3/5 point harness
Lots of car seats come with an integrated harness. Infant carriers can have either a 3 or a 5 point harness and group 0+1 seats upwards have a 5 point harness.
5 point harnesses are designed to spread the force of an impact across the child's body, in 5 directions - over both shoulders, across the hips and through the crotch strap. When forward facing this spreads the force as evenly as possible. However the child's head and limbs are not restrained with the harness and will continue their forward momentum. This puts huge strain on the child's neck and spine which can cause serious and fatal injuries. You can protect your child from this by keeping them in the rear facing infant seat as long as possible, and then opting for a group 1 or 1,2 rear facing car seat.
Lots of car seats come with an integrated harness. Infant carriers can have either a 3 or a 5 point harness and group 0+1 seats upwards have a 5 point harness.
5 point harnesses are designed to spread the force of an impact across the child's body, in 5 directions - over both shoulders, across the hips and through the crotch strap. When forward facing this spreads the force as evenly as possible. However the child's head and limbs are not restrained with the harness and will continue their forward momentum. This puts huge strain on the child's neck and spine which can cause serious and fatal injuries. You can protect your child from this by keeping them in the rear facing infant seat as long as possible, and then opting for a group 1 or 1,2 rear facing car seat.
Impact Shields
There are lots of seats coming out on the market that utilise an impact shield instead of a harness. This is designed to spread the force of an impact across the whole of a child's torso, rather than in 5 directions. The impact shield absorbs the force of an impact more gently and reduces the strain to the neck.
Impact shield seats tend to fit in most cars and they are easy to swap between cars. Lots of them are Group 1,2,3, allowing you to use the impact shield right up to 18kg and then the seat converts to a high back booster.
There has been some controversy over impact shield seats and how they perform in a roll over accident. A major manufacturer released a video comparing the performance of a harness seat and an impact shield seat. The video is below, along with a video of a harness seat crash test, an impact shield seat crash test and an extended rear facing seat crash test.
It is important that parents know everything each seat can offer them when making their choice.
There are lots of seats coming out on the market that utilise an impact shield instead of a harness. This is designed to spread the force of an impact across the whole of a child's torso, rather than in 5 directions. The impact shield absorbs the force of an impact more gently and reduces the strain to the neck.
Impact shield seats tend to fit in most cars and they are easy to swap between cars. Lots of them are Group 1,2,3, allowing you to use the impact shield right up to 18kg and then the seat converts to a high back booster.
There has been some controversy over impact shield seats and how they perform in a roll over accident. A major manufacturer released a video comparing the performance of a harness seat and an impact shield seat. The video is below, along with a video of a harness seat crash test, an impact shield seat crash test and an extended rear facing seat crash test.
It is important that parents know everything each seat can offer them when making their choice.
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