Lets face it, car seats can be so confusing at the best of times and so often when your child reaches 18kg (around 4 years) and they are ready to move into the group 2-3 car seat, many of us don’t understand the importance of a high back booster because seats without have been so readily available in most supermarkets for as little as £14.99.
The current UK law states that any child needs to travel in the correct car seat until they are 12 years old or 135cm (which ever they reach first) but once the law is changed towards the end of this year, children will be required to travel in a high back booster until they are 125cm and 22kg and backless boosters will only be approved for older children.
Now we aren’t saying that you have to spend a fortune on a high back booster for your little one and although they are a little more expensive, you can buy a good seat from around £39.99 which is estimated to last around 6 years!
So what is the difference?
High back boosters are much safer for your children due to the extra protection they offer and statistics show that 25% of accidents occur with a side impact so for children as young as 4 not to have this extra protection could be really dangerous if you were in an accident.
The high back booster also performs much better in a frontal impact due to the seat belt guide that allows the belt to position itself properly across your child's body.
Overall high back boosters perform much better when tested against backless boosters.
Will I need a new seat?
The new regulations will only apply to new purchases and if you already have a backless booster seat you can continue to use it without breaking the rules, that said we would highly recommend you purchase a high back booster to use in its place.