Infant Restraints
All infant seats and capsules MUST be used rear facing. Rear facing is safest position for ALL infants 12 months old or younger and who weigh 12kgs or less.
Shoulder harness height placement
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There are two types of car seat that can be used for rear facing infants, the first and most common is the capsule, a bucket like seat with a rocking base and carry handle, the other is the full size convertible seat installed facing the back of the car.
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Capsule Rear facing bucket like seat for infants 2.3kg to a maximum of 13kgs dependent on model. A capsule is portable, with a carry handle and a rocking base. Most models now can be used with a convince base, this means you do not need to re-thread the vehicle belt each time you travel. |
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Convertible car seat A convertible car seat can be used from birth to 18kgs. It needs to be used rear facing for infants from birth to 12kgs. The seats are less portable than capsules. They are belted and tethered in. Seats with single strap tethers cannot be used when rear facing. |
Infant seats come with either a 3 or a 5 point harness.
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Rear facing seats and air bags
Never place a rear facing child restraint in the front seat where fitted with airbags. Doing so could result in injury or death. Never place the infant seat forward facing in the front or rear seat to avoid collision with airbags injury or death is still likely to occur.
Always place children under the age of 12 years in the back seat for their safety. See Installing Car Seats for more information.
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American made child restraints require the harness to be at or below the child's shoulders, when rear facing. For forward facing the belts must be at or above the child's shoulders.
American made seats include, Baby Trend, Evenflo, Cosco, Eddie Bauer and Safety 1st.
Australian made seats require the harness to be at or above the child's shoulders at all times. Australian seats include, Safe-n-Sound, Babylove and IGC convertibles.
UK standard seats require the harness to be at or above the infant's shoulder. UK seats include, Nania, Bertini and Babywise capsules.
Always follow the manufacturers guidelines at all times.
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The pinch test is used to check that your child's harness is tight enough against their body. Previously it was common practice to slide 1-2 fingers between the child's chest and the harness. This will give false idea of how tight the harness is.
If you can pinch any of the harness between two fingers (XX grip) then the belt is not tight enough.
If your seat has a chest clip this should always be positioned at the child's armpit level (the "tickle zone"). It should never ride down by the buckle.
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Your child has outgrown the rear facing seat when only 1 inch (2.5cm) of seat shell remains above their head. Do NOT use the seat rear facing until your child's head is in line with the top of the seat or over the edge, this could cause serious injuries in an accident. This applies to all rear facing seats.
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When the child's head has a minimum of 1 inch (2.5cm) above it, you need to move your child into another seat. If your child is under 12kgs and is not yet 12 months old, this move needs to be to a rear facing convertible car seat. The longer your child is rear facing the safer they will be in an accident. The child in the image to the left has long out-grown the capsule and needs to be moved into a rear facing convertible seat. You need to move your child before this happens. |
If your child has reached the maximum weight for their capsule (9-13kgs depending on model) then you need to move into a rear facing car seat, (or forward facing seat, if the child is over 12kgs and is older than 12 months). The Cosco Scenera allows a child to rear face until 16kgs and the Brio Zento allows rear facing until 25kgs.
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Never place a rear facing car seat in a front seat fitted with airbags. Airbags deploy at a high speed and your child could be injured or killed in an accident.
Always rear an infant who is 12 months old or less, and weighs 12kgs or less. You can also rear face longer than 12 months and a child who weighs more that 12kgs where the seat permits.
Secure loose goods in your car, these could become projectiles in an accident or sudden stop and could cause serious injury or death.
Always check that your child seat is correctly installed with the vehicle belt engaged, some times belts come undone, this will not hold your child seat in place during an accident or sudden stop. Also check that the belt is correctly routed through the correct belt path/s.
Some capsules state that the handle must be down during travel, others state that the handle must be in the carry position during travel. Check your restraint manual.
When using a base check the vehicle belt is engaged at all times on the base and that the seat clicks on to the base correctly.
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Brio Car Seats |
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Facts about rear facing and the benefits |