When it comes to buying a car seat for their child, many people wonder which baby car seats are best or which baby car seats are safest etc. Below is a guide of the best types of car seats for your child depending on their age, weight and height. When buying a car seat for your child, make sure the seat you buy is up to the current safety standards.

Rear facing baby car seat: Child car seats 0 group is suitable for babies who weigh up to 10kgs which is roughly from birth up to 6-9 months. Baby car seats 9 months as a rough age maximum are also known as newborn car seats could also be group 0+ which is suitable for babies up to 13kg roughly from birth to 12-15 months. This type of seat is safest fitting it to the rear of the car, newborn babies and young children could be injured if they are sitting in the front seat if the passenger airbag was to go off. It is advised to keep your child in a rear facing seat for as long as possible as this type of seat has better protection for your child’s head, neck and back. This is because in the event of a crash it is the seat stopping the baby rather than the belt. A belt would put too much pressure on any one part of your baby’s body. In the rear facing position the force of the crash is distributed down the whole head, neck and back of your baby which puts less pressure on any one part of their body. Only move them into a forward facing position seat once they become too heavy for their rear facing seat or if the top of their head is higher than the top of the seat.

Forward facing baby car seats: Group 1 which is suitable for children roughly from 9 months up to the age of 4 years old and who weigh 9-18kgs. Baby car seats 9 months up to 4 years old are for children who have outgrown a rear facing baby car seat. You are best to buy forward facing baby car seats which have integrated harnesses as those help to reduce the risk of an injury much more than an adult seat belt would for a child of this size. The bottom attachment between the legs will also prevent your child from sliding out of the seat. Forward facing baby car seats can be used in either the front or rear of the car but it is advised to use it in the rear of the car especially if the front seat has a passenger airbag. It is safest to keep your child in child car seats front facing until they have exceeded the weight limit or if the top of their head is higher than the top of the seat.

Booster seats/booster cushions: Group 2 which is suitable for children who weigh 15-25kgs roughly 4 to 6 years of age. Group 3 which are suitable for children who weigh 22-36kgs roughly 6 to 11 years of age. Child booster car seat are no longer produced for just group 2 and just group 3. Modern booster seats have been designed to suit children who weigh between 15 and 36kgs. Some booster cushions are approved for groups 2 and 3 but some are only approved for just group 3 alone. Make sure your child is within the correct weight range for any booster seat or booster cushion before buying and using one. Some top rated booster seats can be converted into a booster seat cushion by removing the back rest of the seat. Always refer to the manufacturer’s instruction manual before removing the back rest, to find out about when and how you can do this. Booster seats and booster cushions do not have an integrated harness to hold the child in the seat. Your child needs to use an adult seat belt whilst using those types of seats. Always make sure when strapping your child into this type of seat, that the belt is worn as tight as possible to hold your child in place. Also ensure that the diagonal strap of the belt sits across the shoulder and not the neck, and that the lap part of the belt sits across the pelvic region and not the stomach. This will help to prevent your child from injury in the event of a car crash. Booster seats with backs should help provide a better fit for the seat belt and ones which also have side wings will help to prevent injury to a child’s head in a side impact crash. The height of the side wings on many seats can be adjusted as the child grows. Booster seats and cushions can be used in either the front or rear seats of the car, although it is a lot safer to put them in the rear of the car, especially if the front seat has a passenger airbag.

You can also buy front facing adjustable car seats which can last several years for your childs use. There are now a lot of adjustable car seats for sale which are now available to buy.