target/kmart cots & babyseats

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if anyone has purchased cots from Kmart or Taget? They have 2 in the current catalogues, Target is half price at $149. I looked at it, it looks all right to me, are they ok or is this cheap and nasty? I really don't know if I want to spend $600 on a cot, or should I? The other one is a Mothers Choice cot, are these ok? They both seemed sturdy.

Also, both places have MC convertible car seats, Havana and Nomad, any advice on these? I am thinking that if they are ok, I might go layby.

Thanks in advance

Hi Mitzy,

We purchased the same baby cot (the white one) that is currently on sale for $149 for $180 (sale price at the time) from Target. It's perfect. Good quality also. At first I didn't want white but looks really nice in our bedroom. Nothing cheap and nasty about it. Why not check it out for yourself at your local Target store?

Purchased it 2/3 months ago.

Car Seats - one thing to watch with some brands is the stabiliser bar that is used in rear facing, flips back under the seat in forward facing. This bar should sit straight underneath the seat, I found when using these seats this bar would slip sideways when used in upright position. Not sure if the seat of the car was pushing it or whether it was just the car seat. I tend to buy brands that don't have this type of bar, to me (just my opinion) they seem rather soft. BTW, I am a Family Day Carer and have up to five car seats that I use in my car at any one time and would prefer to know that I am protecting someone else's child to my best ability.

Hi, I haven't bought or had any experience with the items you're asking about but my advice would be to go to your local store & see for sure how sturdy etc they are before laybying them. I have seen a bargain price on certain items & gone to the store to snatch it up only to find when I've checked the display item its cheap & nasty so since then I have ALWAYS inspected big ticket items before buying.

JMO :)

Go for it. Those cots look great to me. I was given one for my girls n was no where near one of those places for ds, so ended up paying $400 for his on sale.
Both carseats i got from toy world. The first was $180 n did anth the girls. I have now passed it onto a friend of mine for her twins. The one i have now was $220. It has a stabilizing bar. I haven't had coz problems with it yet. Hopefully i won't now he's forward facing.
I think as long as they are the australian standard they should be find. Just make sure the mattress fits snugly & enjoy!

Don't know about the cots sorry as we bought our's from a baby store as a package.

We did however buy our convertible car seat from Target, it's a "Safe N Sound" one as they were recommended to us to be one of the best brands around for car seats. They are a very reliable brand.

Thanks for your replies. I have looked at them both, and they looked ok, I liked the look of the Target one, but just wanted to check and see if anyone had problems. DP is a case of everything is cheap and nasty unless you spend a fortune, so I will go look again today. (he won't be coming... could turn out to be a nightmare!) I think with the carseat I might wait, I am not sure what will and won't fit in my car. Thanks for all your replies

I would NEVER buy another MC car seat if my life depended on it. They dont give me the safe and warm fuzzy feelings like the Safe N Sound seats.

DD2 has a MC one..(she just went into it as new bub needs the SNS one and DD1 has a new booster).

I have a cot from Target. It's called a Chelsea cot & is white. No problems with it at all & it looks great in the nursery.

It is not true that everything that is inexpensive is cheap & nasty. We went bargain basement with everything & it's all been fantastic. We bought everything from stores like Big W, Kmart & Target. Most baby stores will charge way more for identical products either with the same branding or a different brand stamped on them.

Not sure what your plans are for after bubs is born, but personally I thought it was better to have cheaper nursery items which left me with more money in the bank, which in turn allowed me to take 8 months off work without feeling a financial pinch at all. Perhaps you could explain things to hubby that way. Someone I know who bought everything from baby shops & it all cost a fortune was back at work in 3 months even though the plan was 12 months.

if ou do go looking at some others to compare - the kingparrot range (which i have and love) are made by boori ($$$) and MUCH more affordable!

We bought our cot from Kmart and our car seat from Target (car seat at boxing day sales last year, cot in April) both are perfect (both are Mothers Choice). I don't think you have to go spending $1000's on a cot (we paid not even $250, and its perfect, sturdy, two base heights, double-locking side [need two hands to open so a child can't really so it themselves]). Our car seat is great too, might not be padded out with expensive sheepskin or have groovy colurs or side speasker and a cup holder (:rolleyes:) but it meets and surpasses Aust. standards, so I feel Jazz is perfectly safe.

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Car Seats - one thing to watch with some brands is the stabiliser bar that is used in rear facing, flips back under the seat in forward facing. This bar should sit straight underneath the seat, I found when using these seats this bar would slip sideways when used in upright position. Not sure if the seat of the car was pushing it or whether it was just the car seat. I tend to buy brands that don't have this type of bar, to me (just my opinion) they seem rather soft. BTW, I am a Family Day Carer and have up to five car seats that I use in my car at any one time and would prefer to know that I am protecting someone else's child to my best ability.

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Agree here - we bought an Aunger car seat from Big W but it was their deluxe $300 + model and it did exactly this. Chucked it out and replaced it with a Mothers Choice convertible for $149 from Target and it is excellent. I don't think cost always reflects quality as long as it meets the safety standards as a minimum.

heres our cot, you'd never know it was from kmart! childcare brand as was the change table, both for under $500, looks great, we've been asked on many occasions where its from and people are shocked when we say kmart! both very stable and very safe

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...77&ppuser=2982

car seats, i wont even look at anything other than s&s thats one thing im prepared to spend money on,

AJP your cot looks really nice...

