Child Car Seats & Booster Seats
It is now the law to protect children while travelling in a car up to the age of 12 years or 135cm tall, by using a 3rd stage booster seat for all journeys, including occasional journeys.
Many child car seats are available in this group and are simply placed into the car or van with no fitting required, the child then uses the adult car seat belts. These simple booster seats accommodate children up to 5' tall after which height children may sit on the car seat and use the adult seat belt.
It is important to remember that until a child is 5' tall and has an adult bone structure the safety equipment built into your vehicle (i.e. air bags, adult seat belts) are not designed to protect them and could inflict injury if the correct safety equipment is not used.
Stage 3 Child Car Seats
The selection of seats to cover the 3rd stage of car safety require the child to be a minimum of 15kg / 33lbs. The adult seat belts require this amount of body weight to enable them to 'lock off' correctly in the event of an accident, before this weight the child must be seated in a 2nd stage seat.
When looking at seats we would encourage you to choose one with a back, this will also protect your child from any possible side impact, give a supported comfortable sleep position and keep the seat belt in exactly the right position to protect your child in the event of an accident. When looking at this stage of seat, the amount of hip protection can vary a great deal, it is important to protect the hips and pelvis especially in little girls, so you may have to forgo drink holders and select the seat with the best protection.
Simple booster seats without a back will meet the new British regulations and would be better than no seat at all, but the protection offered is minimal when compared to seats with a back. If you are choosing one of these look for one that has a clip to adjust the seat belt from across the child's face to the child's shoulder, be sure to use it.
