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Knowing When Your Child is Ready to Move Into a Booster Seat, and Ready to Move Out of One!
When is it Time to Move Your Child to a Booster Seat?
For parents, the safety of your child in the car is of the utmost importance. However, many of us mistakenly move our child into a booster seat or out of a booster seat sooner than it is safe. Whilst each state has their own requirements, children aged 4 – 7 years old must be secured in either a forward facing seat with an inbuilt harness or a child booster seat. Not all 4 year olds are the same size though of course. So parents should progress to a booster seat based on height rather than age. So before rushing your child into a booster seat because they’ve had a birthday, first check that they fit within the shoulder height marker on the car seat you are using.
We at Mum’s Lounge have learned about the newly launched Kid Guard PRO™ from Britax and like most Mums, we know, trust and love Britax products. As a result, we are happy to share what we have found out that the new Britax Kid Guard PRO™ is the only booster in Australia providing safety all the way up to double figures – 10 years (approx.)!
And in the coming weeks, 12 Mums from Mum’s Lounge audience community will be trialling the Kid Guard PRO™ with their child too, so be sure to check back and see what feedback they have for us.
How to Choose a Booster Seat?
When investing in your child’s booster seat we recommend firstly considering all of the safety features it has to offer including ease of use, the comfort of the seat as well as value for money. An expandable booster that can grow with your child is a great option!
In Australia, it is illegal to purchase or use a car seat that does not comply with the Australian/New Zealand Standard 1754. Always look for the certification mark AS/ANZ:1754 on the car seat you choose for your child.
Choose a brand you trust. Britax is the number 1 brand in car seat safety technology leading the world with innovative car seats, strollers and travel systems. The latest safety innovation from Britax called the SecureGuard™ is easy to use Britax patented exclusive feature that ensures the vehicle seat belt is properly positioned on your child’s hips, minimising the risk of abdominal injury during a crash and preventing them from sliding under the seat belt. Whereas booster seats ordinarily offer 3 points of contact, the SecureGuard™ provides a 4th point that sits between the child’s legs securing the seat belt in the correct position, whilst also allowing your child adequate wriggle room whilst on the move.
In the event of a collision, a lap belt that is improperly positioned across a child’s abdomen can cause serious injuries, including injuries to internal organs that can’t always be diagnosed immediately and can be life-threatening. The SecureGuard™ anti-submarining device ensures that the seat belt is secured across the strong bones of the pelvis rather than the abdomen.
The SecureGuard™ anti-submarining device is also available on Britax’s most popular booster seats including the Hi-Liner™, Maxi Lite™, Tourer™ and the newly launched Kid Guard PRO™.
In addition to the innovative life-saving SecureGuard™ anti-submarining device, the Kid Guard PRO™ also features expandable side wings to deliver lateral support ensuring your child’s body is sitting upright, providing a safer seat belt and is equipped with Side Impact Cushion Technology (SICT™) to maximise your child’s head protection in the event of a side impact collision. The expandable seat design allows parents to adjust the height of the seat as their child grows – a feature that offers increased safety and value for money.
The compact slim-line base also makes the Kid Guard PRO™ an excellent option for parents with multiple child seats in their car, and it can be easily transferred into a friend or family members care as and when needed. The built in sash guide ensures ease of use regardless of who is fitting it.
The Kid Guard PRO™ also includes their deluxe Thermo5™ fabric made with Bamboo Charcoal which means your child will travel in quality and comfort. (And we may even get a little peace!)
Suitable for children between the age of 4 – 10 year old (approx.), the Kid Guard PRO™ is an expandable booster seat with 9 height adjustments for the RRP of $399!
When Can I Move My Child to an Adult Seat Belt?
According to Britax, children are often moved into adult seat belts too soon. Britax as industry leaders, believe in ‘Harnessed Safety for Longer.’ Adult seatbelts are designed for a minimum height of 145cm, but height isn’t the only indicator.
Before graduating your child to an adult seat belt please consider the following factors outlined on the Britax Australia website.
Please assess the following factors by testing how your child sits in an adult seat:
- If your child’s legs are shorter than the depth of the seat and do no hang comfortably over the seat edge, your child is likely to move forward or slump in their seat which will change the position of the lap belt and increase the risk of serious injury.
- If the seat belt crosses your child’s face or neck rather than their chest, your child is likely to place the seat belt behind their back to remove this discomfort greatly increasing the risk of injury.
- If the lap belt rides up over your child’s abdomen when sitting correctly, your child is at increased risk of serious injury (The lap belt should always be positioned over the hips and thighs).
- If your child wriggles or slumps in their seat, the lateral support provided by a booster seat reduces the risk head, neck and abdominal injury.
With the new Kid Guard PRO™ booster suitable for children up to 10 years of age (approx.), it is recommended that parents keep their child in a booster seat for maximum safety.
