Are Carseat Seatbelt Cushion Pads Good for the Baby

There are numerous kid car seat accessories bachelor to buy from the major infant retailers and online.

They're designed to solve a range of different issues you lot might encounter while your kid is sabbatum in his or her auto seat including:

• your kid unbuckling him or herself while the car is moving
• your child's head or body flopping forrad or to the side while sleeping
• the geometry of the vehicle's seatbelt not matching up with the car seat, making it hard to buckle up your child
• your child feeling too hot or cold while in the car.

However, we'd strongly advise you lot to be careful what you go for. Car seats are crash-tested in the way they are designed to exist used, and adding accessories such as chest clips or seat covers that aren't approved by the manufacturer could compromise the seat's safety and/or void the warranty.

Come across our child car seat reviews .

Are child car seat accessories safe?

We got expert viewpoints from our car seat testing team on whether the enormous range of accessories available are safe or appropriate to use.

5 Bespeak Plus Anti-Escape system

The 5 Point Plus Anti Escape System has been on the marketplace for some years now. But since the beginning of 2016, information technology has come integrated into all Cosatto's Group 1 and one/2/iii car seats, and then the make clearly agrees with its benefits.

It'due south a fabric harness that fits over the five-point harness of the child seat, reducing the size of the arm holes to make it much harder for arms to slip out of shoulder straps.

Nosotros crash-tested the 5 Point Plus and our experts didn't see whatever negative effects on the dummy loads (that'south what our tests apply to replicate a kid existence in the seat). It besides doesn't forestall parents from unclicking the harness in 1 activeness to get their kid out of the car quickly.

Verdict: Safety to use

Breast clips

This is a plastic prune that's attached to the integral harness to hold the straps together, ideally at chest summit. It's designed to stop your child slipping their artillery out of the harness.

However, as about child car seat harnesses come with padded shoulder pads that cover the straps, y'all may find you need to mountain the clip quite low, so information technology sits beyond the stomach and not the breast.

Our car seat testing experts were concerned that this could potentially increase dangerous amounts of pressure on the soft area of your child's abdomen in the result of a crash.

What's more, if yous own a car seat that claims to comply to the R44 car seat regulations, using a chest clip could mean you're breaking the police force. That'south because the regulation states that you should be able to release the child from the harness restraint in ane operation. Adding an extra breast clip ways you have to open up two buckles. If you have an R129 machine seat, breast clips are permitted.

Verdict: Not recommended unless you own a motorcar seat that meets R129 regulations – check the label

Seatbelt buckle blocks

This is a plastic guard that'due south placed over the vehicle's primary seatbelt buckle, and and so the belt is clicked into information technology. Information technology's designed to stop children pressing the buckle button while you're driving, and is marketed at any children who are strapped into their car seat using the adult seatbelt (such as with a group II/III car seat). Brands bachelor in the Great britain include BuckleSafe! and Roadtrip Essentials BuckleUp Belt Lock Buckle Guard.

In order for a parent to release the device, you lot need a separate key (or your own car key) to slot into a narrow opening to actuate the main seatbelt push and release the buckle.

Regulations on the utilize of adult seatbelts state that the buckle should be like shooting fish in a barrel to use and capable of being released by the wearer in a single movement. This is then that, in the event of a crash, it will speed up the rescue and removal of occupants from the machine. Even so, with the buckle guard in place, these devices require yous to either locate the included plastic key or remove your ain car cardinal from the ignition to activate the release push. This slows down the removal time and means the seatbelt buckle no longer meets the legal requirements.

Well-nigh modern cars have a alarm arrangement that will alert the commuter if anyone saturday in the dorsum does non take their seatbelt attached, then we feel that this is a practiced mode of keeping an eye on the status of seatbelts in the back of the car. While information technology can be frustrating to accept to terminate regularly to buckle your child dorsum in, we can't recommend these devices if it means your car seat is not meeting the legal requirements for use.

Verdict: Not recommended

A spokesperson for Roadtrip Essentials BuckleUp Belt Lock Buckle Guard told us: 'We volition look into this in more detail and if necessary redesign the production. Our intent is to assistance people move from A to B in the safest way.'

We contacted BuckleSafe! for a annotate merely were unable to attain anyone.

