When you become a parent, you get bombarded by lists of essentials online. In parenting groups, parenting websites and beyond, you’ll be told all of the different things that your new baby will need. One of the things on that list will be a car seat for your new baby and boy, are you going to face a whole range of different issues when it comes to car seats!
Children’s car seats are complicated. You’d think it would be easy: strap them in and off you go. However, you need to know the rules of rear-facing car seats, forward facing car seats, car seats and airbags – the list goes on! As a parent, you want to do the very best for your children, and so car seats are a must. When you buy your next car and you factor in Instant Car Finance to pay for it, you need to consider that you can also afford to save for the right – safest – car seats on the market. Make sure you do your research before investing in a car seat – because it truly is an investment in your baby’s safety. Your choices can be life or death, so let’s check out the best car safety tips you need.
- No Coats. The very first rule of car seat safety is that no matter the age of your child, from newborn to teenager, you need to ban coats from the car. Coats get in the way of the straps on the car seat, and they prevent your child from being safely contained. There is a pocket of air that sits between the car and the harness, and in a collision your child is more likely to fly out of their coat than stay safe. So, no coats.
- Keep It Clean. If your child eats in the car seat, then there is a chance that crumbs can get into the buckles, which compromises the safety of the harness locks. You need to clean out your car seat regularly to prevent it from being a danger!
- Rear Face. You will keep your baby safer when you rear face their seat. It’s important to remember that what is safe isn’t always legal, so it’s important to stick to the car seat safety advice that promotes rear facing as long as possible. The longer your child rear faces in the car, the longer they stay safe.
- Seats & Airbags. If you check the laws of your country, you may be surprised to learn that you can have your baby car seat in the front seat next to you, as long as the airbags are switched off. You are always going to be better off with your children safe, and some children love to scream the car down when you are driving. This can be the safest option for all of you.
- The Right Seat. It’s honestly the stupidest thing to do if you choose to ignore car seat safety. Children need to be in the right seat for their height or weight (depending on the advice in your country) and ignoring this in favour of making sure that they can see out of the window or not wanting to spend the money on a seat? It’s dangerous.