Expert advice
Read the instruction manual for your car seat thoroughly – don’t ever try to install it by guessing. Seek the assistance of dedicated, trained staf to installation.
Back Seat Is Best
Position your child’s car seat in the back. This is the safest location in the car for a child to ride.
Know Your Car
Read the relevant section in your car’s safety manual. Some cars have lower anchors built into seats that can be used to attach a child safety seat. Older cars may not have these, and will require seat belts t
Is It a Fit?
Once installed, a car seat should not be able to move back, forth or side to side more than one inch. The child should also be snug inside the harness, with chest clips fastened at armpit level.
Lay It Flat
Make sure your car seat is completely flat against the seat below and behind it (for forward-facing seats). Use your hands to push it down as hard as you can or, better yet, place your knee on the car seat and push with all your weight to squash the air out of the cushion underneath it.
Lock The Seat Belt
If your vehicle doesn’t have lower anchors, refer to your car’s manual to find out how to lock a seat belt once it is in place.
Adjust The Angle
For rear-facing seats, it is important that the base of your car seat is level to prevent your child’s head from flopping forward. Most seats will have indicators on the side to help.
Connect The Tether Strap
Forward-facing seats have an extra strap at the top, as an added safety measure. Double-check your vehicle and attach and tighten the tether strap to prevent head movement in the event of a crash.
Rear Facing For Longer
Infant carriers categorised as Group 0 (for birth to 10kg approx) and 0+ (for birth to 13kg approx) and Group 1 (for 9kg to 18kg approx). Car seats are designed to be safest when rear-facing, so that a child will be forced towards the seat on front impact. In some countries, your child must legally sit rear-facing until they are 15 months old, although many other European countries require children to stay rear-facing until they are four years old and/or 18kg in weight.
