How we rank seats

What decides the order

We sort in steps. Each step only matters when seats are equal on the one before, so a seat can never make up for a weaker crash result by being easier to fit or cheaper.

1. It has to fit your child now. We check your child's height and weight against the limits the seat's maker publishes. Seats your child is too small for, or has outgrown, go in a separate list with the reason.
2. The safest way of sitting comes first. Rear-facing seats come before forward-facing harness seats, and harness seats before boosters. We only suggest a booster once a child is past both 105 cm and 18 kg.
3. Independent crash tests. Seats go in order of their test record (below): Top tested first. Within a level, seats that passed the Swedish Plus Test come first. Then come seats with a good ADAC crash safety score (2.5 or better on ADAC's scale), then seats ADAC hasn't tested, then seats with a lower ADAC score. A missing test doesn't count against a seat. ADAC made its tests stricter in 2025, so after the Plus Test step, seats with an ADAC result from 2025 or later come before seats with an older result.
4. Seats that go the distance. We advise keeping a child rear-facing or in a harness until 125 cm and 25 kg. Where crash results are level, seats rated to both, according to their maker, come before seats that stop sooner.
5. Sam's pick. Where seats are level on crash tests, our own view breaks the tie: things like how easy the seat is to fit correctly, and our own experience. Seats we haven't rated yet count as middling. Seats we rate highly get a "Sam's pick" label, so you can see where our opinion counts.
6. Room to grow. Finally, seats your child will fit for longer come first: more height left before the limit, then more weight. If seats are still level, ADAC's ease-of-use score decides.

"What matters most to you?"

Above the table you can tap what matters most: fitting with the car's belt, swivelling to the door, travel-friendly (belt-in and 10 kg or less), narrow (44 cm wide or less) or under €300. Your choices never take a seat out of the table. Seats that meet more of them move up, and a seat that misses one says what it misses, so the table is never empty.

You can also sort by room to grow, width, weight, price or ADAC's ease-of-use score. Sorting only changes the order of the rows. Each seat keeps its number in our order, so you can always see what you're trading against crash evidence. Seats with no published figure go last, and seats that tie stay in our order.

The cut-offs (10 kg, 44 cm, €300) are our own. The figures they're checked against come from the maker or a shop. Where we haven't found a figure, the table says so.

Test record

Every seat gets one of four levels. They describe the independent evidence, not our own safety verdict.

Top tested

Passed the Swedish Plus Test, and ADAC rated it good or better (2.5 or better) for crash safety and overall. For infant carriers, which the Plus Test doesn't cover, ADAC's ratings alone (see below).

Independently tested

Has results from the Plus Test or ADAC, and none of them are poor.

Meets the legal standard

Approved to the legal standard (R129 in Europe), but no independent test results yet. That isn't a bad sign on its own: not every seat has been tested.

Poor result in independent testing

A failed test, or an ADAC score of 4.6 or worse ("poor" on ADAC's scale) for crash safety or overall. We quote the result and link to it.

Recalled seats show a red "Recalled" tag instead. The finder lists seats by test record first, after the way your child sits.

Infant carriers

Carriers are ranked against other carriers, in their own list. The Swedish Plus Test doesn't cover carriers, so we rank them on ADAC and ÖAMTC results: crash safety first, then the overall grade. A carrier is "Top tested" when both are good or better (2.5 or better). We rank the carrier as most families use it, on its base. Where it was also tested without the base, we show that result beside it. If carriers are level, the one your baby fits for longer comes first, then the lighter one to carry. ADAC made its tests stricter in 2025, so we always show which round a result comes from, and a result from before 2025 ranks after newer ones.

Which list comes first follows your child. If your baby isn't born yet, or still has at least 10 cm to grow in one of the carriers that fit, infant carriers come first. Otherwise seats that stay in the car come first. This only changes which list you see first, never the order inside each list.

"Our pick"

The first seat in each list (infant carriers, and seats that stay in the car) gets the "Our pick" label only if it's Top tested. If no seat that fits your child meets that bar yet, we don't name a pick.

What we leave out

• Recalled seats are never listed in the finder. They keep a page with the official recall notice.
• Seats with a poor crash result aren't in our picks: an ADAC crash safety score of 4.6 or worse (ADAC's "poor" band), or a failed test. We still say why, under "Not in the list above".

Chemicals

Where ADAC has lab-tested a seat for harmful substances, or the maker publishes an OEKO-TEX certificate, we show it as a label. It doesn't change the order: crash protection comes first.

Money

Some "where to buy" links earn us a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you. Commissions, prices and brand deals never change the order. No brand can pay to be listed or to move up.

Where our facts come from

Every limit and test result links to its source: the maker's manual or website, the seat's approval label, VTI (the Plus Test) and ADAC (published in English by ÖAMTC). Each seat page shows when we last checked. If we can't find a published figure, we say so rather than guess.

Always check the seat's label and manual, and that it fits your car, before you buy. If you spot a mistake, tell us and we'll fix it.