capsule issues!! need car seat help!

[veve]

hey guys :)

had Jack checked out by a CHN yesterday.. and he is now offically (technically) one centimetre too long for his capsule .. and is 7.3kgs (capsule only lasts till 8kgs!!) I thought the capsule should last 6months???

I guess now I will have to go and look at car seats?? I was hoping to not have to do that for awhile ... guess it explains why Jack isn't fussed on the car anymore...

Can anyone recommend a car seat?? preferably one that would last from 8kg - till he is ready to start primary school :D I hate the idea of spending more and more money ... so one that adapts would be great...

has anyone actually been able to use the capsule for the full 6 months??

xx

[melfunction]

Hi Veve,

We were out of the capsule at 4months. K was too long and too heavy, so we got a carseat that is from birth to 18 months. I can't really read the brand name, but it looks like Aunger or similiar.

Looks like a racing car seat and has got good padding. It was $350 in one shop (won't name and shame ;) ) and we got the exact same one in another shop for $250 :D

[sopolicha]

How about a Safe and Sound Maxi Rider. I find them really good and my 4 and half year is still using hers with a long way to go. Not quite sure from what age you can use them from.

[Tea Lady]

Our capsule only last 4 months as well - bummer!! Our carseat had a strap that you have to pull to tighten the straps and it doesn't work too well - drives DH mad! Apparently the ones where you push a button to tighten are better. You may want to consider how easy it is to transfer between cars - a friend of mine has a "turn a tot" (or some similar name - can't remember exactly!) and she can't move it out of the car.

It is definitely worth shopping around for a good price - some kind of % off sale at target or kmart or somewhere would probably be good. Good luck with it!! :)

Oh yeah, I also found it good to have the newborn head support in the new car seat for a while because if J fell asleep in it her head flopped really badly and I think she was uncomfortable.

[HoopDeeDoo]

We have the Safe and Sound brand Galaxy classic car seat. The safe and sound ones are really great. But you can get a few similar ones that are reversable. The one we have can go backwards for babies, and then lean back forwards, and then sit upright forwards. We loved it so much we got a spare one so we can keep one in our car and have one at home for when I don't have the car, so my friends can pick us up to go out if hubby isn't home.

Now that we are expecting another one we don't have to buy a second car seat and I won't bother hiring a capsule.

My 1st born was 5 weeks prem, and he didn't even last 6 months in the capsule, so I think it's a bit of a myth that thats the average.

Good luck, you could always try kidsafe for a recommendation. We got ours from Target, I know you can get them from Kmart, but it is good to price check because with sales you can get them a lot cheaper.

[cobysmummy]

coby was out of the capsule early... he hated it...

so we bought a safensound (i think) from birth to 18kgs ??(dont quote me on that tho) which has a retractable strap so if he is in cloths i can quickly make it bigger or if in disposables push the button and it is smaller to suit him... :)

great for winter too if you take a jumper off or something.. dont have to fiddle around to make it tighter

it only cost about 250 i think... at the time target was having 20% or nursery....

[TwoBlue]

Hi Veve

We are about to take DS out of his capsule at just 9 weeks old !!

I would recommend a safensound or Mothers choice brand reversable carseat,
DS#1 is still in his at 2 years old and will be for at least another year so we bought a new one for DS#2

We got ours from Kmart on sale for $149.00 you should easily get one for under $200

http://www.safensound.com.au/publicSite/safensound/jsp/snsHomepageTemplate.jsp

This link has heaps of info in regards to the right kind of restraint to use

[sarah81]

We have a maxi rider for our toddler, think it is from 8kgs upwards (not entirely sure of that) but for a smaller baby it doesn't really recline that well if they want to sleep. I would go for a Safe and Sound Birth upwards one, they can last for quite a while. I have friends with nearly four year old still in orginal seat.

[lukaelmo]

Tee hee, we bought Luka a big boy capsule but he is still facing backwards when all his little playgroup friends are facing forwards :(

Poor little little dude :D

We have a safe and sound one now, the capsule lasted the 6 months, but he was trying to sit up in it and look around...Tee hee, we are still waiting for 8 kilos (ho hum)

Anyway, the safe and sound one is fine, nothing special, but then I do think it is one of the more economical (ie cheaper :D) brands. You can't take it out and carry them round like a capsule, but the Luka never wanted that anyway - he is too interested in what is going on to sleep.

[veve]

thanks for all the help guys :)

I was gonna ask that Lukaelmo ...

WHEN CAN THEY FACE FORWARDS???

Jack has pretty good neck control... but in an accident it could be scary.... my SIL said 12 months... but Jack gets sooo bored back there (and I am scared to give him too many toys ... he mouths everything now and I dont want him to choke while I'm driving??!! :eek: )

Is there a rule???
xxx

[melfunction]

We turned K around at 5 months..Had great neck control and spoke to the CHN. They checked him out and gave us the ok...Not sure if there are any rules...

[anotherlogin]

One thing to check out is how easy is it to get your hand behind the car seat to adjust the straps (ours is fine - it's a safe n' sound), but when we have travelled and hired a car we have had real trouble, I havea tiny hand and have had problems but my husband just couldn't get his hand in at all.

[LucyE]

DS moved out of the hired Safe'n'Sound capsule around 4 months - he was getting too long.

We have a Safe'n'Sound Meridian in our car and I'm pretty happy with it. It's a convertible carseat that goes from birth to about 26kg (I think). The important part for me was that you can leave bub in the reversed position until 12kgs. That is the safest position to have them so I waited until DS was at that weight before turning him (12months+). Head control has NOTHING to do with a child's ability to withstand a crash. This is a link (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=10632&page=2) to a reply by me in recent thread about a similar topic.

The Meridian is an upper model within the range. In my parent's car we've got a Safe'n'Sound SafeGuard which has the same base mouldings as the expensive models but without all the fancy trimming and some of the fancy options. It cost $170 compared to ours which was over $500. Both are equally safe according to the crash test report done by the NRMA/NSW RTA. A disturbing result of that report was that some of the carseats on the market are not very safe even if they do comply with Australian Sandards.

[jacks mum]

my jack was the same

we bought a safe n sound maxi rider. Got it on special for $339. It does from 8 - 26 kg. So from now until then. Good head control is needed as it doesn't seem to recline as much as others I've seen.

Jack would be sick everytime he was in it for the 1st week, maybe I was not sitting hime up straight and his tummy was squashed, I don't know but it's fantastic

[ETsMum]

I'm pretty sure the forward facing seats are for kids at least 8kg.

[pegasus]

We got a Fisher Price birth to 18kg. We turned it round when he was about 8/9months. We chose that one over the safe and sound due to the smaller base (still subscribes to Australian Standards) - much better when you carry round a 10 and 12 year old in the back seat too. Since we have number two coming, we've ended up getting a booster as although this seat will do our boy till he's bout 3 or so, it's cheaper to move him into a booster and give the new bub the car seat.(Backwards facing again).:D

[Mother Duck]

Hi there Veve - sounds like you have been given some great advice

Believe it or not we have JUST purchased a new car seat for Mickayla - we had been given one 2nd hand that lasted until now.

We got a Safe and Sound (don't remember the name - will look tomorrow) high price range with a special feature to keep their heads safe if in a crash

We spent about $400 but figured it is worth it safety wise

If you want to borrow my old one (be warned it's not snazzy) while you save a bit for yours let me know and I can bring it on Thurs