Capsule/Car seat - a must-buy?

[Phteven]

Thanks girls... I think I'll go for it. Money's not the issue, it's just the resources and the waste that gets poured into creating things that hardly get used - i have enormous guilt over this!

I totally get what you're saying about this . IMO there are oodles of other baby things that genuinely are a waste of resources and one can do just fine without (baby baths, baby moniters, change tables, rockers) but a car seat isn't one of them. Like Hoobs says if you think about the life of the seat it lasts much longer than many of the other things people buy for their baby. A birth to 18kg seat will last you until bubs is 3 or more and then still be useful for a sibling. Once you're finished you can just freecycle it and another family will get more use out of it. I see baby seats come up on my local freecycle often and they always get taken pretty fast.

[luna moth]

My mum freecycled her CAR a couple of weeks ago! No carseat included, but it still had the bolts from my brother's carseat and my sister's booster - the old school orange ones!

We have cut out a lot of unnecessary junk from our list too. I've been a nanny and childcare worker for 8 years and have seen some of the rubbish people buy, and the hype some people get caught up in. What I've noticed is that great stuff doesn't make a great kid; great parents do.

I've known two families who've done it without cars, but I don't know whether they have carseats or not; I'm going to catch up with them in October to see what they did.

I'm pretty sure we'll end up getting one. Even if its cost per use works out at $40, which is certainly possible *gulp* even if it's used for two kids! I am definitely a giver, and I know I'll love handing it on to one of my friends when their time comes.

[paradise lost]

As an aside, you can also lend it out...? A few times friends have had fmily in the city and because it's tough to fly with a toddler-sized carseat they were going to have to hire one with the hire car (which isn't ideal for the same reasons above re: taxi seats - not appropriate, not available, not cleaned, not safe etc.) so i lent them mine. I didn't miss it for a week and it made a big difference to their stay... Just a thought

Bx