As a description, it sounds so draconian, but a ‘child restraint’ could save your son or daughter’s life. A child restraint is simply the blanket term assigned to baby seats, child seats, boosters seats and booster cushions. Unlike three point adult seatbelts, child restraints are designed specifically with children in mind. They’re designed to offer the same crash protection to children as seatbelts afford adults.
Anatomically, small children are quite different from adults. Their internal organs aren’t in the same places as our internal organs and their bodies are still in a state of rapid development. In the event of a crash, a standard adult seatbelt distributes the force of the impact evenly around the three strongest parts of the adult body – but children’s bodies are quite different. Any child wearing an adult seatbelt can sustain serious injuries to soft tissue and internal organs that may be more severe than the impact of the crash itself. And that’s what the Child Car Seat Regulations of 2006 were designed to eradicate.
Child restraints are available in five types, each designed to fit the needs of a different age and weight range:
Group 0 and Group 0+
Rear facing baby seats designed for weights up to 10kg and 13kg respectively (that’s up to 12 months of age).
Group 1
Forward facing child seats; these are intended for weights of 9kg up to 18kg (that’s up to four years of age).
Group 2
Booster seats. Booster seats are designed for weight ranges of 15kg up to 25kg and 15kg up to 36kg (that’s up to six years of age).
Group 3
Booster cushions. Booster cushions are designed to elevate smaller children up to the required height and cover weight ranges from 22kg up to 36kg
Remember child restraints are required by law until your child reaches twelve years of age or 4ft 5in (135cm) in height.
Because they’re designed to reflect children’s weight (as much as age) child restraints offer the best possible protection to children. When buying your baby seat, booster seat or child seat, you’ll notice that they’ve been given the UNECE seal of approval. If a child seat isn’t marked E44.03 or E.03 (the official mark of the United Nations Economic Council of Europe, don’t buy it.
Rest assured you can buy your baby seats with confidence from any of our authorised stockists.
© Car Safety Seats.org.uk 2008
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