If the child is traveling in the car, it should be seated securely. With so much on offer, it’s not easy for parents to choose. Which seats are really good? The Stiftung Warentest clarifies and finds too many harmful flame retardants in three seats.
Pollutants are invisible: Anyone standing in front of the selection on the shelf when buying a child car seat does not notice them. However, they can turn what is supposed to be a secure fit into a defective product.
Stiftung Warentest, together with ADAC, examined 26 seats for children from newborns to children 1.50 meters tall (“test” magazine 6/2022).
In three seats, the testers found too much harmful flame retardant. The “Walser Kids Experts Noemi” for children up to 1.50 meters (80 euros) and the “Lionelo Antoon RWF” for babies and toddlers (200 euros) failed because of this pollution alone and were rated “inadequate” together with two other seats. found.
The clear test winner with the grade “very good” is the “Cybex Anoris T i-Size”, which at 700 euros is also at the top in terms of price. It is suitable for children between 76 and 115 centimeters tall. The special feature: In the event of an accident, an airbag opens directly in front of the child and stretches out a cushion from head to knee.
In the “Child up to 1.50 m” age group, the “Britax Römer Kidfix M i-Size” (180 euros) performed best with a grade of 2.0; In the “Baby plus toddler” category, the “Maxi-Cosi Mica Pro i-Size” (grade 2.1, 400 euros) won the race in terms of price and safety.
The examiners rated 15 seats as “good” and six as “satisfactory”. The baby seats for the little ones scored particularly well. The ten products that all tested “good” were given the green light with regard to possible pollutants and were in the good to even very good range in terms of safety. For example the “Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix i-Size” (150 euros, with a base of 300 euros), the “Cybex Aton B2 i-Size” (160 euros, with a base of 240 euros) or the “Pep-Pérego Primo Viaggio SLK”. (199 euros, with base 340 euros).
The price for the baby seats is between 150 and 530 euros. It also depends on whether the shell has a base or not. With the base, the seat is more expensive, but handling is easier. Because the base is firmly adjusted once on the seat and the shell then just clicked in. The belt fumbling is eliminated.
Some good and one very good car seat from the tests of the past two years are still available. As far as the balance of pollutants is concerned, the test results are not exactly comparable with those of the seats from this year.
The difference: Previously, samples from different seat parts were mixed and analyzed. This time individual samples were taken, making the test more accurate.
(This article was first published on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.)
