Car seat dilemma

We have a Babylove capsule, and the Maxirider II car seat/booster

When we had it fitted by the RACV guy (our MCHN had free fittings one day which was great), we were told the Maxirider is the safest toddler/booster on the market, mainly because of the way the straps are or something..

I got it at Baby Bunting in Bentleigh - they had a sale with like $100 off, so they do discount their car seats...

Anyway, just thought i would add that to people reading this thread after - JordieC - glad you got one you are happy with :)

Oh - i might go check out Baby Gallery for baby stuff for #2 - i also found Baby Bunting variable for being able to get help, and didn't think their prices were that good!

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I thought the same thing, but the ambulance guy when he fitted the capsule said that the side was safer

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I've got the meridian car seat - and it's situated in the centre of my car. I've got a commodore - so there is plenty of room. But when I went to have it installed I phoned Safe N Sound and asked them the best position. They said the CENTRE as a lot of accidents are t-bones - and the centre is the furthest away from any impact. They say a lot of people put the seats on the sides for their convenience... not the baby's safety.
But they did say that if you have a 2nd child, you have no choice but to put them on the sides...

Because the car seat is strapped in/down from the back part... I don't know how much difference a raised seat would be?

I have heard the safest seat was a baby capsule (for upto 6mths - I think). Also, there's the convenience of not having to lift bub out of the seat if she's fallen asleep - u just unclip the capsule. I know that there are stores that will hire out the baby capsule - I think for $60 for 6 months which soundfs like a bargain - you can always buy your own sheepskin insert for the hired capsule.

Jodie, thanks for that. You know I thought the same thing about the whole t-bone thing!! Maybe I should get DH to move the capsule over?? I know for getting it in and out it's definitely easier from the outside cos of how they work. With Joshua I had a reversible car seat and I had that in the middle, but it was different just getting a baby in and out to getting a whole capsule in and out.

Lilli, we hired the capsule through the Ambulance for just under $60 for 6 months.

Hi ozziehoffy,
Was the sheepskin cover for the baby capsule decent? Do u know where to get the inserts from?

Lilli, they just have the normal material insert in them and yes nice and clean. I think you can just buy inserts from most baby shops.

hi there
I also have the turn a tot and its great in our xtrail and very convenient

Hi everyone, sorry to hijack this thread but I wanted to ask a question regarding car seats.

I am originally from the UK, and all my previous children were born there and had various car seats whilst they were small. Now I am having my fourth here and am looking for a car seat. Here in Perth there doesnt seem to be a huge amount of choice (please dont shoot me Perth people, maybe I just am not looking at the right places!!) as all the car seats I have seen seem to be dark colours (greys, dark blues, blacks etc) and most seem to be a velvetty material which doesnt look like it would seem easy to keep clean. Has anyone seen any in nice bright colours? Patterns?? I would appreciate any info on car seats that are a bit different. I have seen some on ebay but they are all ex-UK ones which apparently means they are illegal to use here.
Any ideas? Thanks!

most city's have profetional car seat fitter's you can use to make sure your baby's seat is in properly... i think it cost around $20 and they ask you to take a couple of towels to help get it to fit properly. i think it's money well spent :)

cherryrose..... internet, i found the same problem. I bought a dark grey one with the velvety look for our DD and there is no way i'll be using it again ,it's a pain to keep clean and gets very hot in the sun and the dark colour faded also. i will be looking at the internet and getting one shipped over even if i have to buy one in the UK and send my relatives over the money to post it out for me...

Girly girl, I was thinking the same thing, although problem being that it wont comply with Australian standards (even though it complies with International standards, is used in most countries even New Zealand, and is just as safe as Aussie ones!!!). There are some fantastic seats in Europe and the UK, and a company called Maxi Cosi makes some of the safest car seats around, and they are fantastic patterns and colours. The ridiculous thing is Australia will say its not legal, yet Australian laws state its OK for a 1 year old to be in car with just a seatbelt and no car seat........ yes they recommend one but its not law, and the other silly law is school buses still running around with no seatbelts!!
Europe and the US are bringing out a new fixing method called ISOFIX/LATCH, which is even safer as it requires no seatbelt as the chair fixes into the body of the car, this will eventually be adopted here (when Australia gives it the final OK). New cars are being produced with ISOFIX points even now, and the great thing is all new car seats around the world will have this fixing system, so you will be able to have whatever you like.
Until then, I will just ship one from the UK, using a relative there (its cheaper for me to buy one there and pay for shipping than buy one here!!!).

We have a Toyota Corolla atm. We're looking at getting a new car with bub #2 coz the meridian only fits in the middle seat when converted (even then we were closer to the dash than we would normally be hehe) We're tossing up whether to turn DS back around to rear-facing, and if we do, we'll need a new car. If we don't, then we can keep this car and keep him him forward facing in the Meridian, and get a capsule for the new bub.. that way the carseats will fit behind the front seats.