I wasn't going to... but I can't help myself. Car seats.

[*Belle*]

We have the Safe N Sound Compaq, must say as we are having our 2nd baby soon we have gone and bought another carseat now for Julia (got the S&S Maxirider), she is 12 kgs and quite long and has already outgrown the S&S Compaq. If I had to do it from scratch again with first child, I would get hiring or borrowing a capsule and then get the SNS Meridian as its taller and will last longer than the SNS Compaq in the upright position.

[Beach Mama]

I saw the title and had a huge giggle
Now that I have stopped laughing at you! Good questions hun!!!! I have the Safe n Sound Premier and it is great, it has lots of nice snuggly padding for a bubby and we love it, however now that we are going with no#2 I am definately getting a capsule!!!! Izzy can stay in the Premier for a bit longer, and then when bub outgrows the capsule I will get the Maxi Rider- they definately are raved about on here. Capsules are just so easy when bubs is already asleep and you are visiting etc. and you don't have to wake them up. We are either borrowing from a friend who we know didn't have an accident or hiring from a reliable place like Hire for Baby - there is one in Kew and Vermont South I think- just google the name hun. Councils also hire them out. I think they do some sort of testing to make sure it hasn't been in an accident - not sure how else they know! Might check their site, but all the girls at my mothers group got their capsules from H4B.

One thing about the Premier and the other Safe n Sound seats. My girlfriend had her bub back in Jan and one day we were going to come to our place so I put her seat in our car to bring both bubs back I told her to go get the instructions in case it was tricky but told her I thought it would be ok. It was a Fisher Price seat from Kmart. Anyway turns out not only was it easy - it was EXACTLY the same as my seat for Izzy but with different branding on it. I couldn't believe it. Same factory in China obviously but they sew different badges on them and slightly different material. Ours was $300 at Baby Bunting on sale, hers was $170 at Kmart on sale and it is the SAME seat. Something to research and think about!
HtH!

[belfie]

Ok so first, you are all wonderful helpful ladies! Thank you all so much
After all your great comments, I'm thinking I should ask here BEFORE I start looking why on earth did I wait!!

So after reading all your words of wisdom - I'll definitely I'll hire the capsule from Baby for Hire (there's one nearby so that's easy - and they actually list the Safe'n'Sound baby capsule as their hire item!), and I'll also look at CREM. Re the safety component... weeell, DH is a safety nut, so whatever happens, we'll aways be going something safe... which is very good. See, I can even bash my head into this wall safely!
Ahem... silliness aside, the RACV site has a link to the evaluation they did on the various seats in Dec 07, and I agree that the seats need to be used correctly, but they did also find some differences in their testing... I should say though - in the categories we're talking about - all these models exceeded the Aus standard which is great.

*Belle* thanks so much for your comment re the compaq versus meridien. DH is very tall, so we're trying to go for things that will allow for a child who MIGHT be quite tall (for it's age) .

And finally YAY, that's one more thing I don't have to shell out for yet! WOO HOO!

Edit: hahaha thanks Tan! I missed your reply! And veeeerrrrry interesting re the Kmart brand! do you know what it was called?... DUH baby brain.. you said. I'll just shut up now! Hmm just checked the testing and none of the FP were included. DH will not be prepared to go for one that he can't see results on... *sighs* oh well

Thank you again ladies

[MantaRay]

Belfie, we managedj just fine wtihout a capsule both times. But really it's personal preference. Just note though that it's not good to leave babies sleeping in a capsule too much. Most people use the capsules so they can get baby out of the car easily without waking them, but it's bad for their spines to be left in there for long periods.

Also note that whether you hire a capsule or not, you will need a convertible car seat. Baby should be rear facing for as long as possible as it's much safer, ideally until they are 12 kgs which can be depending on the bub well after 12 months of age (my 20 month old isn't 12 kgs yet)!

[Janie]

MR, good point, I should have mentioned that. Although we did leave DS to continue sleeping in the capsule at times, we never did it for an extended period, as we knew it wasn't good for his little back.

And yes, bub should be left rear facing as long as possible, so it really is best to have a convertible car seat as well. We stopped using the capsule at 6 months for DS, and there is NO WAY I would have had him facing the front at that time. He's still rear facing now

I know it's slighty OT, but it is an important topic nonetheless - here is a thread about why you should keep bubs rear facing as long as possible

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ard-video.html

[Beach Mama]

Well said MR and Janie! Izzy still hasn't hit 9kgs let alone 12 so she will be rear-facing for a while yet!!!

[SamiH]

Baby should be rear facing for as long as possible as it's much safer, ideally until they are 12 kgs which can be depending on the bub well after 12 months of age (my 20 month old isn't 12 kgs yet)!

Laughing - my son was 13kgs at 1, and my daughter has just turned 3 and weighs 11kg!!!! She will be glad for her fathers slim build in another 10 years.

I have a SnS reversible bought for DS - DD still in it forward facing of course - I am going to hire a capsule for this little one hoping when he grows out of it my DD will be big enough for DS seat with harness .... wishful thinking I think at this stage, but I don't wanna buy another car seat ...

[Lolli]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I wanted to ask a question about the 12 kilo thing. I went to change our capaule to the rearward facing carseat this morning at the restraint fitters and was having a look at the book that came with that and my rearward facing only seems to last up to nine kilos, not twelve. Is it safe to leave him rear facing for longer, or should I turn it round at nine kilos? He's only 7 kilos at the moment so we have at least two months to go but I'd still rather have him facing rear after that and we really can't afford another car seat.

[belfie]

Hey Lorimae - good question! I dunno which brand you've got, but I know the SnS Baby Safety Capsule says: Suitable for a child from birth to 9kg in weight.

I'm now toying with buying a baby capsule, as i hope to have a second bubba (eventually!), so I think the price to use it for two wouldn't be that much different to hiring a capsule twice.

Also (yes, yet another question ), do ppl end up finding that they need more than one sort of seat for those early years - i.e. to cater for both yours and his cars? Later I'd get the booster seat... but at the stage they could be in a baby capsule or a convertible? I guess i'm thinking that given I'll need the convertible seat anyway evenutally (well once bubs is 9kg), and both the Compaq and Meridien say they're rear facing until 12kg in weight. So would it be worth putting the baby capsule in my car (for e.g.) and then just buy the convertible one early and put that in his? I imagine you could make do with just one seat/capsule in my car - i.e. just never go in his car with bubba, but I can see situations where it might be useful for some reason or another.

Ok so I've just finished bawling at that video (darn hormones! ) - jolly good watch (and no, it's not really that sad!). Janie thank you so much for linking that.

[MantaRay]

LR, if it says rear facing only until 9kgs, then you will have to turn it around then. Most of the ones on the market can be turned around any time between 8 and 12 kgs. But always follow the limits in the instructions.

We only one have car, but you do need two seats - the convertible ones only last until they get to a certain size. In QLD and some other states they need to be in boosters until age 7, so you do need a booster seat as well. The best ones of these can be used from 8 kgs I think right through. So you can generally with 2 kids get by with 3 seats in total - one convertible, one booster like the maxi rider, and then another booster when baby 2 outgrows the convertible (or depending on the age gap just two seats might even be fine).