Child car seats: How to fit a child car seat
Getting started
- Have at least one go at installing before purchasing, preferably with help from an expert.
- Examine the seat and thoroughly read the instructions before taking it to your car.
- Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and keep them with the seat.
- Carry children in a rear car seat if you can.
- Never fit a rear-facing seat in front of an active airbag. If it goes off, the force could kill your child.
- The seat should have minimal forward or sideways movement. When you open the buckle of the adult belt, the seat should spring upward slightly.
- Only the seat belt webbing should touch the child seat frame, not the buckle. Otherwise pressure on the buckle could make it fail, meaning your child won’t be securely restrained in an emergency situation.
- Never modify a seat in any way.
- Our video guide to fitting a child car seat shows you how to do it correctly and safely.
Expert help
Installing a seat for the first time is rarely straightforward and it seems even trickier once you get home. We visited Bromley, in Kent, where Child Car Seat Education Road Safety Officer, Val Fuller, demonstrated how the council’s Child Car Seat Centre advises parents and retailers.
‘It’s important to make sure every seat is correctly installed. There should be no movement,’ said Val. ‘The advice we offer to parents in the Child Car Seat Centre and our Transport for London-funded training scheme for retailers are aimed at improving safety for all children travelling in the area.’
When we’ve looked at retailer advice in the past, we’ve found it is a bit of a lottery, whether you get good advice or not. We sat in on a training session at retailer Baby Baby, in West Wickham. It was training staff to a basic level of level of competence to advise about weight groups, moving baby from one stage to the next, airbags, harness adjustment, Isofix and the law. Most child seat retailers in Bromley display certificates, so you can ask for the qualified person in each store.
Both Bromley and Essex, which also has a Child Car Seat Centre, welcome all parents. But if you don’t live nearby, contact your own local authority. Most offer advice, either from road safety officers or suitably trained traffic police officers.
Which? says
To improve the chances of all children in crashes, we’d like to see schemes like Bromley’s rolled out across the country.
In your car
- Check the seat belt in your car is long enough to secure the seat.
- Check you can feed the seat belt through the slits in the child car seat without any obstructions.
- Check the shape of the car safety seat fits neatly with the shape of the car seat. For some seats, this may require you to remove the car’s head restraint.
- Place your child in the seat and try to strap them in securely.
- Check the seat's harness can be secured and adjusted easily.
- Check the car seat leaves enough space for your child to stretch their legs.
- Replace your child car seat(s) after any accident which results in ANY damage to your car, however slight.