Keep these things in mind when going on a trip with an infant. Distinguishing features of a good car seat

Completing a layette for a baby, parents pay a lot of attention to such elements of the layette as pram, clothes, cosmetics or accessories that improve the care of the baby. In the flurry of preparations, at some point they realize that the baby must, after all, somehow be transported by car - if only from the hospital to home. The decision is not made easier by older generations, repeating that "in their time there were no car seats, and children were held on their laps.". Today we know that such behavior is extremely dangerous, but it can be just as dangerous to carry a toddler in an inadequate car seat. How to recognize a model worthy of attention, and most importantly - how to use it correctly?

Successfully passed crash tests

Many infant seat manufacturers boast that their products have European ECE-R44/04 certification, highlighting this as an undeniable guarantee of safety. Meanwhile, it only means allowing the sale of, and the test that determines its award passes virtually every device for transporting children in a car. So you have no guarantee that in the event of a sudden braking or traffic incident such a seat will save your child's life. So which model to choose? The one that passed the crash tests - ADAC or Plus Test - and, most importantly, passed them as well as possible.

Rearward-facing carrying option

There's a reason carriers, or the first child seats, are designed to be installed only rear-facing. This is because this way of driving toddlers is the safest for their delicate and still developing spine cervical. When there is a sudden loss of speed by the car, the child's body, especially its head, flies inertly forward. This can result in rupture of the cervical vertebrae, which directly threatens the life of the toddler. Experts encourage children to ride rear-facing even until they reach the age of 4. year of age, when the spine is already strong enough to hold the head in case of braking. RWF models are used for this purpose, for example cybex car seat Sirona, which you can buy in our 3Kiwi store. An additional advantage of rear-mounted devices is that when braking, the back and head are pressed into the seatback, which distributes the enormous forces acting on the child's body and ensures that the toddler does not suffer any injuries.

Mounting to ISOFIX base or to seat belts

In theory, all car seats on the market use one mounting method or the other. Practice, however, shows that many people do not use them correctly, which significantly reduces the safety of the toddler traveling in the car. So before you choose a car seat, pay attention to whether it has clearly marked, sturdy belt guides, and then run the tapes according to the instructions, reducing slack. When deciding on a model with a base, make sure it sits on the couch the way the manufacturer recommends, and make sure you're clipping the seat in correctly.