In Singapore, car seats for children must meet certain standards, such as the European Standard Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) R44. However, Europe has since phased out this approval standard by putting a stop to the sale of R44 car seats since September 2024 and ECE R129 has become the sole standard sold to the public. What does this mean for Singapore and what other car seats should you use instead?
Although there has been no regulatory update on the use of car seat approval standards in Singapore, there has been a steady increase of ECE R129 car seats claiming the improvement of head and neck protection for your little one. Current child car seat laws mean it is legal to use either an R44 or an R129 car seat. It is still safe to use an R44 car seat, but it is likely that the R44 standard will be phased out over time.
What is the difference between ECE R44 and ECE R129?
Introduced in 2013, ECE R129 is a newer standard that has been running parallel to the older testing standard, ECE R44. There are 5 main differences:
- ECE R129 is side impact certified
This ensures the best head, neck, and all over protection with standardized side impact testing. ECE R44 did not include side impact tests. It is known that side impact can be the most harmful to a child and is most damaging to a baby’s head vs any part of their body.
- ECE R129 promotes rearward facing longer
Mandating rearward-facing to a minimum of 76cm and >15 months, allowing baby’s neck to develop and strengthen before switching to forward-facing travel. Most crashes and the most severe crashes happen at the front of the vehicle. When a child is forward facing, children move forward during a crash – causing a strain on the neck. Facing rearward manages the force of a crash, protecting developing little necks and spins up to 5x more than forward facing. ECE R44 approves facing forward at 9 kg, which is approximately nine months age.
- ECE R129 determines car seat usage based on a child’s height & weight
While R44 bases it on just weight alone. Now parents can easily measure their child as an indicator when they are ready to move into the next seat, ensuring a more accurate fit for growing children. Ensure weight is also checked as most seats do still have an upper weight capacity that must still be adhered to.
- ECE R129 uses advanced technology crash test dummies
With more sensors than older dummies to better simulate a child’s fragile body more accurately. These new dummies are called “Q” dummies. “Q” dummies equate to a better understanding of what happens multi-directionally during a crash, allowing improved design of car seats. They feature 32 sensors in critical locations: the head, neck, thorax and pelvis. The older “P” newborn dummies were made only of fabric and had no sensors.
- ECE R129 enhanced with i-Size certification
Thanks to stricter sizing requirements, i-Size certified car seats offers a guaranteed fit in i-Size approved vehicles. i-Size is an enhancement of ECE R129, not a safety standard. This makes it easier to confirm with your car seat’s compatibility, as any i-Size seat will fit within any vehicle with i-Size approved seating positions without the need to check for compatibility fitting lists – reducing the risk of installing your car seat incorrectly primarily through the use of ISOFIX installation.
ECE R129 or i-Size… what’s the difference?
i-Size, is an enhancement of ECE R129 that makes it easier to confirm your car seat’s compatibility with any i-Size approved vehicle – reducing the risk of installing your car seat incorrectly. The idea behind i-Size is that all car seats will eventually fit in all cars.
Are all ECE R129 seats i-Size?
All i-Size car seats are ECE R129 certified, but not all ECE R129 certified seats are i-Size. To qualify as i-Size, a car seat must fit within a specific box on the vehicle seat by adhering to stricter sizing and spacing ratios. The goal of i-Size is to make it easier to confirm the compatibility of a car seat when using it in an i-Size vehicle.
The smarter way to ride
To ensure you’re purchasing a car seat that meets the highest ECE R129 safety standard and has i-Size certification, simply look for the “i” in front of any Joie car seat names (Ex: i-Spin™). You can also check the specifications section on Joie website product pages to confirm i-Size and ECE R129 certification.
How do I know if a Joie car seat is ECE R129 and i-Size?
Joie makes it easy to differentiate their car seats if they have i-Size certification. Here are a few checkpoints:
- The car seat will have a yellow i-Size tag or it will have the i-Size logo screen printed on the fabric.
- The carton, pop, manual and sales sheet will inform you if the car seat meets the ECE R129 safety standard and is i-Size certified. If the car seat is i-Size certified than it meets the ECE R129 safety standard.
There are a few ECE R129 car seats that either don’t have an i-Size logo and/or don’t include “i” in their name, such as calmi™ R129, steadi™ R129, every stage™ R129. All of these Joie seats meet the ECE R129 safety standard, but either don’t meet the i-Size requirement or only meet the i-Size requirement in select modes.
For more complex questions and answers about ECE R129 and i-Size, refer to Joie’s list of FAQ at their Ask for i-Size page.
Do i-Size seats have to use ISOFIX?
Not necessarily! Car seats that require harness usage for one, or multiple modes, are required to use ISOFIX to meet the i-Size standard. But belted boosters, for example, do not have to have ISOFIX to be i-Size.
How can booster seats without ISOFIX be i-Size?
The main goal of ISOFIX is to keep a car seat fastened to a vehicle seat, especially for i-Size car seats that are using a harness to secure the child. Because booster seats use a seatbelt to affix the car seat to the vehicle seat and secure the child, ISOFIX is not necessary to deem it i-Size. Rather, ISOFIX is more of a convenience feature to keep the booster installed when a child is not using the seat.
Shop Joie’s widest range of ECE R129 approved car seats at the Joie Official Store on Shopee.
