Have you decided to buy a child car seat? But what should you look for when choosing a child car seat? And which company is the best manufacturer of child car seats?
The most important thing when choosing a child car seat is the safety of our children! In order not to buy a new one every couple of months, experts recommend renting a car seat, as children grow up quickly. Learn more about choosing a child car seat.
Car seat safety standards
A child car seat must comply with the European Safety Standard. To do this, the child car seat must have an icon (it shows compliance with the European Safety Standard): ECE R44/04. The icon must be orange (in the circle after the letter "E" is the code of the country that certified the child car seat, in particular: 1 - Germany, 2 - France, 3 - Italy, 4 - the Netherlands).
Segmentation groups of car seats
The child car seat must be suitable for your child's weight. As a rule, all child car seats are divided into 5 main groups:
- Group 0 child weight up to 10 kg approximate age of the child up to 9 months.
- Group 0 - child weight up to 13 kg - approximate age of the child up to 18 months.
- Group 1 - weight of the child up to 9-18 kg - approximate age of the child from 9 months to 4 years.
- Group 2 - child's weight up to 15-25 kg - approximate age of the child is from 3 to 7 years.
- Group 3 - child weight up to 22-36 kg, approximate age of the child is 6 to 12 years.
Attaching and installing the car seat
It is also very important that the child car seat fits the mounting points in your car. Many modern cars are equipped with so-called ISOfix anchors. These are special metal brackets in the back seat that make it quicker and easier to attach child car seats. However, compared to attaching the seat with standard inertial belts, this does not provide any advantages in terms of passive safety.
Child safety seats are usually installed in the rear seat. In the event of an accident, the rear passengers are less at risk, and the load at the rear is less. If it is necessary to install a child car seat in the front seat, it is imperative to disconnect the front passenger airbag (if any), because the airbag can cause serious injuries to the child when it deploys.
Which is the best child car seat manufacturer?
As for the manufacturer, the main difference is in the brand recognition of the company and in the additional features that are present in child car seats. Some models of child car seats have additional features that make the child's trip more comfortable. For example:
- some child car seats can be adjusted in width to fit the width of the seat sidewalls (to fit winter clothing);
- there are also child car seats with a swivel mechanism, for the convenience of putting the child in the car, the seat rotates 90 degrees in both directions (relative to the base);
- in some models of child car seats there are additional headrests, additional modes for rest, etc.).
Child car seat models without additional features are very reliable and also meet all safety standards.
Conclusion
To summarize: if you often travel with your child and spend a lot of time on the road, then some additional features in child car seats will come in handy and help make a long trip more comfortable for your child. But if your trips don't take a lot of time on the road and you rarely travel outside the city, then you don't need to buy a child car seat with additional features.
The most important thing to remember is that all child car seat manufacturers that are represented in the Kachelka service constantly conduct crash tests of their models, and all their products comply with European safety standards!
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