Car Seats - Group 1

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roup 1 car seats have often been described as ‘proper car seats’ and the reasoning behind that sentiment is easy to understand. Recaro Young SportSince they are forward facing, Group 1 car seats tend to look like proper seats and many toddlers actually like sitting in them!

However, the fact remains that a young child is safer facing towards the rear of the car. That is one of the reasons that the age range of the ‘baby’ car seats has been extended so that children up to 13kg can be carried in this fashion. Axiss Car SeatHowever, these children – who could be as old as 15 months – often want to see what is happening, and very often their parents are also keen for them to ‘move up’ to the next stage. Somehow, the fact that their child is in this ‘proper seat’ is an indication that their child is advanced! Be that as it may, Group 1 car seats are for babies from around nine months to four years. There is a wide choice on the market, not only from established brands but also from many lesser known names.

Ultimax Child Car SeatSo what are the key elements of Group 1 seats? Over recent years, the features of these seats have been increasing – side impact support, easy to adjust harnesses and high quality fabrics. As a result prices have been rising and parents have been willing to pay – as long as they can see the benefits. One of the latest innovations is in the Axiss car seat from Bébé Confort. It’s often a struggle to get a child in a seat. But the Axiss turns towards the open door of the car, so getting the harness on that struggling child is so much easier.

Chicco Key 1Which brings us to the perennial question of fitting. Some of us are old enough to remember that once upon a time, fitting a car seat could mean having to drill holes to accept bolts and inevitably some Dads drilled into the petrol tank! A few years later, most cars were fitted with bolts but still fitting the seat was a major challenge. Then we moved to using the seat belt but these were never designed to hold a car seat and using them in this way inevitably means a compromise and still means a lot of pushing and pulling to get a good tight fit.

Britax Click & Safe SystemFitting a seat into ISOfix points is a doddle compared with all that, but there is still a major snag. ISOfix is not the universal panacea we were all promised. As we know, cars are very different in their construction and ‘not all seats fit all cars’ is a mantra we have all reiterated on many occasions. And it is even truer of ISOfix seats. The earliest cars fitted with ISOfix anchorages were equipped with a two-point system. The two latches at the back prevent the seat from moving forwards but it is the car seat cushion that supports the weight of the seat and the child. If the cushion is too soft then, in a crash, the seat can rotate forwards increasing the risk of injury. This means that only the ISOfix seats which are specifically approved for that model are suitable – semi-universal or vehicle specific ISOfix seats.

More recently, new models of car have had two or more seating positions provided with 'three-point' ISOfix anchorages – two-point plus top-tether – making them suitable for 'universal category' ISOfix child seats. Besides the different categories of ISOfix seat, 'universal' and 'semi-universal'/vehicle specific, there are several different size classes too as, for example, a full height forward facing car seat may not physically fit in the back seat of a small car.

Each supplier should have a list of what seat will fit what car. Because the lists are being updated almost daily, it’s a good idea to check with the suppliers before discarding the ISOfix option. For a retailer, recommending an ISOfix seat removes any problem about whether it fits because where there is an approved installation, it cannot be matched by a belted fitting. All the doubt and possible mistakes are removed from the equation.
Suppliers

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