THE BEST CHILD seats can prevent or lessen injuries if your car is involved in a collision, so this isn’t a purchase to be scrimped on. And we would advise parents never to trust a second-hand seat.
Although many seats that can accommodate toddlers and older children come with inserts for newborns, our testing shows that they don’t always offer as much head support as infant carriers, and they might not enable you to position the harness straps in the correct position for the tiniest travellers. So, we think it’s better to opt for an infant carrier with a lie-flat function for the first 18 months or so of your child’s life, before moving them on to a rear-facing seat. The multi-stage seats we tested are also better suited to older infants than to newborns, but they’re a good, affordable option for occasional use in a second car.
As well as choosing a seat that’s the right size for your child, it’s vital to make sure the seat fits well in your car and that you can properly install both seat and child. This is why it’s disappointing that, of the 11 seats we tested, we could award only four the full five stars for ease of use.