The lowdown on car safety seats

Unless you plan to walk home from the hospital, you'll need a car seat to take your baby home. By law your child up to 148cm height or 7 years of age must be properly restrained in a car seat.

The most important piece of baby gear you'll want to buy long before your water breaks is a car seat that is suitable for your child. As a matter of fact, it's a good idea to start shopping for a car seat by your sixth to eighth month of pregnancy. That should give you plenty of time to select the right seat. Browse our infant car seat range.

Choosing a safety seat

All car seats currently on the market must meet one of the following standards:
-       Australian Standard (AS/NZS1754)
-       European standard (ECE44)
-       United States Standards (FMVSS213)

Any car seat you buy new is technically safe. (The same isn't true for second-hand car seats or car seats purchased more than a couple of years ago, which may have been designed to meet outdated standards or may have been damaged in an accident or been recalled for safety violations.) But even if a car seat itself meets the required standards, it can still present safety problems if it's installed or used incorrectly. The safest car seat, therefore, is the one that best fits your child and your car and is easiest for you to use.

An important note: Though most parents move their child from a rear-facing to a forward-facing position when he reaches 12 months and 20 pounds (9Kgs), this is the minimum age and weight requirement for facing forward. Expert’s recommendations are the longer you keep your child in a rear-facing position, the safer he'll be (that's because, in a frontal collision, the stress on a forward-facing child's neck can injure his spine).

There are three basic types of car seats to choose from:

• Infant Capsule car seats: These face the rear of the car and have a 13Kgs weight limit. (If your baby reaches 13kgs. before his/her first birthday, keep reading to find out about convertible / combination car seats.)
• Convertible/ Combination (or infant-toddler) car seats: These function as both rear-facing infant seats and forward-facing seats. Please remember that it's safest to leave your baby rear-facing as long as possible — so if he's still comfortable in the rear-facing seat, and the seat is designed to accommodate his weight, then leave it in that position if possible.
• Booster Car seats.

 
To get more details about choosing a car seat, read our articles about infant-only seats, Convertible (Combination) seats, and booster seats.

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