Buckle-upp Anti Escape System

The Buckle-upp Anti Escape System is a cushioned mesh cover that attaches to the car seat harness buckle and covers the release push button. It's designed to preclude unbuckling when travelling.

Both R44 and R129 machine seat regulations state that buckle restraints should be released during a single performance, which this cover will prevent you from doing. This ways using the Buckle-upp will mean your auto seat does not comply with legal regulations.

Verdict: Non recommended

Buckle-upp told us that the zipper does not have an adverse upshot on the prophylactic of the seatbelt itself just is instead a safe option for parents who desire to ensure their child remains in an upright position.

Neck pillows

These are designed to prevent your child's caput from flopping forward when asleep. They usually sit around the neck and across the shoulders, but aren't attached to the car seat, and our car seat experts accept confirmed that they practise non disharmonize with the R44 and R129 car seat regulations.

But make sure that you lot select a pillow that properly fits your child and then that it is comfy.

Verdict: Safe to utilise

NapUp head supports

The NapUp is a head support that'south equipped with ii straps to connect information technology to the car seat backrest. Information technology comes with a head support band that tin be folded down for additional support when the child has fallen asleep preventing the caput from flopping frontward.

Not every child will be happy having their head strapped to the seat in this position. However, the use of the NapUp does non conflict with the requirements of regulations R44 or R129.

Our car seat experts carried out a crash test using the NapUp. During the crash, the head support ring, which uses push buttons for attachment, comes off. This ways it won't interfere with the protection of the machine seat itself.

Verdict: Safe to use

BeltUpp

The BeltUpp is an additional safe belt for high-backed booster seats. It's fastened to the lap and shoulder straps of the vehicle seatbelt and inserted in the respective guides on the booster seat.

With the BeltUpp installed, your child volition have an 'Ten' pattern across its breast. Information technology's designed to provide better support for a sleeping child and to cease them from slipping out of the seatbelt.

Even so, strapping in your child with an boosted belt means you'll have to release a second buckle, and y'all won't exist able to release your child in one action (a requirement of both R44 and R129 car seat regulations).

Verdict: Not recommended

A spokesperson for BeltUpp told u.s.a.: 'BeltUpp has an extra buckle to undo merely it is in fact quicker and easier to get a kid out from this organisation than information technology is when they accept a harness and a centrally placed buckle. The additional buckle is the first affair you see when yous open the car door then at that place is no confusion as to how to undo information technology. Senior Trading Standards and Senior Burn down Brigade officers have looked at BeltUpp in particular and land that there is nothing to substantiate any suggestion that the device is unsafe.'

Smart Child chugalug

This is a belt guide consisting of two red clips and a piece of belt. It'due south designed to be used with children aged four to 12 years. The idea is that you clip it to the adult seatbelt to pull it down and up so that it sits beyond the right parts of your kid's body. It's designed to remove the demand for a high-backed or backless booster seat, as it ensures the developed seatbelt sits across the right parts of a child's torso to provide protection without applying too much pressure.

This product was approved to R44 regulations. However, when we carried out our own crash testing with it, nosotros discovered that the product doesn't keep the shoulder role of the vehicle seatbelt low enough in a frontal standoff. The horizontal chugalug also pulls up during a crash, meaning the seatbelt will pull across your child'due south delicate abdomen and potentially cause dangerous internal injuries. We believe that using the Smart Kid Belt would exist no safer than transporting your child using simply the vehicle seatbelts, something that is prohibited for children who are less than 1.35 metres.

Verdict: Not recommended

The manufacturer of the Smart Kid Belt told us it thinks it's being unfairly targeted past market competitors. The company says it's had the Smart Kid Belt independently tested to the relevant Standard, and the results show that the Smart Kid Belt is safe and effective.

Seatbelt triangle pad

The seatbelt triangle pad is designed to pull the cross-trunk function of the developed seatbelt away from your child'due south neck, and provide boosted padding.

But our automobile seat experts noted that if the pad is poorly placed, it could pull the lap belt upwardly and the shoulder belt down, and so that they run beyond the sensitive abdomen area, which could be dangerous in a crash.

A good high-backed booster seat should be able to guide the seatbelt into the correct positions so information technology sits comfortably across your child (and it's ane of the things nosotros check in our auto seat testing), so a triangle pad is redundant if you have a decent car seat.

