GRACO

R129: The Current Child Car Seat Standard Explained

Preliminary Research – The Parents’ Perspective

To first better understand how parents feel about car seat safety, Graco undertook research by speaking to a wide range of parents about their experience of car travel with their children.

Just one quarter of readers of Mother & Baby were confident they understood the differences between car seat safety standards, and 81% of First Time Mums followers admitted they felt nervous when embarking on their first car journey with their baby, with 40% feeling palpably anxious.

What you need to know about the R129 Safety Standard

Suitably, the R129 car seat safety standard was introduced to simplify the process of choosing the correct seat to protect our children; here are a few considerations with R129 car seats to be conscious of:

• R129 is the ‘gold standard’ for car seat safety (as all R129 seats are side impact tested to provide enhanced head and neck protection)

• The standard requires children to be rearward-facing for longer (up to at least 15 months old), although most manufacturers recommend rearward-facing to 4yrs

• Most significantly, your metric for selecting a car seat is now solely based on your child’s height, making it simpler to get the correct seat for you child’s current developmental stage

Keeping Safe with S.A.F.E

For over 60 years, Graco has taken pride in having committed its products to perform their best against, and often exceed all, safety standards. Aiming to assist parents and carers in remembering the main aspects of the R129 standard, Graco have devised a simple acronym playing on the word ‘S.A.F.E’:

• S – Size of your child. R129 car seat compatibility is measured by the length, or height of the child.

• A – Advanced Side Impact Protection. It is standard that all R129 car seats must have side impact testing.

• F – Fitting formulas ensure the car seat fits your car.

• E – Extended rearward facing until a minimum of 15 months old. At Graco, we recommend rearward travel till 4 years of age for the best protection to the child’s neck and spine.

R129 Certified Car Seats – Graco’s Favourites

Graco SlimFit R129

This much-loved car seat from the R129 range is the only car seat you’ll ever need, suitable from 40-145cm (birth – approx. 12 years) and built to adapt to your growing child.

Graco Turn2Me i-Size R129

A parent favourite, the Turn2Me 360° rotating car seat makes journeys easy. Suitable from 40-105cm (birth to approx. 4 years), the one-hand spin takes any stress out of moving your little one in and out of the car.

Click here for more information on GRACO and R129