For more safety information or additional information on the baby seats, boosters and travel systems available visit Britax.com.au
#ThinkOfWhoYouAreSaving
#GuardYourChamp
#BritaxBigKid
#CarSeatsAreNotJustForBabies
You can read the original article here.
Review: Kid Guard PRO ™ Booster Seat from Britax (suitable 4-10 years)
Over the past few months, we’ve focused a lot on child car safety, particularly for those 4 years and above. The reason for this is simple – many parents are moving their child into or out of a booster seat before it is safe to do so.
The Britax Kid Guard PRO™ is the only booster seat of its kind in Australia providing safety for children from approximately 4 years of age, up to 10, so you can keep them buckled for longer.
The Kid Guard PRO™ features expandable lower side wings extendable seat base and nine points adjustable headrest so it grows with your child delivery comfort and safety on the move as well as exceptional value for money.
The Kid Guard PRO™ also offers 4 points of safety with their patented anti-submarining technology. This ensures that the adult lap belt is always in an ideal position from shoulder to pelvic bones and prevent a child from slipping underneath the lap-belt or suffering from a further injury caused by an incorrectly fitted belt.
In addition to all of these fantastic safety features, this booster also includes the deluxe Thermo 5™ fabric made with Bamboo Charcoal meaning your child will travel in quality and comfort.
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You can read the original article here.
Briar Stanley’s Precious Cargo
It’s safe to say the words ‘precious cargo’ could spring to mind when buckling up your children in to the car. I’m a stickler for safety when it comes to car seats, which is why I chose Britax for my most important passengers, Sunday and Rafferty.
A few weeks before the baby arrived we got the Britax Safe-n-Sound Platinum PRO™ installed professionally. The SICT stands for ‘Side Impact Cushion Technology’ which minimises impact – providing the child the ultimate side impact protection. I also love that the convertible car seat is designed to grow with the baby. The Safe-n-Sound range can be used in the rear facing mode from birth to around twelve months, and then converted to forward facing mode when Rafferty is 12 months old. I chose the colour ‘Khol’ (to minimise stains), but it also comes in a sandstone and charcoal.
Big sister Sunday has also been travelling in comfort for about a year now in her Maxi Guard. We use it in toddler mode for now, using the built in harness. Once Sunday is a little older, we’ll convert the seat to Booster Seat Mode, which is for children around 4 to 6/8 and uses a standard sash seat belt. As Sunday is on the tall side, I love the size of this seat and Sunday is a big fan of her cute little arm rests and drink holder.
My happy little travellers. I’m happy too, knowing my precious cargo is in safe hands.
Thank you Briar Stanley, we are glad to hear your little ones are happy travellers.
You can read all about Briar’s journey here.
Road Rules For Little Passengers
As ‘Safety Leaders’ we want to make the ever-so confusing topic of car seat safety as simple and as straight forward as possible so that you are free to enjoy family life the way you want.
Here’s a handy guide to Australian Road Rules for Child Car Seats and our recommendations for above and beyond safety.
GUIDE TO CHOOSING A CHILD CAR SEAT
To provide maximum protection for children travelling in vehicles, it is important to choose the right child car seat. Here’s what you need to know…
ROAD SAFETY LAWS
Refer to your State specific Road Laws Guide as there may be minor variations.
Up to 6 months
Must be secured in an approved, properly fastened and adjusted, rearward-facing child car seat.
BRITAX RECOMMENDS:
‘Rear for a Year’ (at least)
0 – 12 months approx.
UNITY™ ISOFIX COMPATIBLE BABY CAPSULE
From 6 months up to 4 years
Must be secured in an approved, properly fastened and adjusted, rearward-facing child car seat or a forward-facing child car seat with an inbuilt harness.
BRITAX RECOMMENDS:
Rearward-facing for longer
0 – 4 yrs approx.
PLATINUM PRO™ CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT
From 4 years up to 8 years
Must be secured in an approved, properly fastened and adjusted, forward-facing child car seat with an inbuilt harness or an approved booster seat which is properly positioned and fastened.
BRITAX RECOMMENDS:
Harnessed for longer
6 months – 8 yrs approx.
MAXI GUARD PRO™ HARNESSED CAR SEAT
7 years and older
From 7 years of age children can travel in a car secured in either a booster seat or the car’s adult seat belt.
BRITAX RECOMMENDS:
Safety beyond 7yrs / 135cm
4 yrs – 10 yrs approx.
SHOULDER HEIGHT MARKERS, HOW DO THEY WORK?
Shoulder height markers make it easy for parents to determine if a child car seat is suitable for their child and when the child needs to move to the next child car seat.
Height Markers, located on the inner side of the seat, prompt parents and carers to ensure their child’s seats, and associated harnesses, are moved or adjusted at the right stages of the child’s development to maintain optimised safety.