Verdict: Not recommended

Seat Belt Buckle Extension Extender Prune

This is a 2d buckle that's clicked into your vehicle's master seatbelt clip. It's designed to make information technology easier to buckle up your child by raising the position of the buckle, making information technology more than attainable.

But to comply with requirements ready out in European union machine seatbelt regulations, the distance betwixt the belt guide at the vehicle seatbelt tongue and the edge of the backrest bottom/seat surface should not exceed 150mm. This buckle ways it will exceed that distance.

Too, doing this means the location of the buckle will sit down side by side to the hard plastic role of the machine seat, and could cause something chosen 'buckle crunch' where pressure is put on the buckle and subjects it to angle movements, which could weaken it.

Verdict: Non recommended

RiveMove

This is a device that's mounted to the in-car Isofix anchor points to assist you position your car seat and so information technology's closer to the motorcar window, and it volition permit more than room in the key seat if needed. The manufacturer recommends only using it with grouping II/III car seats.

Our car seat experts were concerned that installing a RiveMove may change the load distribution betwixt the Isofix points, meaning they may no longer withstand a crash.

However, they confirmed that this is non besides much of an issue if your child is strapped into their car seat using the automobile'due south adult seatbelt, as that will absorb most of the touch. But it does mean that y'all shouldn't use this device if your motorcar seat is simply installed via the Isofix points and your child is strapped in using a harness.

Verdict: Only recommended with group Two/3 booster seats

A spokesperson for RiveMove told us: 'Before launching our product into the market we carried out numerous tests in CSI Spa (Italian republic) in accordance with regulations ECE R129, with which groups Ii/III car seats are homologated, demonstrating its safety. Afterward analysing the results of these tests experts have expressed their confidence with our accessory.'

Summer auto seat embrace

Some manufacturers brand interchangeable car seat covers for their products. For example, summer covers are designed to exist cooler for your babe or child in the hotter months.

R44 and R129 both make it mandatory for a rear-facing kid car seat to carry a visible airbag warning label on the inner surface of the seat, near where the caput sits.

If the auto seat cover does not have this, and then technically it will mean the auto seat is not meeting all the legal requirements.

Verdict: Just recommended if information technology does not cover alarm labels when used on a rear-facing seat

Winter footmuff

A footmuff is designed to go on your child warm and cosy, and has holes for the (3-point or five-point) harness and the buckle to secure them.

Information technology's a good alternative to thick winter wearing apparel, which make buckling in your child difficult and tin can potentially diminish the restraining effect of the harness due to belt slack. However, it should only be used in an infant auto seat every bit the whole carrier can be removed with the child in it in the outcome of a crash.

You should non use a footmuff with any other type of car seat, as it will cover the harness buckle and prevent an easy release of the buckle later a crash.

Verdict: Only with an infant car seat

Car seat blankets

These are blankets or swaddles that have harness holes cut out, so you can wrap them round your baby and yet buckle them in. Unless they are recommended by the manufacturer of your automobile seat, we think you should steer clear.

Even with blankets that are recommended, be very careful that the harness is tightly done up.

This is for the same reason that you shouldn't dress your child in bulky winter coats. Although you may feel that yous've done the harness up tightly, the soft padding of a coat volition shrink in an blow.

As a issue, the harness straps will be looser than they should exist, which could expose your child to higher forces in a crash. If you are worried virtually your child being common cold in the motorcar, dress them in several sparse layers.

Verdict: Not recommended

Window sunshades

Infant car seats tend to accept built-in sunshades, which are not only useful for keeping the sun out, but also provide a layer of protection from flying drinking glass if you're in an blow.

If you want sunshades, try to choose ones made by machine seat manufacturers, as they should have had some level of crash testing.

Make sure any you choose are securely attached, especially as the suction pads could fall off or be pulled off by pocket-size children and become a choking hazard.

Verdict: Safe to use

Car seat protector

A car seat protector may seem similar a good idea. They're designed to protect your back seat from dents or scratches that could potentially be caused by your child motorcar seat, but in reality they could compromise the safe of the machine seat.

Additional padding or cloth betwixt the seat and its fixing could mean the seat is non every bit firmly fitted every bit it should be, which could accept serious consequences in a crash.

