The most important thing to a Mother….

The most important thing to me, as a mother, is keeping my children safe.   Whether this be when we’re out about, teaching them how to be safe themselves or we’re driving in the car – it’s always my top priority.  It concerns me that normally responsible parents can be quite lax with car safety where children are concerned

Adult seat belts aren’t designed for children  aren’t designed for children to wear  as they are proportioned differently and their young bones are still developing so until they reach the age of 12 (or 135cm tall) when they can safely and legally wear an adult seat belt, they should be sat in a car seat suitable for their weight on EVERY journey they take in a car.

Children’s car seats are designed for different weights,  You should check the label on the seat to see weight range the seat is suitable for.  The weight ranges are categorised into the following:

• ‘Group 0′ and ‘Group 0+’ - rear-facing baby seats suitable for babies up to 13kg
• ‘Group I’ - forward or rearward-facing baby seats for children between 9 and 18kg
• ‘Group II’ - forward-facing child car seats (booster seats) for children between 15 and 25kg
• ‘Group III’ - booster cushions for children above 22 kg

A lot of car seats will move through the stages with your child so it’s well worth considering spending a little bit more up front on a car seat that you can use for longer.

I’m all about money saving here but car seats aren’t an area that I would advocate saving money on.  If you do decide to get a used car seat you need to make sure that it’s an up to date model that comes with full instructions on how to fit it and you must, must make sure that it’s never been involved in an accident.

My two have always had a car seat appropriate for their weight and I also have a spare that I keep in the boot of the car for when any of their friends come around for tea.  I’ve had a few funny looks from children when I tell them I won’t start the car until they’re sat in the car seat and safely strapped in – many of them sit in the front without any car seat at all according to them!

I’m on the lookout for a new car at the minute actually and the safety features will be my main concern (Mr Frugal may be looking for different things ).  I do quite fancy a larger car, although I’m not sure if the car the kids are after –  a 7 seater SUV – will be a little too big for me! I suspect they want a car that big so we can have more friends round for tea after school!

Some cars, like the Chevrolet Orlando have some very tempting safety features – six airbags, a dual ISOFIX system compatible with ISOFIX car seats and a reinforced safety cage to reduce the effect of any impact.   You can’t beat safety features like that can you?