Lower Shoulder Height Marker
Is my child too small for this child car seat?
Upper Shoulder Height Marker
Is my child too big for this child car seat?
Height Markers that tells you when to change
On some child car seats shoulder height markers will determine when the child needs to change position or change to the next mode.
Grow Like A PRO!
With Our Elite Fleet
Britax understand that one of the most important safety decisions you will make for your child is choosing the right child car seat. For that reason, our safety technologies and innovations have pushed car seat development forward for 50 years. We truly lead the way in child car seat safety and deliver the safest range of child car seats in the world!
As safety leaders, we are advocates for prolonged safety, here’s how:
1) Rear Facing For Longer
We strongly recommend rear-facing for as long as possible as this form of travel supports a child’s head and neck substantially better in vehicle crashes. Even though the Australian Standards states you can forward face from 6 months, we recommend ‘Rear for a Year’ (at least) so that your most precious cargo gets the best start in life. That’s also why we design and manufacture child car seats that give you the opportunity to rear face for longer. Platinum PRO™ – our most advanced car seat yet can be used in rear-facing mode from birth to approximately 30 months and offers revolutionary dual layer head and torso Side Impact Cushion Technology (SICT™).
2) Harnessed For Longer
It is important not to move your child from a convertible car seat to a booster seat too early. Research has shown that children aged between 2 and 5 years are 3.5 times at risk of serious injury when wearing an adult seatbelt and 4.2 times at risk of a head injury than children in a proper child restraint. Here at Britax Australia, we know ‘Harnessed For Longer’ is safer. Our Maxi Guard PRO™ is great example of a car seat which is suitable for growing children from approximately 6 months to 8 years of age. This forward-facing car seats with an in-built 6-point Hassle Free Harness™ grow with your child and, keep your child securely restrained and safer for longer.
Our easy to use, Hassle Free Harness™ automatically repositions the shoulder strap height as your child grows. There is no need to rethread harness, reducing the risk of incorrect installation and harness fitment.
3) Safety For Longer
It is important not to move your child to a vehicle seat before they are physically ready. You should only move your child out of their existing seat after they have grown past the shoulder height markers on their current seat. Our Kid Guard PRO™ is the only booster of its kind in Australia providing safety all the way up to double figures = 10 years (approx.). Not to mention this booster seat includes our patented innovation – SecureGuard™. This Anti-Submarining device makes our booster seats even safer by adding a 4th attachment point to the adult seat belt. This helps to keep the lap belt in an ideal position over the pelvic bones and better distributes the impact energy involved in frontal collisions. At the same time this allows our little wrigglers freedom of movement during the journey.
Britax – keeping the adults of tomorrow safe-n-sound today!
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Why Is SecureGuard™ So Important For Your Child’s Safety?
SecureGuard™ – Wriggle-proof car safety for your growing child!
Car journeys can be a wonderful voyage of discovery for the inquisitive child. There is always something to look at. Interesting things are going on outside the window or something catches their attention inside the car. Now your child is older and consequently more mobile and independent. The back seat has become their space. It is a place where they play, read, doze, reach down or across.
At Britax, we not only test our products with crash dummies, we look at real children and their needs. We know that for a child who is sitting in a booster secured with a 3-point adult seat belt, wriggling, sleeping, play-fighting and turning can cause the lap belt to ride higher up across their tummy, even if positioned correctly across your child’s pelvic bone when you set off.
Britax Safe-n-Sound has been at the forefront of child safety development for 50 years and during this time we have introduced many breakthrough innovations to keep your child safer. Our latest innovation – SecureGuard™ – makes our booster seats even safer by adding a 4th attachment point to the adult seat belt. This helps to keep the lap belt in an ideal position over the pelvic bones and better distributes the impact energy involved in frontal collisions. At the same time this allows our little wrigglers freedom of movement during the journey.
When your child grows and transitions from a convertible car seat to a booster seat using the car’s 3-point adult seat belt, the SecureGuard™ provides extra protection. For babies and toddlers, we always recommend using a 5-point harness for as long as possible, as it firmly secures their shoulders and hips in the seat.
What is the correct position for a 3-point adult seat belt when used with a booster seat?
Your car’s 3-point adult seat belts are designed to restrain adults. A growing child can use the 3-point adult seat belt with a booster seat, as this correctly positions the 3-point adult seat belt over the child’s body. As a child loves to move around during a journey, the adult lap belt may not stay correctly positioned safely across their pelvic area. Instead, the lap belt may end up across their tummy.
What is the best choice for your family?
The SecureGuard™ makes a safe seat even safer and is available with four products from our most popular car seat ranges – the Kid Guard PRO™, Maxi Lite™, Hi-Liner SG™ and Tourer™.