Tell me about car seats - for over 12kg (post capsule) - and a Britax/Safe N Sound Q?

Right now, DS is in a Safe and Sound Unity capsule. We purchased 1 capsule and 2 bases so we can move the capsule between cars with the comfort of knowing that the bases were properly installed by professional installers. Before we know it, DS is going to be too big for his capsule.

I understand that car seats don't have bases so I guess this means we will need 2 car seats (if we want to be able to use both cars with DS and still have the comfort of having them professionally installed) - is this right?

What car seats would you recommend? and why?

Also, are any of the Britax branded models from the US or UK identical to any of the Safe N Sound models sold here?

I had the Safe N Sound Meridian AHR for both my babies and thought it was great - seemed nice and comfy for them, great for rear facing and then still has a long life once you eventually turn it to forward facing - I think it goes to 18kgs but don't quote me on that? It is all one "thing" though so yes, you would need one for each car.

We just got a letter from the RAC (not sure what your Vic equivalent is?) that had the recent car seat results from capsules through to boosters - it was done in conjunction with the other States' RAC equivalent. Google RAC and then search for child car restraints and the links are at the bottom of the page. HTH

I guess I am a little confused as I'd like DS to be rear facing for as long as possible given that it is significantly safer. Are there any seats that are built to go rearfacing for the entire time a child is in the car seat?

currently in aus the limit is 12kgs or 12months rear facing
my children have Safe N Sound Meridian AHR for my toddler and Safe N Sound Maxirider AHR for my almost 3
the maxirider is still the safest booster on the market and is 8kgs-7years my son started using his booster at 2years old my daughter will be 19months as weve got another bub on the way so will buy her a maxi rider AHR

A child has to be in a booster/harness until 7 years so no...no car seat will rearface till that age.

Overseas carseats are illegal to use here as they do not meet our safety standards...you can be fined and your car insurance voided if yo uuse hem. The longest you can rearface at present in any australian carseat is 12 kgs although there is currently a lobby for amending the standards so seats that will rearface longer can be sold here (such as ones sold in some scandanavian countries).

You also have to take into account height as well as weight...we bought a 12kg rated capsule but they only go to 70odd cms in height....DS topped that at 9months and 9kilos so we had to fork out for a convertible carseat to keep him rearfacing for as long as possible. We went with the Platinum AHR AIR as it the safest reversible carseat on the market at present....but not cheap. this should last him till 4 yrs or so when he will need to go into a harnessed booster.

Yeah Unfortunately there is no seat in Australia that accommodates rear facing beyond 12kg. I have been luck that my kids have not hit 12 kgs until well over 12 months. I also contacted the maker of my seat who said that testing goes beyond 12kg but our standards don't. So I was happy to leave them a bit longer over the 12 kg mark.
Also, Im not sure if you had a seat from overseas that didn't comply with AUS standard that you would have any insurance cover if you happened to be involved in an accident with that seat in use.
I often wonder this as you see overseas seats listed on ebay & such but I didn't think it was legal to actually use them in the car here?

eta - thanks Mel, you answered my post while I was posting :)

I've done a fair bit of research since my post this morning and it is unfortunate that there is no Aussie rear facing seat that will take you beyond 12kg as apparently it is much safer. And it is technically correct that using a non-Aussie car seat is illegal here. However, if it is indeed much safer, that may be a risk I am willing to take - what's a fine compared to safety???

What I find interesting is that Australia seems to be very strick in terms of the mechanics of the car seat (meaning the requirements in terms of the build and installation are top requirements) but in terms of usage requirements (only allowing the sale of rear facing up until 12kgs), Australia seems to be behind.

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A child has to be in a booster/harness until 7 years so no...no car seat will rearface till that age.

Overseas carseats are illegal to use here as they do not meet our safety standards...you can be fined and your car insurance voided if yo uuse hem. The longest you can rearface at present in any australian carseat is 12 kgs although there is currently a lobby for amending the standards so seats that will rearface longer can be sold here (such as ones sold in some scandanavian countries).

You also have to take into account height as well as weight...we bought a 12kg rated capsule but they only go to 70odd cms in height....DS topped that at 9months and 9kilos so we had to fork out for a convertible carseat to keep him rearfacing for as long as possible. We went with the Platinum AHR AIR as it the safest reversible carseat on the market at present....but not cheap. this should last him till 4 yrs or so when he will need to go into a harnessed booster.

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Mel do you have a link with the info re insurance being voided as my SIL is planning on getting a car seat from Swedden and I was having this argument about TAC and insurance not covereing her baby if she had an accident, but she felt that a fine was ok if he was safe.

