How to choose the best car seat

I remember taking out a trial to Which? and spending hours online. I wanted to ensure we had the very best car seat for Baby Girl when she was born. But there’s so much choice and after a year she’d grown out of the seat–and we had to start this daunting process all over again.

To help parents make the best decisions for their families, I’ve asked child passenger safety technician and DionoGlobal safety advocate Allana Pinkerton for more advice on what to consider when choosing car seats for children.

Q: What are the most important safety features parents should look for when buying a car seat?

A: There are lots and many depend on the group of seat being chosen. Most of the important safety features in a seat are quite often hidden behind the fabrics and are the things hopefully parents will never need to use.

When buying a seat mums and dads should check out the way it is structured, whether it includes metal reinforcements, energy absorbing foam all around the seat to reduce the impact on the child and if it has special shaping to stop the child sliding in an accident.

Car seats don’t yet have to be tested for side impact protection (thankfully this will change in the next few years), so check out independent tests like ADAC from Germany and Which? ratings in the UK.

Quite often less focus is put on purchasing group 2/3 seats (the last ones kids will need before they reach 12 or 135cm), but these are just as vital. We highly recommend high back booster seats which provide side impact protection (and support for sleeping) unlike the booster cushions. It’s really important at this age to make sure the lap belt sits as low as possible on the hips and cannot ride higher onto the soft tummy during an accident.

No matter which car seat–infant carrier, group 1 or high back booster–once happy with the model and it’s features, it’s vital for parents to put the seat in the car to test because not all car seats fit in all cars.

Tags: Baby safety, Car journey, Car seat, Child safety, Diono, Travel