How to choose the best infant car seat

• By admin
• 14/12/2013
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How to choose the best Infant Car seat.

Car seats are an essential piece of child safety equipment. The best car seat is one that fits your child, fits your car(s) and is easy to install and to use. Here are some useful tips and recommendations to help you decide.

The lowdown on car safety seats

Unless you plan to walk home from the hospital, you’ll need a car seat from day one. New Zealand law states that your child must be properly restrained in a car seat, usually until he’s at least 7 years old. In a recent law change in 2013, children are required to be in a child restraints till the reach a height of 148cm.

What to keep in mind.

Never buy a child car seat that is too big, make sure it is appropriate for your child’s height or weight from the first day of use. The appropriate category is stated on the orange ECE approval (in European Safety standards) often placed at the bottom of the car seat.

It is safest to buy a car seat to suit your child’s weight as they grow, rather than buy a car seat that covers the whole weight range (using the same car seat from birth to 3½ years, or longer).

It is not just the age of your child that matters, you have to consider their height and weight and which seat provides the most secure fitn in your car. Whether your baby (or child) will be taking long or short journeys and if you will need to transfer your child car seat from one car to another.

How would you know when to change to the next stage car seat?

We recommend that you wait as long as possible to change a baby to a toddler car seat. If your child has outgrown their capsule, we recommend opting for a rear-facing car seat. As babies are best protected travelling in rear-facing direction. This way, in case of an accident, the energy of the impact is absorbed and distributed by the seat shell and your car seat belt.

Plunket recommends that a child stays rear facing till the age of one (where possible)

Why is it important for a baby to stay Rear-Facing?

There are many reasons, but the most important has to do with your child’s anatomy. A child’s head is about 1/3 of their total body weight. By comparison, an adult’s head is about 6% of their total body weight. A child’s spine also does not fully ossify (or harden) until about age 4, nor do their vertebrae do not fuse until about this age. So their heavy head combined with a weak spine are a recipe for disaster in a car crash.