Satya,.... totally agree on that one. I am happy to have good quality 2nd hand stuff so I will be able to stay at home longer. DP, different story, champagne taste on beer budget!!!

My SIL spent a small fortune on her nursery, had to have the best of the best (ok if you can afford it!) and bub is 3months old, and they are feeling the pinch now.

I read online somewhere that Target are having a huge baby sale starting 15th Jan, so I will ditch DP and go looking and laybying by myself!

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We bought our cot from Kmart and our car seat from Target

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Same - I sat on the computer and did heaps of research on the car seats & cots before I went to the sales. We had $500 worth of gift vouchers and tried to make the most of the sales

We ended up buying the cot from Kmart because it was alot sturdier and thicker planks that the one at Target (personal choice) - also had a matress on sale.

We got the car seat from Target as it was rated to 18kg. The one at Kmart was only rated to 9kg. Also converts to a baby carrier/infant car seat.

Of course we havent used any of it yet, but when we looked at the bigger stores, we definately got value for money and not disapointed. :)

I have the Childcare white cot from Target and it is very sturdy, got the change table to match aswell, they were both on sale sometime last year.

We just also recently bought our safe and sound car seat from Kmart for $229 where the same brand in baby shops is $400-$500!!!!!!!!

i got a kmart cot 7years ago and its now doing child number 3. id say go for it

Just thought I would pop in and mention that we got a S n S Meridian car seat - it was around $300 - great car seat. A few months later friends of ours had a baby and she showed me their Fisher Price seat that was from Kfart for $170 on sale and it is the same seat. Different fabric and label obviously but everything else is identical.

We got a bassinette from Target, on sale, for $99, and it looks the same as the more expensive, baby shop ones! No problems with it at all.

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Just thought I would pop in and mention that we got a S n S Meridian car seat - it was around $300 - great car seat. A few months later friends of ours had a baby and she showed me their Fisher Price seat that was from Kfart for $170 on sale and it is the same seat. Different fabric and label obviously but everything else is identical.

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It's worth doing some research to find out which companies make the products you are looking at bcos you can buy the same product under their cheaper brand. I remember in my years at the old mart that the "cheap" brands used to come in the "expensive branded bulk packaging.

Good point Tan!

Mitzy,
you've posted exactly the question i've been asking myself today. Saw the white cot in target half price last weekend and i've just been to babyco this afternoon to do some looking around. I thought the target one looked great, and i will probably layby that and a car seat tomorrow - safe and sound no doubt. they were cheaper at target too.
I aksed the sales lady at babyco her opinion on buying goods from target / kmart etc - got the response i knew i would get - of course they're going to recommend their products - she basically suggested that they sell better quality items that will last longer? i couldn't see anything wrong with the target one, and white is what i want.
I was surprised at the limited range in babyco - target has more variety on prams, car seats etc.
I want to give us some breathing space financially, and i don't need the most expensive or glitzy items to feel good about myself. Practical, safe and affordable for me.
Lolly

I thought i would let you all know the cot that i still have set up at my mums....is over 8 yrs old from target...has done 2 kids fulltime one for 6 months (my sister kid i needed it back for dd#2) and then has been used as a toddler bed for my 5 year old and nephies at my mums....i sit on it sometimes and it is still in great condtion brought back then for 50% off so i would go for it. Though I will only buy safe n sound seats after a car accident i had (no kid in seat at time) was not a safe n sound one had to replace it.....did research calling companies and found safe n sound seat to have the highest safety ratting for crashes. (thought that was 7 years ago)

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Car Seats - one thing to watch with some brands is the stabiliser bar that is used in rear facing, flips back under the seat in forward facing. This bar should sit straight underneath the seat, I found when using these seats this bar would slip sideways when used in upright position. Not sure if the seat of the car was pushing it or whether it was just the car seat. I tend to buy brands that don't have this type of bar, to me (just my opinion) they seem rather soft. BTW, I am a Family Day Carer and have up to five car seats that I use in my car at any one time and would prefer to know that I am protecting someone else's child to my best ability.

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I have had the same problem with my car seat. It's a PITA so I am back to using my turn a tot.

As for cots I have the mothers choice one from Kmart and I love it :)

i brought my cot and change table from toys r us - they are always having great sales on cot packages ( i think we paid $399 total )

We brought our car seat from Kmart and it's fine. at the end of the day they all have to meet australian standards

hey
well mother choice and In good care car seats are crap I just got rid of one because it was just dangerous it was in my mothers car and I couldnt stand to have my daughter in it as it would not stay in position we ended up getting her a maxirider ahr as it was the closest to the meridian in my car car seats are worth every cent.
the cots from kmart don't seem to be very good on Friday a girl in my mothers group said to me she had to glue hers together as the bars keeps coming apart, but then I would not spend much on a cot as my daughter is 9 months old and she has probably spent 2 full nights in her cot as she usually ends up in my bed as she hates her cot but I think that is just her I got my cot from Toys r us and it was about 400 and it is sturdy and does a good job when my daughter will sleep in it.
even a second hand cot with a new mattress might be a better option the a kmart cot.
sorry have no idea about the target but kmart and target have the same owners so I would assume similar stock really pays to go in and have a look and remember babies kick the rails fairly hard.