when to stop using baby capsule?

[chloe1]

Hi Guys, dont know if im in the right section but i just wanted to know when to change from using a baby capsule to a seat? My son is 4 months and weighs almost 9 kilos he is very long though and it gets bit sqashy in there, almost were its hard to buckle him up. I have a safensound cosi rider seat but it recommends 6 months Any ideas??:)

[melfunction]

Thats one good sized bubba!!!!! :)

Our car seat recommends 6 months or 8kgs, whichever comes first.

As K was 8kgs way before he was 6 months, I spoke to the CHN about when to change it. Maybe if you rang them, they might be able to advise you on what to do.

[jacks mum]

my ds was the same, he hit 9kg before the 6 months.

As long as he can support his head well, he can go into a front facing seat. For the first week I thought he was still to small but really he wasn't.

[Nicki]

I think I was lucky with my kids as they were small and my eldest has low muscle tone. Both of them stayed in the capsule until about 6-8 months. I think that the problem with putting them in the seat early is that they might be big enough, but they don't necessarily have the muscle control to handle the upright position while you are driving around sharp bends, braking suddenly etc.

The CHN should be a good source of advice, as she knows what your son is capable of and how strong he is.

I once worked with a Tongan family whose children were enormous. This was a big problem for them, as the babies had grown out of a capsule waaay too early for them to go into a car seat and they had to use a bit of imagination (which didn't necessarily sit well with Australian standards) to overcome this for a few months.

Hope this helps

Nicki

DD 7
DD 4.5
#3 due 08.04.06

[Irish Dad]

My daugthers 12.6 kg and 7 months and too big for any of her seats. She just loves her food I guess :)

[LucyE]

My DS grew out of his capsule at four months too. I would move him to a rearward facing convertable carseat. I wouldn't recommend moving him into a forward facing seat yet because they are much less safe than rearward facing. Neck and head strength have very little to do with their ability to cope with the trauma of a car accident. Anyone who has seen the results of crash test studies would never recommend putting such a tender bub into a forward facing seat.

If cost is an issue, have you considered hiring a seat for a few months until he can go into the Cosi Rider? Kidsafe have a carseat hire service and they check their seats before they go out (unlike a certain dodgy baby shop I have dealt with). They are also a wealth of information. In QLD the Ambulance service offers a free fitting and checking service so you might have something similar near you and ask for their advice.

[Mary_T]

The molded baby capsules are recommended for babies up to 8kg or 70cm. If you have a kidsafe in your area they are able to help with all this information. They also fit carseats for a gold coin donation. My DD is almost 6 months but still only little she is 6kg and 61 cm so she will be in her capsule for a while yet.

[SassyMummy]

My little girl is 6 months and just over 10kg...so she no longer fit into her capsule when she was about 4months...well, not very well anyway. I sat her up at about 5months because I was freaked that it'd be dangerous if any earlier.

I don't think it would have been though.

If your bub can hold up their head, then it's time to face around (if they're big especially!). You can adjust a lot of seats to a "recline" position which is upright...just not FULLY upright...if that makes sense.

[Mum2Lucas]

My son got swapped to the car seat at 3 months because he held his head up really well.

[LucyE]

I'm sorry to harp on about this but when it concerns the safety of innocent children, I am very concerned.

Here is just one link documenting why rearward facing IS SAFER than forward facing, especially for such a young baby. It is based on a study by the University of Michigan so I would consider it to be quite reputable. It also has photos of two crash test dummies in both positions travelling at the same speed.

http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#rearfacFF

Here are a few quotes from the article:

The most prevalent misunderstanding is the idea that muscle strength and control dictate whether it is reasonable to face a child forward and subject the neck to the extreme forces pulling the head away from the body in a frontal crash.


Rather it is the rigidity of the bones in the neck, in combination with the connecting ligaments, that determines whether the spine will hold together and the spinal cord will remain intact within the confines of the vertebral column.

TMI warning!!!!!

Real-world experience has also shown that a young child's skull can be literally ripped from her spine by the force of a crash. The body is being held in place, but the head is not. When a child is facing rearward, the head is cradled and moves in unison with the body, so that there is little or no relative motion that might pull on the connecting neck.

There is heaps of other studies all over the world to back up the claim that babies should be left rearward facing for as long as possible. In Sweden, it is routine for children to be in a rearward position until the age of 5!