What is a Booster Seat?
Booster seats are essential to ensure the safety of your child when driving in a car and help prevent serious injury or death in the event of an accident. A booster seat is specifically engineered to maximise safety effectively, prevent injury and save lives.
It is critical to keep your child secured in a restraint that is appropriate for their needs. Good quality booster seats are designed to provide the optimum levels of safety and comfort. They come with a range of features specifically designed to suit older children, such as side impact cushions, an Active Head Restraint (AHR™) and expandable or deep side wings. Britax Safe-n-Sound booster seats also include an exclusive SecureGuard™ clip to prevent any chance of your child sliding down under the lap belt.
Booster Seats Are Required By Law
Every parent knows the safety of your child in the car is of up most importance. Gone are the days of strapping your child into the back seat with just the seatbelt for protection. It is well documented that children aged four years and older need protection when traveling in the car, the same way a younger child or baby does. Each state has its own requirements but children aged four to seven years of age must be secured in either a forward facing seat with an inbuilt harness or a child booster seat.
A child car booster seat is designed to accommodate the needs of your child once they have outgrown a forward facing restraint. There are national and state based guidelines on when a child should be upgraded to a booster seat, however, you should take into consideration not only the age of your child but also their height. All Britax Safe-n-Sound booster seats come with full instructions and advice on when your child should start using this type of restraint.
Choose The Best Booster Seat For You & Your Child’s Needs
There is a range of booster seats to choose from and it is important to consider your specific needs before selecting the best booster seat for your child. There are two main types and, these include:
1. Convertible Booster Seat:
These are child restraints that can be used as a forward facing restraint with inbuilt harness from the age of approximately six months and then convert to a booster seat from approximately age four onwards when you can remove the harness. A convertible booster seat is a good option if you are expecting another baby and need a new seat for your older child. The Safe-n-Sound range of convertible booster seats come with an easy to use buckle and harness that can be adjusted to the height of your child.
2. Booster Seat:
This restraint is appropriate for when your child is aged approximately four years or older. The child is secured into the seat by either the car seat belt or an additional harness for extra safety - if using a lap only seat belt a child harness must be used. Older children can be incredibly skilful at wriggling and moving around, which is why a well-fitted and secure booster seat is important.
When shopping for booster seats, always look for products that meet or exceed Australian Safety Standards and are crash tested to perform in all conditions.
In addition to rigorous testing, Britax Safe-n-Sound booster seats are designed specifically to protect older children and come with easy to remove covers for washing and deep side wings for impact protection.
