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No matter how short your drive is, we should never feel inconvenienced for the sake of safety, because it should always be your top priority. When it comes to passengers, it’s important that any child under the age of three is securely fastened into an appropriate child car seat whenever you’re taking off on a journey.
Using the correct child car seat sizes for the age and weight of the child is crucial. Harnessing an infant in a seat that is too big is dangerous, as is trying to fit a child into a seat that they have outgrown. (Remember to have children under the age of thirteen riding in the back seat.)
It’s best to use a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible – until they are at least 15 months old. Wheel Well, advocate for Children’s Road Safety in South Africa, in their Golden Rules for Car Seats says that a child outgrows their car seat when they have reached the upper weight, height or age limit of the seat. Once your child’s head is higher than the seat shell, you should be looking at getting the next size.
The best car seat is the one that fits your child properly, and is easy to use correctly and safely at all times. See a comprehensive breakdown of all the many types of car seat categories for children
The back and the flatter angle of infant car seats are designed to protect a baby’s spine and neck during a collision. The side impact protection prevents injury to the baby’s head and neck.
Guide to using an infant car seat:
Toddlers are able to sit up by now and these seats are designed for children that are between 9 – 18kg or 105cm tall, or at least 4 years of age. The seats can be reclined to a comfortable position when your child is sleeping. Resist the temptation to move your child up to a booster seat too early.
Guide to using a toddler car seat
Designed for children from 18kg, 4 years old, or an absolute minimum of 15kg if you have a tall skinny child. The upper weight limit for a booster seat is 36kg. You can use the booster seat beyond that weight as the seat belt is designed to handle much more than that in adults.
Booster seats raise your child and ensures their shoulder is better aligned to the safety belt. The back of a good booster seat adjusts up with the growth of your child. Once they have outgrown the highest adjustment of the height adjustable booster seat, your child should sit on a ‘bum’ booster until they are 1.5m tall.
Guide to using a booster seat:
You should always follow the installation instructions in the car seat manual and never leave your child unattended in a car seat. Wheel Well offers the following rules:
As parents, we are responsible for our children’s safety in every situation – driving is no different, especially with the amount of reckless and distracted driving that occurs on our roads every day. Wheel Well is committed to road safety for children. By raising awareness of using child car seats and enabling lower-income families to obtain a seat through their child car seat exchange initiative.
Disclaimer: This information is for educational, or entertainment purposes only. It must not be construed as advice, legal, financial, or otherwise. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of Supa Quick.
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