DS1 because forward facing not long before I had DS2 as I needed the car seat for baby.

DS2 is still rear facing at nearly 15 months, I need to weigh him again to see how long till I have to face him the other way.
DS1 is in a maxirider AHR
DS2 a Meridian AHR both are made by S and S

I spoke to my car insurance agency as i was going to import one and they said if the car was involved in an accident and the seat didnt meet australian standards it would void the claim......PHI said the same thing...i can't speak for TAC as I didn't speak to them. You can also be fined if you are caught with one installed but then again I am not sure exactly how observant a police officer is going to be of the exact make and model carseat you have in the car at the time.

Be careful with buying overseas though, just because it rearfaces longer doesn't make it a safer seat...make sure to look very very carefully at all the safety and crash test ratings of the various seats.....some of them are worse than our forward facing seats.....some are really good options but some re really dodgy.

Here's my question - void what claim? not the claim for the damage to the actual car, right (I mean, the car seat has nothing to do with the car)? So, would it void the claim for the replacement car seat (if so, so what if your child is unharmed/less harmed than he/she would have been in a forward facing)? This is what I don't get - other than a possible fine from a very observant police officer - what could happen? OR, worse case scenario - if your child was hurt, would it mean that you couldn't claim on your health insurance/medicare - now that's a serious issue. Note, I am assuming that the seat being used is just as safe if not safer than an Aussie certified one...and I agree, plenty of research needs to be done but there are some really good options out there...and there are Britax seats in the US and UK (Safe N Sounds maker) that rear face for longer, have excellent safety ratings, and cost hundreds less than what I would say are the equivalent Aussie models (and I'm talking about the top of the line models).

Here's an interesting statistic:

"New research has found children are safer in rear-facing car seats. A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention showed that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they are riding rear-facing."

its against the law to face your child backwards after 12 months of age in Australia, regardless of weight.

Its not just a fine from an officer you need to worry about its a charge for child endangerment which could see you go to gaol ... Just use a Seat that meets Australian standards.... your ds will be able to be in a rear facing one for a whole year yet....

where did you find that law M2R...my son is still rearfacing at 15 months and will be until he hits the 12 kilo limit. I have no intention of turning him until then...he will most likely be close to 2 before that happens.

No way I would have turned the girls before 12 months, dd1 was still in 000's until 14 months can you imagine turning a little one that small!

Mom2Romone - That's ridiculous if that's the law - it is so much safer to rear face for as long as possible - there are videos on youtube showing why (with child crash test dummies) - I will be rear facing my child for as long as possible in a very respectable foreign seat. Australia is well behind the times in terms of this policy and I refuse to endanger my child when it's not necessary to do so.

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its against the law to face your child backwards after 12 months of age in Australia, regardless of weight.

Its not just a fine from an officer you need to worry about its a charge for child endangerment which could see you go to gaol ... Just use a Seat that meets Australian standards.... your ds will be able to be in a rear facing one for a whole year yet....

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That is not true the only law is not to turn before 8kg or 6 months minimum, and most rear facing car seats have a max weight of 12kg. DS1 was only turned at 17 months as neede car seat for DS2 and DS2 still rear facing at 15 months.

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its against the law to face your child backwards after 12 months of age in Australia, regardless of weight.

Its not just a fine from an officer you need to worry about its a charge for child endangerment which could see you go to gaol ... Just use a Seat that meets Australian standards.... your ds will be able to be in a rear facing one for a whole year yet....

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That is not true the only law is not to turn before 8kg or 6 months minimum, and most rear facing car seats have a max weight of 12kg. DS1 was only turned at 17 months as neede car seat for DS2 and DS2 still rear facing at 15 months.

ok a friend was charged with having her two year old backwards. In court they showed "proof" of the law requiring you to turn them at 12kgs or 12 months which ever comes first. DS is only 12 kg now but has been turned since this incident happened with my friend... when ds was 14 months...

She was charged. She had the child in a minor accident and facing the wrong way ( backwards )

Im not going to argue about you tube videos :) they are clearly international and have nothing to do with Aus or the law...

this incident happened in nsw.... anyhow, do what you like but she no longer has custody of her child...

oops double post...

That would be before the new national laws came into effect then......the laws are different now since March 2010 in NSW

The new national child restraint laws state:

* Children younger than six months must be secured in a rearward facing restraint.
* Children aged six months to under four years must be secured in either a rear or forward facing restraint.

Taken from the NSW Govt website

M2R That's terrible! I feel for your friend :hug: When did that happen? The laws are supposed to have changed recently, or at least that is what I thought. I am trying to find out exactly what the laws are now as new seats are coming into stores now. It's ridiculous that you can be charged for trying to make your child safe :( Is your friend going to get her baby back soon? I really do feel for her, there are parents out there doing horrible, neglectful things and still have their children it's just wrong.

