Whilst first car seats might suffer from the odd posset of baby milk, it's when your kids get older that backseats can become a haven of rice cake crumbs, spilt drinks and muddy feet.
Sure, you can keep a tidy car (if you're nothing at all like my family!), but when you're out on a walk and it starts to rain, you rarely have time or inclination to clean everyone up before they dash back into the car.
Britax have always moved with the times, and the needs of families. They were pioneers of safer travel like sturdy, Isofix fittings, and now they have added some other features which will run as standard in some of their ranges from January 2007.
Safe-Strap is a trademarked feature that allows you to adjust the strap on the seat. Not all children of the same age are built the same, and being able to fully adjust the strap for a particular child, will make it far more comfortable and allow for better safety.
The Explora ISOFIX will be an ISOFIX compatible car sear suitable for the 9 to 18kg size child. ISOFIX and similar trademarked products, are an increasingly popular option where the car seat already has a fitting which a car seat clicks directly into, instead of using a conventional car strap to hold a car seat in place.
Their new ULTRA range features fabric coverings that are easy to take off and wash, and which have a fast absorbtion of moisture and sweat. Perfect if you're likely to be ferrying half the school football team around!
SI Pro is another feature of the new seats, offering deep, softly padded side wings on the seats to maxmise side-impact protection.
In their Urban fabric ranges, there will be an anti-bacterial finish so that messy chairs don't easily become a haven for nasty germs. However, they are also soft and dermatologically tested so you don't need to worry that the treatments the covering get will affect your baby's health or skin. All the fabrics are durable for crawling and wriggling on, and easy to remove for washing.
The Active and Country ranges also feature key fabric qualities to make them easy to clean, safe to sit on and fully breathable. The Country options, for example, have a soil-resistant finish.
For more about the ranges and their new features, visit www.britax.eu.
