Owing to the recent addition to my family and a recent survey which appears to show that most parents are not well up in the art of child seats .... thought might be an idea to introduce this into the forum....
When you choose a car seat - for example - you are faced with a daunting array in Mothercare, Halfords, The In-Kids Emporium - whatever...
The age ranges are just a rough guide - I found there were huge size differences between four manufacturers for baby seats alone. And course - given the price of the wretched thing - you need room for growth as well. Also make sure it has a seat belt lock to make sure it cannot be pulled out of place.
Essential to follow the instructions to the letter when fitting into the car. They all differ. My new one is nothing like the last one!
Basically you fit the baby in first. Not as easy as you think. My new daughter wondered what on earth we were doing to her
Cue deafening roar!
Once we got her actually in this seat - we then secured the harness - with shoulder straps flat and at her shoulders. We ensured there was no slack and then placed a little blanket over her to keep her warm. We then fastened the seat securely in the middle of the back seat facing the rear and youngest kitten was reclining and then gurgling away at a 45 degree angle.
The child seat - follow the manuafacturer's instructions implicitly. Again make sure shoulder straps are at or just below shoulders and that chest clips are level with armpits.
At the moment both our six year old and a four year old foster use booster seats - both these boys need one with a high back as their ears rise above the top of the back seat.
Child is ready to move onto seat belt only when he or she can sit all the way back in the car seat, when his/her knees bend around the edge of the seat in comfort, when the safety belt goes across the shoulder between the neck and arm and when the lap belt touches the thighs.
As a rule of thumb of course!