Choosing and Using a Car Seat for Your Child

You’ll want to make sure that your children are as safe as possible in the car, which means choosing a car seat suitable for your car and the child’s age/size, fitting the seat properly in the car, and making sure the child is strapped in correctly for every journey.

You will need to know how much your child weighs before you can buy a child seat because this is the main factor that defines the different groups of child seat available and the children they are suitable for.

There are lots of things to take into account when you are choosing a child seat:

• Safety—is the seat suitable for your child and compatible with your car?

• Price—aim to buy the best seat you can afford taking account of independent test, results and reviews.

• Usability—are the instructions clear, can you fit and adjust the seat easily, is your child comfortable in the seat and can the covers be removed/refitted easily after cleaning?

Fitting tips

• The diagonal part of the belt should lie across the child’s shoulder, not the neck.

• The lap part of the belt should lie across the top of the child’s thighs, not around the abdomen.

• Belts should lie flat. Avoid twists, which can increase injuries in a crash.

• Never pass the diagonal part of the belt under the child’s arm.

• Static rather than inertia reel (automatic) seat belts must be used for children under three years (ie at the lower end of the weight range.