Baby Capsules and Car Seats

Hi Ladies,

Needing some advice:

DH and I were going to hire a capsule for the first 6 months - $100 including delivery, fitting, and collection at the end.

But obviously at the end of the 6 months we'll need to have a baby seat of some sort. I thought by hiring a capsule, we would be saving money, but there appears to be some baby car seats which can be used from birth to 4 years.

So...does anyone have any ideas about what works out to be more economical? Hiring for the first 6 months, then buying, or buying from the start, or hiring all the way?

I'm so confused!

we bought a capsule and a carseat. the car seat we have is a birth to 4years one, but i liked the convenience of being able to take DD in and out of the car without disturbing her while she was little - esp given she was a winter baby. she used the capsule until she was 9kg (pretty much right on 9 months) and is now in the rearward facing position in the carseat until she hits the maximum weight for that (around 12kg).

if you're on a budget, the birth -4 carseats are the way to go for sure. they are safe (check out choice website for info on what are deemed the safest brands) and baby is just as comfy. i personally liked the convenience of the capsule as i was able to settle DD inside when we were out, rug her up with a blanket over her, and get her into the car undisturbed, take her into the house when we got home etc. it really is a personal choice. a LOT of people use just the car seat and it's fine to do!

I think why a lot of people opt for the capsule for the first 4-6 months is the ease of transporting baby in and out of the car....without waking. Ive had a capsule with all 4 of mine...its handy when going to friends homne and baby sleeps, handy when ducking into the shops and baby is asleep, handy when baby is asleep after you get home, and you dont have to wake, to get out of the car....

i just had the normal car seat but i think jamie is going to grow out of it by age 2 not 4 like it says but hes getting a maxirider when this baby comes along so i didnt buy 2 car seats then have to buy a booster especially coz he'll be almost 18 months old but yeah he was pretty good to transfer from car to bed even now that hes 10 months i suppose it would depend on the baby

I thought about a capsule but never got one. Just didn't feel the need and we've survived nicely without it. DS just got used to being transferred in and out of the car, no worries really. And we always tended to use a sling when going into shops etc. So its not a must. Really just personal choice.

We bought the birth-4yrs one straight up. The kids got used to being transferred and in the long run I think it helped them when they got older to be able to transfer successfully from car to bed.
My SIL bought one of those car seats that clicks into a pram. So it starts as a capsule, and you can put it into the pram, then turns around to a car seat when needed not sure what age is goes to and the pram is still useable after the capsule stage is finished.
Think it's a steelcraft brand??
I have another SIL who is a chiro and apparently you should't leave babies in capsules for extended periods of time as it's bad for their backs. This was not the whole reason we chose why we did, it did enter my mind though, in the end it came down to being able to use the car seat for the next kids that came along as well.
Have a good look around in the big baby stores like a Baby Bunting that have nearly every system you could think of and go with your instincts.
I know heaps of people who have hired the capsule and are very happy they did so.

With DD we brought a safe and sound convertible seat. With DS we hired out a capsual which came in handy (bout to give it back as we only got it for 3 months) but i wouldnt spend they money on buying one they arnt in it long enough.
We brought a maxi rider for DD to go into which will last her until she no longer needs to be in a seat. DS will then have the safe and sound car seat.

I wish I had hired a capsule. We got a safe n sound car seat that can be used both rear and forward facing. However the number of times I woke little one up when moving him from the car seat into the pram / sling drove me bonkers. Especially given how hard it was to get him to sleep in the first place!

Next one I will definitely be hiring a capsule.

We bought a capsule that goes to 12kg rear facing in a travel system. I absolutely love it. DD3 is still tiny (7.77kg) at 9.5 months so we will still get plenty of use from it. I prefer the capsule because it fits our lifestyle better. I also don't have to mess around getting her over the tether strap because it comes off on the occasions that I do leave the capsule in the car.

With my first i didn't use a capsule and hated it, second one hired the old style capsule was good, brought the unity with the third and last and loved it, she only went out of it at 20months of age.

We bought a Safe and Sound Capsule for both DD's which they were in until they were 12 months old. Once they had stopped using them we sold them as they had been purchased new and had been in no accidents. The most recent we paid about $300 for and sold it for more than $200 so we paid less than $100 for the 1 year. We then put the money we sold it for towards a car seat that went to 24kg.

So that could be an option to buy a new one and then sell it. I have seen them go for good prices on eBay.

I highly recomend the infa secure turn a tot.

Easily one of the safest on the market, and is a birth to 18kg's I think. I love mine

A lot of people decide to get a capsule because it is easier to get bubs out of the car asleep, turn a tot makes it really easy to pick up a sleeping bubs and means you don't have to do heaps of twisting & reaching yourself to get a little one out, you just turn, un buckle & pick up.

my mum is head of childrens services in our area, and looks after the capsule hiring, she finds many new parents don't have the full information when it comes to capsules and they try to educate before leasing one.

Many believe it is ok to leave a bubs sleeping in a capsule, but it is not as bubs spends too much time in that curved position, lugging a heavy capsule around is also not good for you, or your back.

Capsules are however still one of the safest ways for a new born to travel, just need to use them as a car safety restraint and not a carriage device or bed while you are out and about.

we asked the RAA about what they recomended and they said the old style s'n's capsule is still the safest for a newborn if your in an accident but they recomended not to leave bubs in there for more that 2hrs at a time.
when bubs exceeded the weight of the capsule at 9kgs they recomended the s'n's meridian ahr tilt and adjust which is birth to 4 years and bubs can face backward from 9-12kgs before being forward facing.
not sure about other states but in SA RAA and red cross hire out capsules for between $60-$80 depending if you want it for 3 or 6 months. you can also hire other car seats for bigger babies & kids from them but not sure on the costing.

We're buying a S'n'S meridien, for DH's car and will hire a capsule for my car and will work out what works best when the time comes.