Travelling by car with a child is a serious matter, so we have to take care of our child’s safety and invest in a proper car seat. What should we consider when buying it?
We should buy a child safety seat much earlier, before our baby is born. After all we will certainly travel with our baby by car and the use of child car seats is obligatory. Every child, up to the age of 12, should use a car seat while driving. Of course, the type of this accessory depends primarily on the age of our child.
However, there are situations when parents simply disregard the law and by their recklessness endanger the health and safety of their child by transporting it without a car seat. Today on the market we have a really wide range of child car seats, so we will surely find a model that will suit our child. A child car seat should be, above all, comfortable so that during a long journey a child feels good in it and does not experience discomfort resulting from staying in one position for a long time.
As we mentioned earlier, the car seat should be chosen according to the age, weight and height of the child. It must always be an accessory in an adequate size to the dimensions of the child. When we buy a baby seat for an infant, we should remember that it should be in the weight range up to 10 kg. When the baby grows, we should change the type of the seat. Keep in mind that a baby (up to 10 kg) should travel in a rear-facing car seat, and preferably also in a back seat, because it is safer in case of a possible accident.
When buying a car seat for a child, we should also take into account whether a given model will fit into our car. This is primarily about the uncomplicated attachment of this device. The model we choose must have the right finish, i.e. smooth material and softly padded interior, so that the child feels as comfortable as possible in it. Baby seats often get dirty, so they should be made of material that is easy to clean. It would be a good idea for the straps of a child car seat to be finished with a sponge or foam – thanks to this they will not pinch the child. The buckle itself should be covered by something or be located in a place that is hard to reach for the child, because if the toddler learns to unbuckle it by himself, it can be very dangerous, especially while driving.
There are lots of types of child seats. As we have already mentioned, we divide them according to the weight and age categories, but also according to the way and direction of assembly (for infants they are rear-facing). What kind of a child car seat should we buy when our baby is not an infant anymore?
Currently we distinguish five basic categories when it comes to child car seats. This classification is in accordance with the European safety certificate ECE R44. And it is based on the weight range: Group 0 – covers the weight of the child up to 10 kg (so up to about 9 months of age); Group 0+ for the weight below 13 kg (up to about 15 months); Group I – weight between 9 and 18 kg (about 8 months to 4 years of age); Group II – weight between 15 and 25 kg (about 4 – 6 years of age) and Group III – weight between 22 and 36 kg (about 6-12 years of age).
Of course, these are conventional ranges. Observing the development of our child, we ourselves will know best when we should replace the seat for him, because, for example, it has become damaged, and when to replace for a new model adapted to the weight and height of the toddler
Read also: What are the types of chairs for children and what should be taken into account when buying them?
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