Learn how to use the car seat correctly

To help parents and guardians put children in car seats in the safest way possible, the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), the Brazilian Association of Traffic Medicine (Abramet) and the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP) have launched a booklet. See more at stow and go minivans

In the document, which values ​​the health of babies, professionals reaffirm that children must be transported in car seats.

“These devices were designed to give users more safety in the event of a collision or sudden deceleration. As the numbers show, they have been fundamental to saving thousands of lives over the years”, defended the first vice president of CFM, Mauro Ribeiro.

The best place for a car seat

Children transported in the rear seat of the vehicle have an absolute lower risk of injury or death compared to those transported in the front seat.

The safest place for minors is the center of the back seat. In the case of a traffic accident, the small ones seated in the center of the back seat have up to 24% less risk of death than those transported in the lateral positions.

But there is a caveat: the car seat should only be placed in the center of the rear seat if the seat is equipped with a three-point seat belt.

Front airbag

In Brazil, only in the special situations mentioned below is the transport of children under 10 years old allowed in the front seat of the vehicle:

When the vehicle is exclusively equipped with this seat;

When the number of children of this age exceeds the rear seat capacity;

When the vehicle is originally manufactured with lap seat belts (two points) on the rear seats (preventing the correct attachment of the baby-comfort).

Although it is possible, the driver who wants to install the car seat in the front seat must turn off the  front passenger airbag .

How to choose the ideal car seat

It is not enough to know how to install the device, it is necessary to choose the correct size and a quality brand as well.

For that, one must pay attention to the mass group to which the child belongs. The car seat should be neither too big nor too tight to the point of undesired slack or tightness.

Another point to be noted: the classification according to the mass group must be stamped together with the certification that the equipment has passed the tests required by the technical manufacturing and safety standards (seal of conformity and certifying body).

Device and ideal position by age

As long as the child is unable to sit and maintain head balance, a clamshell seat should be used, installed with a slight inclination in the opposite direction to the normal position of the vehicle seat. This prevents the child's head from being subjected to impacts in case of braking and collisions, reducing the risk of trauma to the cervical spine.