Car Seat FAQs

General car seat advice

• What are the different types of car seat available?

  Infant Carrier - These rear-facing car seats hold the child in a semi reclined position. They are designed to be used from birth and can be removed from the car and carried with the child inside. They are usually designed to fit onto buggies, strollers or pram chassis to make what is sometimes called a Travel System.

   

  Toddler Seat - These seats are designed primarily for children that have outgrown an infant carrier, however some are also designed to be used from birth. They can be rear-facing or forward-facing, depending on the weight or height of child they are approved for. They may also be ‘convertible’, with both rear- and forward-facing installation options.

   

  High Back Booster Seat (sometimes called just Booster Seat) - These seats are designed for children that have outgrown a toddler seat. They raise the child so the car’s seat belt is positioned correctly across their body. They include a backrest.

   

  Booster Cushion - These products also raise the child, but they do not include a backrest. Cosatto do not sell booster cushions.

• What are All Stages, Combination, Convertible or Multigroup seats?

  These are the various names given to car seats that are designed to cover more than one of the car seat types detailed above by adjusting the direction of installation, position of the child and/or the way they are held in the seat. They are therefore designed to be used for longer. Please check the exact detail on each car seat before purchasing.

• What is an Isofix base?

  An Isofix base is a product that is designed be installed using your car’s ISOFIX points and stay there. This then allows you to quickly and easily ‘click’ your car seat on and off it.

• Is using an Isofix base for an infant carrier safer?

  Infant carrier ISOFIX bases provide greater convenience, allowing infant carriers to be easily installed and removed from the vehicle. They are not inherently safer, however as they are secured using the ISOFIX points, they are much more likely to be fitted correctly, therefore making them safer than an incorrectly fitted seat.

• What types of installation/attachment methods are available?

  Generally car seats can be held in place in the car in one of two ways Belted or ISOFIX (see next questions)

• What is meant by Belted (or Seat Belt) installation?

  This is where your standard car seat belt can be used to secure the car seat by threading it through the seat (e.g. in infant carriers or toddler seats), or around both the seat and the child (e.g. in high back booster seats).

• What is ISOFIX?

  This is an installation/attachment system developed for child car seats. There are two anchor points in each car seating position (small metal bars near the base of the backrest) and two connectors on the car seat that ‘clamp’ onto those bars. All cars manufactured since 2006 should have ISOFIX anchorage points but please check your vehicle. There must also be a way of stopping the car seat from moving and rotating around the metal bars. The most common are:

   

  Top tether: A strap from the back of the car seat that clips onto a special point in the car, usually behind the seat back/headrest or in the boot somewhere.

   

  Support leg (foot prop): A leg from the base of the car seat that presses on the floor of the car.

• Is ISOFIX installation safer than belted?

  ISOFIX installation is not inherently safer than a vehicle belt installation but it is usually much easier to use correctly every time (thereby reducing the risks related to human installation error). In random checks, many car seats are found to be incorrectly fitted. However a car seat properly installed with a vehicle seat belt is just as safe as one installed correctly using ISOFIX.

• What is ‘ERF’? What does it mean?

  ERF stands for Extended Rear Facing and is used to indicate where a car seat has been designed to rearward face for longer.

• Why is ERF (or Extended Rear Facing) considered to be important?

  It’s proven that rear facing seats are safer for babies and younger children in the event of a frontal collision (70% of all accidents). A young child’s neck, head and spine are very fragile. Rear facing seats offer more protection and can help to reduce potential injuries. We recommend that you keep your child rearward facing for as long as possible.

• Car Seat Regulations seem very complicated. Is there a simple explanation or guide?

  It is complicated, particularly for new parents, but the following will hopefully help to make things clearer. It does all become more familiar over time.

   

  In the UK (and the European Union) there are currently 2 Regulations running side by side. Children must use a car seat that is approved to either UN Regulation No. 44 (ECE R44/R44) or to UN Regulation No.129 (R129). No other car seats are legal to use, even if they have other approvals. In the case of R44, only seats that are approved to the third and fourth series of amendments are legal to use. These will be labelled R44.03 or R44.04 respectively.

• What is R129?

  This are the latest regulations where car seats are designated according to the child’s height (an upper weight limit is also given for ISOFIX seats). There are no pre-defined groups (as in R44) and the car seat manufacturer can approve the seat for any specific height range. Therefore seats can be approved for a wide range of heights effectively making them Combination or All Stages seats

• What is i-Size?

  i-Size is a category of seat within R129 that describes seats that are compatible with i-Size positions in i-Size certified cars. Most R129 car seats are i-Size.

• What is R44?

  This are the older regulations where car seats are designated according to the child’s weight. There are five pre-defined weight groups that each seat must be approved to (Groups 0 & 0+ (Newborn to 13kgs), Group 1 (9kgs to 18kgs) , Group 2 (15ks to 25kgs) and Group 3 (up to 36kgs). Seats can also can be approved for more than one group making them a Combination or All Stages seat e.g Groups 0+1 (Newborn to 18kgs), Groups 2,3 (15kgs to 36kgs), or Groups 0+1,2,3 – (Newborn to 36kgs).

• How Do You Know Which Regulation a Seat is Approved To?

