Clippasafe are one of the biggest names in baby and child safety and this week, with my ParentWheels motoring hat on, I have been asked to review two of the new car safety products from the Clippsafe Auto range designed for mums to be and small children - the Clippasafe Bump Belt and the Clippsafe Secure belt Travel Pillow.
Clippasafe Bump Belt
The Clippasafe Bump Belt is designed for pregnant mums to protect the unborn child in the even of an accident. If you are sporting a pregnancy bump then you should wear your belt below the bump in order to reduce the impact on the abdomen in the event of a crash - I know from experience how hard it is to keep your belt under the bump as they always ride up. The Clippasafe Bump Belt is a handy gadget that helps to ensure that the belt is always in the right place and therefore reduces the risk of harm to your baby on impact.
The Bump Belt is a padded seat pad that you sit on with flaps that fold up and around the main car seat belt to hold it in the correct position.
We loved the fact that it was really easy to use (the instructions were very clear) and that the seat pad was comfortable to sit on. Using it gave our reviewer a great peace of mind.
We found the seat pad to be easiest to install if we sat in the back seat of the car! Moving it from one seat to another was a bit of a faff so you would probably just leave it in the seat you most frequently travel in.
The Bump Belt is designed to ensure that if you have to brake suddenly, all of the impact forces are directed to your hips and pelvis and not to the abdomen and womb. It is suitable from 2 months of pregnancy up to birth.
Clippasafe Secure Belt Travel Pillow
The Clippasafe Baby Neck Supporter is a neck and head support for young children to use in the car. It attaches to the seat belt or to the straps of your car seat and prevents your child from straining their neck if they fall asleep in the car and generally make it more comfortable.
We have been trying to use the Secure Belt Travel Pillow with Lara in the car because she quite often falls asleep and lolls her head to one side. Lara never really seems to settle when she has the travel pillow around her neck so I have never actually seen her fall asleep with it - I think she finds it a little restrictive and a bit out of the ordinary.
The Secure Belt Travel Pillow comes in three sizes for ages 1-3, 3-8 and 8-adult. I think they are a great idea for younger children, especially smaller children who have just moved into a forward facing car seat. Because the pillow straps to the belt, it sits in just the right place and your child can't accidentally (or deliberately) throw it on the floor. I do worry a little though that when she is wearing the pillow around her neck, Lara is sitting more upright than normal and her head seems further forwards in the car seat so the side-impact protection of the top car seat may no longer be in the optimal position for her head (note, I've no science to back up this theory, just a gut feeling).
The pillow comes in pink and black and the fabric is a really nice velvety style.
I suspect that the Secure Belt Travel Pillow would be most effective for older children who use an adult seat belt (either with or without a car seat). A Group 1 car seat tends to have a lot of support already and, many brands of car seat already come with big thick supporting straps (I know our two do). Seats without this support would definitely benefit from the Secure Belt Travel Pillow.
Clippasafe Bump Belt
The Clippasafe Bump Belt is designed for pregnant mums to protect the unborn child in the even of an accident. If you are sporting a pregnancy bump then you should wear your belt below the bump in order to reduce the impact on the abdomen in the event of a crash - I know from experience how hard it is to keep your belt under the bump as they always ride up. The Clippasafe Bump Belt is a handy gadget that helps to ensure that the belt is always in the right place and therefore reduces the risk of harm to your baby on impact.The Bump Belt is a padded seat pad that you sit on with flaps that fold up and around the main car seat belt to hold it in the correct position.
We loved the fact that it was really easy to use (the instructions were very clear) and that the seat pad was comfortable to sit on. Using it gave our reviewer a great peace of mind.We found the seat pad to be easiest to install if we sat in the back seat of the car! Moving it from one seat to another was a bit of a faff so you would probably just leave it in the seat you most frequently travel in.
The Bump Belt is designed to ensure that if you have to brake suddenly, all of the impact forces are directed to your hips and pelvis and not to the abdomen and womb. It is suitable from 2 months of pregnancy up to birth.
Clippasafe Secure Belt Travel Pillow
The Clippasafe Baby Neck Supporter is a neck and head support for young children to use in the car. It attaches to the seat belt or to the straps of your car seat and prevents your child from straining their neck if they fall asleep in the car and generally make it more comfortable.We have been trying to use the Secure Belt Travel Pillow with Lara in the car because she quite often falls asleep and lolls her head to one side. Lara never really seems to settle when she has the travel pillow around her neck so I have never actually seen her fall asleep with it - I think she finds it a little restrictive and a bit out of the ordinary.
The Secure Belt Travel Pillow comes in three sizes for ages 1-3, 3-8 and 8-adult. I think they are a great idea for younger children, especially smaller children who have just moved into a forward facing car seat. Because the pillow straps to the belt, it sits in just the right place and your child can't accidentally (or deliberately) throw it on the floor. I do worry a little though that when she is wearing the pillow around her neck, Lara is sitting more upright than normal and her head seems further forwards in the car seat so the side-impact protection of the top car seat may no longer be in the optimal position for her head (note, I've no science to back up this theory, just a gut feeling).
The pillow comes in pink and black and the fabric is a really nice velvety style.
I suspect that the Secure Belt Travel Pillow would be most effective for older children who use an adult seat belt (either with or without a car seat). A Group 1 car seat tends to have a lot of support already and, many brands of car seat already come with big thick supporting straps (I know our two do). Seats without this support would definitely benefit from the Secure Belt Travel Pillow.
Kiddy is a family-run business which has grown with the Weurstl family for over 30 years. Kiddy launched in the UK and 2009 and has gone from strength to strength. In it's current guise, Kiddy has evolved into a major player in the European children's car seat and pushchair market and yet, within their home town of Hof, Kiddy remains a central part of the community with the local mums and dads visiting their nursery shop within the Kiddy headquarters for all of their nursery needs, Kiddy are the German distributor of many of the mother and baby brands I know and love. The store is colourful and welcoming and huge – you could easily mistake it for one of the enormous out-of-town nursery retailers anywhere in the UK.
It has taken some years for the business to evolve into what it is now and, since Jan-Stefan inherited the company from his father, the relationship between the husband and wife team has also evolved. Bettina, is the enthusiastic and passionately outgoing face of Kiddy who is immediately lovable. Jan-Stefan is the more reserved and calculating engineer behind the brand – a clash of characters which, although difficult to manage in the past, has proven to be a recipe for business success . As Kiddy has grown (and they themselves have started a family), they have added to their team with an eclectic group of cheerful and passionate staff, all experts in their field.
For many years, Kiddy have pioneered the use of their innovative 'impact shield' which they continue to develop and improve on a mission to find their car-seat-safety nirvana. Jan-Stefan, as head of Research and Development, is the one on that mission. 
Everyone I met at Kiddy was incredibly passionate and cheerful which is not surprising in such a beautiful part of the country. I am convinced that the relaxed atmosphere and focus on sourcing the very best people in the industry contributes to the creativity and success of Kiddy's products . This success can be seen in a number of recent awards, most notably, the Kiddy guardian pro which was awarded the highest accolade in the Stiftung Warentest (the European equivalent of the Which? tests) and is the only Group 1,2,3 seat to have been given a Which? Best buy award twice in succession.