Even if the protector is claimed to have been crash-tested, it certainly won't have been tested with every car seat.

If a manufacturer sells 1 to go with its car seat, it should have been crash-tested with it. Only if it'south a generic cover nosotros'd recommend contacting the manufacturer to make sure it's canonical for use with your car seat, or it could invalidate the seat's warranty.

Verdict: Only recommended if the cover has been crash-tested with your seat

Mirrors

When your child is in a rear-facing car seat, you can't encounter them when you lot're driving. So it'southward understandable that many new parents buy mirrors that attach to the back seat's headrest to become a view of their babe from the rear-view mirror.

These mirrors are popular, only many condom experts feel they are a distraction, and nosotros wouldn't recommend using them.

This is because trying to brand middle contact with your footling one, or run into what he or she is up to while y'all're at the bicycle, stops you concentrating on your driving.

Also, in an accident, at that place's a existent danger that the forces of a crash would cause the mirror to come loose and hit someone.

Verdict: Non recommended

Cup-holder

Some manufacturers brand cup-holders that prune on to the side of the seat, and some seats accept loving cup-holders congenital in.

It's useful to accept a secure place for a child's drink to go so that he or she tin achieve information technology, to save y'all pulling over or engaging in dangerous driving while trying to retrieve the bottle. We would advise using 1 recommended by the manufacturer.

Of course, a cup in the motorcar could fly costless in an accident and a cup-holder may not prevent this, so bear this in mind.

Verdict: Use 1 recommended past your car seat manufacturer

To see a selection of car seats that nosotros recommend, visit our round-upward of the best car seats.

What practice auto seat manufacturers say?

We asked Britax, one of the leading car seat manufacturers, for its view on seat accessories. A spokesperson said: 'We invest significant time in the inquiry, development and testing of our own manufactured accessories which accompany our child car seats. This ensures that the accessories offered enhance the consumer experience by offering added comfort and practicality, but doesn't interfere with the crash performance of the car seats.

'Furthermore, the warranty of our car seats will be invalid if an accessory not developed past us is used in conjunction with the seat, ie a permanent attachment to the seat. This is because any accessory attached to a car seat would crave homologation to ensure the seat still performs in a crash equally it should. Therefore we would advise against using accessories not developed and tested by the car seat manufacturers. On the other hand, an accompaniment which is not attached to our car seats won't impact the warranty as it won't have an touch on restraint operation during a crash.'

We likewise contacted Cybex. A spokesperson stated that it follows the same advice provided by the Infant Products Association: 'Just products supplied or recommended by the motorcar seat manufacturer should be used with the motorcar seat. The apply of a non-approved accessory could invalidate your insurance. There are products available that reduce this problem. Speak to the manufacturer if you are non clear which products they recommend.'

What do the car insurers say?

We too asked different insurance companies whether using car seat accessories might affect your chances of putting through a claim for a damaged car seat in the event of a crash. This is what some of them said.

Thou&S Bank

'The use of child car seat accessories wouldn't touch child seat cover, or invalidate the vehicle insurance in the upshot of a claim. Nevertheless, the cost of the accessory itself wouldn't be covered equally it doesn't form function of the original motorcar seat.'

LV

'It'south unlikely we would reject a merits based on automobile-seat accessories lonely. That said, we would encourage parents to ensure their car seats are fitted properly to reduce the risk of injury.'

NFU Mutual

'We cover machine seats under 'Spare parts and Accessories' for damage. While the accessories would not necessarily invalidate cover, we would ever urge drivers to act responsibly and to put condom first.

'In some cases the apply of accessories could be a source of contributory negligence if for instance, the driver becomes distracted and causes a standoff, or if loose pieces obstruct the employ of controls. Any resulting police force penalty could have an touch on on premium or the driver's power to renew.'

Saga

'We oasis't yet seen any issues with car seat accessories causing issues at claim stage and therefore cannot envisage a scenario where a claim would not be covered.'

Finding the right car insurance policy can exist catchy and, at times, overwhelming. Discover useful tips in our car insurance communication guides .

View all Child car seats

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Source: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/child-car-seats/article/child-car-seat-accessories-afYV16y7R8OC

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