Safe N Sound Car Seats

[Dr. Tal]

DH and I have started looking into car seats. Who would have thought there'd be so many types

After looking in about 50 different shops and getting told a million different things by different people depending on what brand their store 'supports' we finally had the same 'opinion' from three different shops in regards to the 'Safe N Souns Meridian AHR Tilt & Adjust' car seat. DH and I both think we like it, but as this is our first child we don't really have anything to base our choice on IYKWIM.

So I would like to hear the opinions, both good and bad, from any mum's who have had this car seat or another similar model.

Thanks in advance

[feeb]

Safe and Sound Meridian AHR is a great car seat, we bought that for DS1 and now DS2 is in it and DS1 has a safe and sound maxirider AHR.

We have been happy with car seat no issues at all.

You cant go wrong with it.

Good luck

[alicia]

We have a Meridian too. We used it backwards facing for DD when she was smaller and it was great. Now she is forward facing and we haven't had any problems with that way either. It is more expensive than some of the other brands/types but I think it is very worth it. BTW DH did research into the safest car seats before we got ours and the Meridian scored well for both rear and forward facing. (However we did use a capsule while DD was really little).

[Roryrory]

Hi there, we had the same seat for DS#1 and upgraded to the maxirider for him when his brother came along. It's a great seat and from memory is rearward facing up to 12kg or more which is great. I understand though that capsules are rated as being the safest seats for babies (while they fit) so for both our boys we also used a safe n sound capsule when they were really little. Most local councils will hire you one for $80 for 6 months (or thereabouts).

[spooky]

We have 2 SnS's and they are great but IF we were to have another baby we would have to change all the carseats to fit into the car.

Or buy a new car...

It's maybe not something you are sure of yet, but a friend has just fallen pg with #3 and has to get rid of 2 larger seats to fit 3 slimmer ones in.

[PlonkeeMumma]

we have 2 of them plus an ahr maxi rider for DS#1 - they are fab. Ifeel all the kids are so safe in them. the only downside is that they are larger than most others but that is because they are safer than most others. Even if you plan on having 3 i would still go for it - we swapped to a bigger car because we wouldn't compromise on safety.
all the best with your bubtobe
x

[Miss E]

We've just changed over to the Meridian a few days ago and so far I am really happy with it. I had DS in the SnS Unity capsule, but he is now too big for it. I really want to keep him rear facing for as long as possible, so we decided it was best to go for the Meridian as it seems to have a lot more leg room than the other.

[ubba82]

When DD1 was born 8 years ago we bought her a safe n sound reward facing carseat. DS had one when he was born and is now in a safe n sound maxi rider and DD2 is in a safe n sound merridian AHR. I have not had any problems and would reccomend this brand to anyone.

[fionaw]

We have a Safe n Sound Compaq as we have a hatchback. I've never had any problems in it and it's very easy to loosen the straps to get bubs out when he is sleeping.

That being said, next time I'll definitely get a capsule for the first few months whilst baby is very little. I've HATED waking him up whilst getting him out of the car seat and into the pram.

[Dr. Tal]

Thanks heaps for all your feedback ladies. It is very much appreciated. It sounds like everyone is very happy with their Save N Sound.

So with all this positive feedback I'm going to tell DH that we've got our winner

[Taurean78]

Dr Tal,

Just so you know, I am pretty sure the one that you are looking at - 'Safe N Sound Meridian AHR Tilt & Adjust' car seat is the new model that has superceded the Safe N Sound AHR Meridian which has been around for a while (which most people in this post will prob be referring to). T

his explains why the older model has come down in price so much over the last few months (now around $375). When we asked the difference, it seemed that the new model was easier to adjust the head rest piece than the older model.
DH and I liked it a lot but couldn't justify the extra $$$ so stuck with the previous model.
I have only heard praise for these seats so I'm sure you've made the right decision

[Peachface]

The difference between the old and new Meridian (other than the more attractive fabric it comes in now), is that you do not have to remove the baby seat to adjust the harness. All you have to do with the new one, is 'tilt and adjust' the head rest and the harness will go with it. THe reason this is better is that 7 out of 10 car seats fitted by parents are fitted incorrectly, so if you decide to pay to have your seat professionally fitted, you wont have to fiddle with the seat once its in there.

[Pandora]

We have a Meridian AHR (the first model) that was used for both of my children, and a SNS Maxirider 2 for my oldest child.

This will sound like I work for them, - I promise I dont!!

I love them both, and their after sales service is also very good.
I had an incident where the head foam was broken, and the tether strap broke. I had no issue either with their CSR over the phone or on site when I took it to be repaired, and I was given a full report on the repairs that were made - they even found an additional thing that required fixing and this was done as well. All of this was under warranty so free of charge, and they fully QC everything before you get it back, it really was very thorough

I have to say having dealt with other childrends brands, Britax are among the easiest to deal with.

[widdly]

I plan on buying the sns Meridian AHR tilt for our next bub.

We had a sns convertible for DS and he currently is in a MaxiRider2 in DH car and a Hiliner in my car. We love sns and would never buy anything else

[thrilled82]

We've just gone through the same exercise - looking at all the car seats on the market ad trying to make a decision on which one is the best for our first bub.

Our first pick was the Safe N Sound Meridian AHR Tilt & Adjust (the new one on the market) but we ended up deciding against this one as we spoke to several people who said while it is the rolls royce of car seats it is very large and depending on your current car size and potential for future bubs it can be a real limitation.
The people we spoke to drove a Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla and Lancer - all sort of mid range cars.

We were adamant on the Safe N Sound brand, so we purchased the Safe N Sound Compaq Deluxe. It apparently has all the same safety features as other Safe N Sound car seats, however the sides are not as flanged so should we ever need to we can fit three of these car seats across the back seat of our car.

We have since had the car seat fitted (only 4 weeks to go till Miss Martini arrives!) and it fits really well into our car, plenty of room for the front passenger and driver to move their seats back and be in a comfortable position to drive.