How to choose a baby car seat? Types and methods of fastening

"The car is not a luxury, but a means of transportation" - a phrase from the well-known novel "The Golden Calf".Most of the inhabitants of our planet simply do not represent their lives without this type of transport. Every year, car manufacturers are increasingly improving the passenger's security system. But what is suitable for an adult does not always help the kids. After all, you can often see how parents put the child to their knees and are absolutely confident that they will be able to keep him in the event of an accident.

But no one thinks that when you collide at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, its weight will increase by about 20 times. Others also attach themselves and the child with one seatbelt, then in this case the baby can simply be crushed by his own weight. How, after all, to protect the child when traveling by car? To date, the best safety feature for babies in the car is a baby car seat.

Contents of the article:

• Selection of the car seat group
  
• Method of attachment
  
• Determination of comfort
  

Selection of the car seat group

The chair should be suitable for the child. This is the first thing to pay attention to. In the world there are five groups of child seats:

1. Group 0 - chairs of this group are designed for children from birth and up to 6 months. They are designed for a weight less than 10 kilograms. It is placed sideways to the motion. But this is probably not an armchair, but a cradle, which can also be combined with a stroller. They have softer belts, and around the head is a special protection, because at this age the kids do not know how to keep their head on their own. As a rule, they do not provide high safety and are recommended for use only in case of medical advice. In other cases, preference should be given to the car seats of the group 0+.
   
2. group 0+ - it's worth buying babies from birth to up to one year. At the same time the weight of the child should be less than 13 kilograms. They are placed back in the course of motion. Since in the first months of life the child has a very soft skeleton and weak muscles, then any sudden movements exert a tremendous load on him. It is this placement of the chair, with impact or sudden braking, that will ensure maximum immobility and protect the child from overloads. These car seats are equipped with handles, which makes them mobile and convenient to transport outside the car. Models of this group can be combined with strollers.
   
3. group 1 - the best option for children weighing from 9 to 18 kilograms. And the age can vary from 9 months to 4 years. This group of seats is installed in the course of the car. The child can be fixed in two ways:
   
   
   • Internal built-in belts. The most commonly used five-point fixation method is when there are two fixation points in the shoulder area, two in the waist region and one point between the legs. When choosing this method of fixing, you need to pay attention to the softening cushions along the entire length of the belts - they should be soft, and for the width of the strap, it should not be narrow: otherwise the baby may have bruises. And the buckle between the legs should in no case bring discomfort.
     
   • Safety table. It allows you to leave the upper part of the child's torso free, which does not constrain it in motion. In case of sudden braking or impact, the table works like an airbag, using the abdominal muscles and a strong chest frame to absorb shock. Despite the high mobility, there is no need to worry that the child will be able to unfasten the lock, since it is in a remote location.
     
   
   There is also a function that adjusts the angle of the chair. After all, sometimes the path is not close and the baby obviously wants to relax, and the slanted chair can imitate a crib.
   
4. group 2 - this group is designed for children weighing 15 to 25 kilograms, with ages 3 to 7 years. The chair is also fixed in the course of the car. With this weight, the inner belts can not provide a high level of safety. Therefore, in the armchairs of this type, the child with the seat is fixed by the seat belts of the car. It is worth paying attention to the location of the belt. It should be placed so that the upper part rests on the child's shoulder and does not touch the neck, and the lower part surrounds the hips. Armchairs of this category should be equipped with a rising headrest, as in this age period, children are particularly active.
   
5. group 3 - these are booster chairs, which are deprived of a backrest. They are designed for a child aged 6 to 12 years, and weighing from 22 to 36 kilograms. The seats are placed in the direction of the car. They can also be placed in the front seat, but there must be no airbag in the car, as in the case of disclosure, it can cause serious damage to the child. The downside of such seats is the lack of side protection, for example, when colliding sideways.
   

There are chairs that correspond to several groups at once, they are called universal or complex.

Fastening method

First of all, the child car seat must be securely fixed. It can be fixed with the help of standard seat belts or with the help of the "ISOfix" system. Modern cars with standard equipment are equipped with a fastener for the "ISOfix" system. This system is considered more reliable, as it eliminates errors that can be tolerated when fastening with the help of seat belts. Of course, chairs with such a system are much more expensive, but do not forget that it's about your child's safety. After selecting the attachment and installing it, be sure to make sure that the chair is installed correctly. After all, how beautifully the chair would not fit the child, if it is not installed correctly, it can lead to undesirable consequences. Also pay attention to the gap between the seat and the back of the car seat, it should not exceed 5-6 centimeters. If the chair has the function of adjusting the position angle, then it is necessary to check whether it does not interfere with transferring it to the "reclining" position.

Definition of comfort

The kid should feel comfortable in the armchair. After all, if a small passenger is uncomfortable, then he will constantly spin, spinning, which in turn will distract the driver and stop driving. And if the child tries to get out of an uncomfortable chair, at some point the chair is unlikely to perform all of its functions 100%.Therefore, before buying, it is better to let the kid try out his future place for travel.


Finally, we recommend to study the video, which shows the crash tests of children's car seats:


In conclusion, it should be noted that the best security for a small passenger is your care and accuracy on the roads.