to top
At this stage the child will be moving into a booster seat – either a high-backed booster or a backless booster. Booster seats are designed to raise the child up so that the lap and shoulder seat belts fit properly. They do not come with harness straps but are used with the lap and shoulder seat belts in your vehicle, the same way an adult rides.
The obvious difference between the two types of booster is that one has a back and head rest and the other is completely backless. The high-backed variety normally come with side impact protection and often split so can be used as a backless booster later on. Backless boosters are usually less expensive and are easier to move from vehicle to vehicle. They can be safely used in vehicles with headrests and high seat backs.

Tips for shopping for car seats | Back to top

• No one seat is the “best” or “safest”. The best seat is the one that fits your child’s age and size, is correctly installed, fits well in your vehicle, and can be used properly every time you drive.
• Don’t decide by price alone. A higher price doesn’t mean the seat is safer or easier to use.
• If buying your car seat online, check if the seat is compatible  your car – Britax and Maxi-Cosi offer an online fitting list.
• It is advisable that you get any car seat you intend to purchase, tried in your car before you buy it.

What you should know about air bags | Back to top
All new cars come with front air bags. When used with seat belts, airbags work very well to protect teenagers and adults. However, air bags can be very dangerous to children, particularly to those riding in rear-facing car safety seats and to child passengers who are not properly positioned. If your vehicle has a front passenger air bag, infants in rear-facing seats must ride in the back seat. Even in a relatively low-speed crash, the air bag can inflate, strike the car safety seat, and cause serious brain and neck injury and death.

Vehicles with no back seat or a back seat that is not made for passengers are not the best choice for travelling with small children. However, the air bag can be turned off in some of these vehicles if the front seat is needed for a child passenger. See your vehicle’s manual for more information.