Oh, you are a dad! And you are the happiest of all. A lot of hassle, short nights and a lot of noise in the house … but a lot of love! When you become a father, you ask yourself many questions about education, what examples to give to your child, what his future will be like or the layout of the child’s room. But if there is one thing that haunts you too much, it is “How to choose a car seat“
Choosing the right group for your car seat
This is the priority! There are groups that correspond to the height and weight of the children. This classification was conceived to offer car seats that adapt correctly to the morphology of our children in the different stages of their development. Don’t expect to save money here by taking too big a seat to save a few years. The car seat must be adapted to the child at the moment T! So while it will likely need to be replaced in a few months, you need to choose the right seat for your baby’s height and weight today.
There are 5 groups in total, with theoretical ages, but above all a weight to be respected.
Group 0: From birth up to 10 kg. That is about 18 months.
Group 0+: from birth up to 13 kg. That is, approximately 30 to 36 months.
Group 1: 9 to 18 kg. From 1 year to 5 or 6 years.
Group 2: 15 to 24 kg. From 4 to 9 years.
Group 3: 22 to 36 kg. Or from 7-8 years to 12 years.
Don’t panic, it is not necessarily necessary to buy a new seat at every stage of our baby’s weight gain. In fact, most car seats will cover several weight ranges and therefore will belong to several groups at the same time. There are group 0/1 and 0 + / 1 car seats, group 1/2/3 car seats and group 2/3 car seats.
For a newborn, or for some premature babies, you can choose a Group 0 car seat or a Group 0+ car seat. A carrycot is recommended for short walks, as the baby will be much more stable and more comfortable than in a group 0+ shell. On the other hand, the seat of group 0+ is much stronger and safer, and will be held longer.
In any case, if you choose the carrycot, you will have to switch to the group 0+ car seat when the carrycot is too narrow for your child. This is because your child will still be too small for a Group 1 rear-facing seat. Note that there are now car seats with a standard i-Size, which are still quite rare, and are a very good choice after the carrycot. In this case, the baby will be able to stay in place, back on the road, for up to 15 months, or even longer.
Our advice
Avoid seats that are too progressive. The ideal would be to use 3 seats as the child grows in size and weight. There will be a child seat, then a child seat and finally an adult seat. Evolutionary seats do not always offer an adequate level of safety for all age groups. The same goes for comfort.
A 1/2/3 seat is fine for little ones, but a little tight from 20kg and up. Finally, some manufacturers now offer 0/1/2/3 seating. It is fantastic, it allows you to buy only one seat, from birth up to 12 years … However, we are very often disappointed when we use it. The car seat will often be impractical at different stages of the child’s development. This type of child seat is therefore not recommended.
Car seat, the different groups: 0+, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3
When to change the car seat?
Time to upgrade to a higher group car seat isn’t always easy for parents to find. We often hear mom or dad say their little one has protruding legs. However, it is important to know that it is not dangerous and that it is not considered a criterion for deciding to replace a car seat. But still if you want to change the seat you can find the best convertible car seat for tall babies which also takes weight into account and there is a reason for the emphasis on weight. Here is why.
Things to consider
Height is less important than weight. Of course, the weight of the child must never exceed the permitted weight, as it would no longer be optimal safety.
You should then check how your baby’s head is positioned without the seat. For a cozy, we will stop using it when the baby’s head protrudes from the top edge of the shell. For a group 1, 2 or 3 car seats, you move to a higher category when the little monster’s eyes reach the height of the seat’s headrest.
Finally, the safety harness must also be checked. For a seat with a rear back, it should be shoulder height or just below. For a forward-facing seat, it should be at or just above shoulder height. When the harness is fully adjusted, and you see that it no longer fits properly, then it will be time to replace the seat.