Two things or two sets of regulations have changed which is where it gets confusing. The regulations on the use of carseats have changed, they used to be diff from state to state but over the last eighteen or so months new national laws have been phased in so everyone has to follow the same laws regarding usage...also to confuse the issue the design standards by which carseat manufacturers make the carseats have changed mean carseats have to meet new regulations to be approved...this is still being phased in and new seats are coming the market all the time....it's all a bit confusing in the carseat world at the momentwith everything changing so rapidly......

and yes I am very sorry for your friend M2R it is worng that a person who is trying to keep her child safe should be punished like that....

If you go here you can get a link to the appropriate information for your state willow
2010 National Car Restraints in Each State (map view) | Baby Car Seat: a place to learn Australia standard of infant seat, convertible seat, booster seat

Thanks melbel, I didn't see your other post when I posted before. It is sooo confusing! I want to rear face as long as possible, I think DS is just over 12kg now, but we haven't turned him as length wise it still seems ok, as in his head isn't at or above the seat at the moment. I guess that could be the wrong thing to do but I read that fit is as important as weight too. We want to import a seat but not sure on what happens with insurance. Going on a previous post insurance could be void if you do :dunno: Shouldn't be this bloody hard !

M2R - that's horrible - and also hard to believe that your child could be taken away for trying to keep them safe by rear facing for longer in a seat that properly fits. Was something else going on (not to insult your friend, but I do find it hard to believe that this was the one & only factor). With plenty of proof that rear facing is safer, the standards in Australia do not make me happy.

Hi. Was just reading down through this thread. Am preparing for a move to Oz in a few months and joined up here to get a grip on being a mom in OZ!! My DD1 is nearly 3 and travels in a Norwegian BE SAFE Izi Combi with Isofix - rearfacing. She should get another six months or so out of this seat before I have to turn her forward facing. This is one if not the best rear facing seat on the market in Europe - I have done my homework. I have two of these seats and was hoping to use them with DD2 when DD1 grows out of them. DD2 is now 6 months! I have been searching the net for information on rearfacing seats in Australia but cannot find one that goes past 12kgs, but it was my understanding that a child could be rearfacing up to age 4. I find this baffling!! And the temptation to bring my seats with me and hope for the best but to end up in court charged with child endangerment!!! Do cars have Isofix points in them in Australia? Thanks a million!

I think some imported cars have isofix but it's not common in Australia. We've just moved to the states and I'm liking our new seats more than the ones back in Oz.

We have a VW and it has anchors in 2 places - on the "panel" under the rear view mirror as well as between the seat backs and the seats. I think I also checked our Honda and I think it also has the same 2 anchors - I will check again tonight because I need to know anyway. I know you can use the front seat rails as anchor points in lieu of anchor points that would be on the floor of the back seat. The seat rails are just as secure as the real anchor points (I emailed the Swedish company that exports all the major European car seats to various countries including Australia). I'm not up on the terms for the various anchor points so I'm just describing them to you.

I agree that the law here makes no sense - and your research is correct - there is no rear facing Aus car seat that goes beyond 12kgs - it's crazy. If I was you, I'd bring in your seats and use them - but I'm not providing legal advice (although I find it hard to believe that the someone's child was taken away because they were rear facing at an older age) and you will have to weigh the benefits and risks like I have.

Twinklestar, most imported European models of cars have isofix points in them but as yet they are not legal to use here in Australia....our design standards state that the seat must have a top tether strap.....if you buy an australian or some of the asian manufactured car it will not have isofix points. As BulieJ says it is up to you to make the best decision for you..the seats may be safer but they won't be legal so you have to take that chance...for what it is worth the isofix standard is currently being investigated by the Australian authorities and it hopefully won't be too much longer before it is incorporated into the standards here.....maybe if enough of us keep hassling the relevant authorities they might get the message that they need to pull their finger out and do something about it!

As an FYI - our VW jetta (I think it's a 2009) has true ISOFIX points - I inspected them and confirmed in the owner's manual. Our Honda CRV (also 2009 I think) has "hooks" in the same back seat spot but not ISOFIX hooks - I think they are more of the US LATCH system. So, it is possible to get a car in Australia that has these points but the above considerations re: legality remain. Meanwhile I've watched more videos on you tube re: rear facing benefits as well as installation - with these fixed latches in the car and the video and brochure instructions, the overseas seats should be very easy to properly install. I was pretty impressed with the videos (Britax USA has a whole library of them).