Ah, kids. The apples of our eyes. Our reason for being. The reason we had to trade in a two-seat sports car for a people carrier! Whatever we think of our kids at any given time - and they do tend to alternate between angel and demons without a moment's notice - we do want to keep them safe, and in Ireland that means from the moment they are born up until they hit their teen years they have to be strapped into an appropriate child seat.
But which one does our blessed little blighter need and what types of seats are available?
All that and more are answered for you here...
Seat groups
There are five basic seat groups (or stages as some retailers call them), though confusingly (especially as these are the types of seats likely to be bought by first time parents) Group 0 and 0+ are sometimes lumped together.
The Groups themselves are based on a child's weight in kilograms. For a nation that still regularly uses pounds and ounces (despite officially switching to the metric system when we joined the EU) this is unfortunate, but the system is a universal one and more countries use metric than imperial. You may also find that seats are labelled by age, but these are approximations rather than hard and fast rules.
Group 0 - rearward facing baby carrier for children up to 10kg (birth to 6-9 months)
Group 0+ - rearward facing baby carrier for children up to 13kg (birth to 12-15 months)
Group 1 - forward facing child seat for children between 9- and 18kg (approx. 9 months to 4 years)
Group 2 - forward facing booster seat for children between 15- and 25kg (approx. 4-6 years)
Group 3 - forward facing booster cushions for children between 22- and 36kg (approx. 6-11 years)
Weight and age are not the only factors however. All children are different; some are quite tall for their age or lighter than the guidelines recommend so use common sense. If your baby is in a rear-facing Group 0+ seat and the top of their head is in line with the top of the seat - or if the eye level of a child in a Group 1, 2 or 3 seat is in line with the top of the seat - it is time to move up. They may be below the recommended weight or indeed suggested age but they have outgrown the seat.
That said, do not be in a rush to change up too soon. As long as they still fit comfortably into a seat leave them there. A big child in a small seat will be safer than a small child in a big seat in most circumstances.
What type of seat?
If you have a car manufactured since 2002 it is likely it will feature ISOFIX mounting points. These are hidden anchoring points, located beneath the seat cushion, which effectively connect a child seat to a car's chassis in the same way a seatbelt is. If your car has ISOFIX mounts and it is going to be the only car you are using we would recommend finding a seat to suit your specific car.
And that is an important factor. All cars are different with different shape seat squabs, different length seat belts etc, so ensure that the child seat you are thinking of fits into your car before driving off into the sunset. If it doesn't it may not do the job you expect it to do.
While your car may have ISOFIX mounting points you do also have to take into consideration the other cars that your child is likely to be travelling in. Does the child-minder's car have ISOFIX? What about the grandparents'? If not you may have to look at child seats that are can be fitted using the car's seatbelt.
Fitting the seats
When you visit your chosen retailer to buy your child seat it is possible there will be someone there who is trained to fit them. And if that is going to be the only car you use you can allow the nice man or woman to fit the seat and be done with it. Though clearly you should watch and learn.
With ISOFIX seats this looks to be a simple case of locating the mounting points, slotting the seat in and job done, but since 2012 all new cars have been fitted with a top tethering mount to secure the top of the seat in place, so you will have to locate that. There are also some seats that come with a 'leg' at the front, which stands on the floor of the car to further secure it in place. However, if your car has hidden underfloor storage (that place you store the iPad away from prying eyes) then you may not be able to use these legs; the door on the compartment is unlikely to be strong enough to hold in the event of a crash.
With non-ISOFIX seats it is a little more fiddly in that you have to weave the car's seatbelt through the child seat in a manner that would put a Boy Scout to shame. Make sure to follow manufacturer instructions, which are usually printed on the side of the seat. Initially it will be frustrating, but in time it will become second nature. Make sure to put your weight against the child seat while tightening the seat belt to remove any slack and if using a forward-facing seat make sure it is as far back as it will go.
Booster cushions are the easiest seats to fit; occupants use the belt as an adult would, but this does come with a caveat. Car seatbelts are designed for occupants of five foot and above (give or take an inch or two for adjustment). So if your darling is too short even when sitting on the cushion they will not receive the full benefit of the seatbelt in the event of a crash - time to get them back into a booster seat instead.
Can kids ride up front?
As tempting as it is to have your new-born baby beside you so you can tend to their every need, it is dangerous. Airbags and rear facing child seats are not friends. The purpose of a seatbelt is to stop forward motion in the event of an accident, but with an airbag pushing in the opposite direction there is nothing to stop the baby seat being flipped up (at great speed) and forced into the car seat - face first.
The simple rule is: back seats are where babies are made and where they should stay - so to speak...
It is not just children in rear facing seats who should ride in the back - they all should. Like seatbelts, the airbag is designed to work with people of a certain size and weight (i.e. adults) so children riding up front could at best not benefit from it or worst be injured by the airbag itself.
You can disable the passenger airbag in many modern cars, but you may need to check with your insurer to see if this affects your level of cover.
Can I get three child seats in the back?
Ah, one of our most asked questions on CompleteCar.ie and the simple answer is yes you can, providing your car is wide enough and hands small enough to fit between the seats. However, if you want to go for three ISOFIX seats your choices are limited. ISOFIX mounting points on the two outer seats in the rear have long been the norm but it is only of late that manufacturers have started to add a third mounting point in the middle. MPVs such as the Renault Scenic are the best bet as not only do they have three mounting points, but the individual rear chairs make the child seats easier to fit as the car seats can be slid fore and aft to create more room.
If you can live without ISOFIX for the middle child you can use the seatbelt option - either woven through a child seat or as a regular seatbelt for a booster seat. Again a car with individual seats will make your life much easier. While this method can be more fiddly it does open up more options on the car front with crossovers like the Skoda Yeti featuring three individual rear seats.
If you are staying with your current car but have to have three child seats across the back it may be a case of mixing and matching seats until you find a combination that works. That or grazed knuckles!
What are the legal implications?
As well as wanting to keep our little bundles of joy (and snot) safe there is also a legal obligation on all drivers to ensure anyone under the age of 17 is buckled up while inside their car. Above that age the onus is on the occupant themselves, but there are separate penalty points offences to ensure that under threes are secured in appropriate child seats and likewise for over threes. It is also an offence (as well as being dangerous as we have pointed out) to have a rear facing child seat in the front while the airbag is enabled.
The laws apply to both cars and vans so those who habitually carry a baby seat in a van may be running the risk of penalty points and a fine if the passenger airbag is not disabled. All of these offences carry two penalty points each (rising to four should it go to court) and a fixed fine of €60 (rising to €90 if not paid within 28 days).
If you'd like to discuss any aspect of this with us in more depth - or you have any questions at all - get in touch via our Ask us Anything page.