Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if my vehicle has been in an accident with the car seat fitted?

We would strongly recommend changing your car seat if it has been involved in an accident. Even if you cannot see any visible damages, there may be hidden, internal damages. Your insurance company should assist in getting a replacement seat. However ROSPA have a very helpful letter below that might help.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0790/4464/1053/files/insurance-letter-replacing-restraints.pdf?v=1689944783

My child is undoing the buckle, what can I do to stop them doing this?

All of our car seat buckles must be strong enough to restrain the child but also easily accessible for emergency services in the unlikely event of an accident.

Ensure that the child’s harness is secure and tight but not so tight that it is uncomfortable, this may be one reason that they press the buckle. There should be a two finger width between your child’s chest and the harness.

It’s very hard to deter a child from pressing the buckle once they’ve learnt how to so it. However we recommend distraction techniques, keeping them engaged and busy. Our friends at Child Car Seats have some more advise on this;

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/choosing-using/children-undoing-their-harness/

Why does my child have to be in the child seat's weight range?

If you are using a child seat that conforms to the R44/04 standard they are designed within specific weight ranges. 

If the child is too big for their seat, it will not protect them properly and may even injure them in a crash.

They will also be uncomfortable. If the child is too small, they may slip under the seat belt or harness in a crash.

Is it a problem if my child car seat is a bit loose after I have fitted it?

If the seat cannot be held securely, it can be thrown forwards in a crash and the child may be injured.

Check if the seat has been fitted correctly according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

If it cannot be made secure it is possible that the seat is not suitable for your car.

Is it safe for my child to travel in the front seat?

It is always safer for your children to travel in the rear seats, however, if this can’t be avoided, make sure that the front seat is as far back as possible and an airbag is not present.

If your child is in a rear-facing car seat DO NOT put them on the front seat if the airbag is active.

When can I move my baby into forward facing seat?

If possible, do not rush to move your baby into a forward-facing seat.

Babies can legally move to a forward-facing seat at the 9kg minimum weight, however moving your child at 9kg forward-facing is not as safe as having them rear-facing.

For maximum safety you should keep your child in their rear-facing car seat until the seat is fully outgrown.

Rear-facing is safer for babies and toddlers and gives better projection for their neck and spine in a crash.

If your child has outgrown their baby seat by height but is not yet ready to sit forward facing, or you don’t want them to, the option of a combination 0+1 car seat will give you a full-size Group 1 car seat that is rear-facing until 18kg.

What do I do if the instructions for my child car seat are missing?

Fitting instructions are essential to ensure that the children’s car seat has been fitted correctly.

Cozy N Safe’s instruction manuals are all available to download from our website.

If the instructions are not available online, always contact the manufacturer of your seat to ask if they can provide a copy.

What should I do if the harness doesn’t fit my child?

Your car seat will either have a 5-point or a 3-point harness to hold your child securely in their seat.

If the harness is loose, the child could work their way out of their harness while you are driving or could be thrown from the seat in a crash. Make sure it isn’t twisted or tangled.

Use the seat’s instruction book to check how to adjust the height of the harness as your child grows and how tighten it. The top of the harness should be about 2cm below the shoulder of the child in a rear-facing seat and about 2cm above the shoulder in a forward-facing seat.

The harness should fit snugly so that only one or two fingers can fit between the harness and the child’s chest and the harness buckle should not rest on the child’s tummy.

If you cannot adjust the harness to fit correctly, you should change the car seat.

Is it safe to use a second hand car seat?

Unless you can be absolutely certain of a second-hand car seat’s history, because it comes from a family member or a friend, it is best not to use one.

A second-hand seat bought through a second-hand shop or through the classified ads may have been involved in an accident and any damage to the seat that can weaken it may not be visible.

If the instructions are missing or any of the parts, it makes it more difficult to be sure that it is fitted correctly and that it is safe.

Second-hands seats are more likely to be older and have suffered wear and tear; they may also not be designed to current safety standards. Look for the ‘E’ mark and check if the seat meets the ECE 44/04 standard or R129 (i-Size).

Why is it safer to remove my child’s coat before I put them in their car seat?

Thick coats, jackets, body suits and other bulky clothes require you to loosen the child’s harness before you can fasten it.

The problem this causes is that the harness is no longer tight around the child’s body.

In an accident the harness will need to compress the jacket before it can restrain the child and reduces the safety of seat considerably.

To test this, try securing the child in their car seat while they are wearing their coat. Then take the child out of the seat, remove the coat, and put the child back into the seat.

You will see how loosely the harness now fits around your child.

Remember that the harness should be fitting snugly so that you can only put two fingers between the harness and the child’s chest.