08/03/2024
When it comes to making sure your child is in the correct child car restraint, it’s important to focus on their size, not their age.
Why is size most important? Children develop at different rates. If you lined up 10 four year olds, you would notice that they are all different heights - you might have the next star AFL ruckman who is really tall, some who are average height, and some who are a little smaller.
This means that they’ll all have different child car restraint requirements - just like they’ll all need different sized clothing!
While you will see ages referred to on child car restraint boxes (e.g. suitable for children from 6 months to 4 years), these ages are a guide. The laws also mention ages - these outline the minimum requirements, however, research shows that there is more that can be done above and beyond these minimum requirements to keep kids as safe as possible.
Overall, focusing on size means that you are making the safest decision for your child based on their stage of development.