  You can find out easily which approvals a car seat has by looking for the label fixed to the product somewhere (usually orange although they don’t have to be). An R44 approved car seat will have a label with a capital ‘E’ in a circle and ‘ECE R44’. An R129 car seat will have an orange label with a capital ‘E’ in a circle and ‘Regulation No. 129/XX’ where XX denotes the series of amendments.

• Is the R129 regulation better or safer than R44?

  The simple answer is yes. ECE Reg 129 (often referred to as R129 or i-Size) is the latest safety standard and has several changes and improvements on the older ECE R44/04, which has been around for some years. R129 improves the compatibility between the child and the car seat and the vehicle seat. Other improvements are…

   

  • The first ever standardized side impact testing
  • Stricter criteria for head injuries and abdominal pressure to ensure better protection of the child
  • Mandatory rearward facing travel to 15 months
  • Tested using new, advanced technology crash test dummies (called Q dummies) that simulate a child’s body with greater accuracy
  • Seat usage is classified based on a child’s height instead of weight.

   

  However, do not assume that your child will be safer in an R129 car seat. If it is not suitable for your child or the vehicle in which it is being used, stick with an R44 car seat.

• When will R44 be phased out?

  In the EU and Northern Ireland R44 seats will no longer be available for sale after Sept 2023. The situation for the rest of the UK is less clear and R44 seats will probably be available for longer. Exact details are still to be confirmed.

• What is ‘ADAC’. What is it and what does it mean?

  ADAC stands for Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club and is a German car club (similar to our AA or RAC) that conducts consumer tests that differ from those required by the Regulations and then provide a rating to the public. In the UK, ‘Which?’ utilises the data from the ADAC testing alongside its own usability tests and gives its own score rating.

• What is the ‘Plus’ or ‘Swedish Plus’ test?

  The ‘Plus Test’ or ‘Swedish Plus Test’ is a voluntary test on car seats that are intended for the Swedish market. The test is only carried out in Sweden. The nature and requirements of the testing are such that only rear way facing (RWF) car seats can successfully pass them. Forward facing child car seats cannot comply to them. It should be noted that this test has been developed for Swedish roads and road conditions and unlike R129, it doesn’t include any side impact testing.

• Consumer Tests says one seat is better than another, is this true? I thought all seats that passed the law were safe?

  All car seats available in the UK and Europe are manufactured to comply with mandatory safety and regulatory standards, comprising either R44 or R129. These Regulations set minimum levels of car seat performance that are based on detailed studies and evidence from real collisions and are designed to target the most common types of collision and injuries to ensure children’s safety in car seats across Europe. Therefore all available car seats must meet the minimum standard and are therefore safe. There are other tests conducted by various organizations, often referred to as consumer tests, but as the exact details of these tests are not disclosed, it is not really possible to comment on them or the results.

• What is a Vehicle Fitting List?

  A vehicle fitting list is a list of compatible cars and seating positions for the particular car seat. It may also be called a vehicle application list, installation list, compatibility list or fit checker. Here is ours - https://www.cosatto.com/pages/car-seat-fit-checker

• Should I choose the most expensive seat to do the best for my baby?

  The way to think about it is that it is a bit like buying a car. You can choose a basic low priced hatchback and it will still probably have seat belts, airbags and power assisted brakes etc. I will be safe as it has passed all the regulations. Or you could choose a top of the range Volvo or Mercedes and that is likely to have more comfort and safety features such as collision avoidance or lane control so you could argue that they are safer. However please remember that the most important thing is fitting the seat correctly every time. A £100 seat correctly installed will probably be safer for your baby than a £500 seat installed badly.

• Do all car seats fit all cars?

  No. So you need to choose your car seat very carefully. For example, even if a child car seat states "Universal" on it, this doesn't mean it fits into all vehicles, it means it is secured using a universal fixing system - in other words, a seatbelt and not all seat belts are the same length!! Always check that the car seat that you are considering buying is suitable for the car(s) it will be used in. Here is the Cosatto Fit Checker which will show you which Cosatto seats are suitable for you - https://www.cosatto.com/pages/car-seat-fit-checker

• When does a child no longer need a car seat?

  The law in the UK states that a child needs to use a suitable restraint until they are 12 years of age or 135cm tall, whichever they reach first. However, it doesn't mean you have to stop using the child seat! High back booster seats are designed to last up to at least 150cm, so you can continue to use it and get the extra protection that it offers.

• Are children allowed in the front seat?

  In the UK - Yes, if necessary and as long as they are using a suitable child seat. But the safest place for a child is always on the back seat.

• Why are car seats so heavy?

  The primary function of any car seat is as a safety device and the weight is often because of extra materials required to meet the ever increasing safety requirements.

• How is a car seat removed in an accident?

  The harnesses and buckles of car seats are designed so that the child can be removed quickly when required. Emergency services are trained to deal with any situation and if it is more appropriate to remove the child in the seat, they will do so and know how to do this.

• What is an anti-rebound bar?

  An anti-rebound bar may be used on some car seats to provide extra rebound prevention for rearward facing car seats. During a frontal impact crash, the car seat will first move forward toward the location of the crash, and then rebound back toward the vehicle seat. An anti-rebound bar can help prevent the seat from rebounding in such a way that the child makes contact with the vehicle seat.