How and where to place a child seat

When you are bringing out your child for a quick trip or a full-on vacation out of town it's always a good idea to bring a child seat along. It offers another layer of protection for your loved one in the event of a crash and it makes their ingress and egress out of the vehicle a bit easier. As there are many kinds of child seats available on the market today, we will give you a quick guide as to how you can properly install these seats and will guide you as to which of these seats will work best for your car.

As safety should be your number-one priority with a child seat, make sure that you look for those that have been tested and approved by the DTI. These child seats follow the standards set up by the United Nations under its Regulations 44 and 149 as well as other international standards. You can look for the certification of the child seat found on the label that is attached to it. These will also indicate the weight, height, and age limits of the seat and will help you find which one best fits your child. It's recommended to have these seats fitted in the second row to offer the best protection for your child.

There will be two kinds of child seats available on the market. One will work on a seatbelt installation system and the other will work on an ISOFIX installation system. The former, as its name states, use the built-in seatbelts of your car to secure the child seat in place but it requires a little more work to install properly and safely, while the latter has an easier installation process.

Seatbelt-type child car seats

If you have a child seat that utilizes a seatbelt installation system this is good for a child that is about seven months old to about two years of age. However, it can evolve with your child to be used as a booster chair. To install it in your vehicle, you will first need to get as much of the seatbelt as possible so that you can squeeze it through the back of the chair and then later latch it onto the lock of the seatbelt. This is great for those looking for an adaptive type seat as the configuration of the belt will change as the child gets older and the position of the seatbelt will no longer be at the back but at the front instead.

ISOFIX-type car seats

Attaching an ISOFIX-type car seat is a pretty easy experience. All you have to do is look for the ISOFIX tethers. Note that some cars have them hidden away but they are typically found just below the backrest and right above the lower cushion of a seat. Some cars also have logos on the seat to help you figure out where they are. Once you find these latches it becomes really easy because now it's down to just getting the tether attached to the latch. When you hear a click, the child seat is now securely attached to the ISOFIX tethers and that's it you’re done.

ISOFIX tethers or anchors are usually found in the second row of a vehicle. This is the safest place for a child seat to be in that offers the best protection without the risk of an airbag exploding on their face. While airbags are great safety features for adults they can harm kids who have yet to develop strong bones.