New car seat rules next year

[pixiemum2]

About 3 weeks ago I read an article in the newspaper about new carseat rules coming into force mid next year. It states that a child up to 4 years old had to be in a carseat and that a child aged 4-7 had to be in a booster seat. I am very happy about this as I think our carseat laws are pretty slack at the moment (eg a 1 year old can sit in a seat with just an adult seat belt :eek:).

So DS is 16.5 kg and his car seat will take him up to 18kg. I'm hoping it will last until the new laws come into place in 6-7 months. But what do I put him in after that?
There are no car seats that cater for kids above 18kg. Are they going to bring in/manufacture new ones that have 5 point harnesses for bigger kids?
I think the maxirider goes up to 20 something kgs but wouldn't it be classed as a booster seat when you use the seat belt/h-harness and not the five point harness?

https://www.raa.net/media_news.asp?TerID=83&RefID=539

Do they class a child seat as a car seat with a five point harness?

[Mahjong]

There are: Safe and Sound Maxi riders :D

http://www.britax.com.au/websites/Britax/HomePage.nsf/LUPages/SnS-CONVERTIBLE%20BOOSTERS%20-%208KG%20TO%2026KG

We have the "Explorer" one for DS1. He is 4. They can be used up to 26kgs.

[pixiemum2]

Thanks.
My confusing question though is:
With the maxirider at some point you can't use the five point harness and have to take the straps off and then use a h-harness (like you use with other normal booster seats) is that right? So do they require the child to be in a five point harness (car seat) up until 4 years or can you use something like the maxirider with a h-harness? Would it then be classed as a booster seat?
Does anyone understand what I am trying to explain?

[Me]

I think you'll find that both the Maxi and Explorer are rated to 18kgs with the "built in" 5 point harness, after which stage they recommend a H or protecta harness to be used. Both seats take a child weighted up to 26kgs.

Surely car seat manufacturers will need to start making seats with higher weight/height limitations if the law is being based on an age factor rather than weight/height? they're available in other countries, so why not here too? One of the little boys in DD's kindy class(he's 3) is nearing 25-30kgs - if this law comes into effect, what kind of a seat can accomodate him? Or do his parents risk getting a fine for the next 3-4 years whenever they take him in the car? I know this is an exception rather than the rule, but it would happen to some people.

[Hollywood]

OMG, surely nobody would actually put a 1 year old (or an under 3 or 4 year old for that matter) in a car without a child restraint?? :confused: I sure hope not.

Apart from the obvious safety risk in an accident, I know that DS would wriggle out of a normal seatbelt in an instant! He gets his arms out of his child restraint seatbelts as it is, let alone if he didn't have a child restraint, it would be a nightmare keeping him seated.

[Me]

OMG, surely nobody would actually put a 1 year old (or an under 3 or 4 year old for that matter) in a car without a child restraint?? :confused: I sure hope not.

Apart from the obvious safety risk in an accident, I know that DS would wriggle out of a normal seatbelt in an instant! He gets his arms out of his child restraint seatbelts as it is, let alone if he didn't have a child restraint, it would be a nightmare keeping him seated.

Sadly I've seen it done with my own eyes in children aged 3 and under. I also remember a thread on here over a year ago about someone who worked in a department store having a customer come in looking at booster seats, then turning around and asking "it's ok to put a 10mth old in a booster isn't it?".

There are a lot of people who are quite naive when it comes to car safety:no:

[Mahjong]

OMG, surely nobody would actually put a 1 year old (or an under 3 or 4 year old for that matter) in a car without a child restraint?? :confused: I sure hope not.

Apart from the obvious safety risk in an accident, I know that DS would wriggle out of a normal seatbelt in an instant! He gets his arms out of his child restraint seatbelts as it is, let alone if he didn't have a child restraint, it would be a nightmare keeping him seated.

You would think hey? Sadly, it's not the case. A family friend's children have never has car seats, they still dont :no:

The amount of times I have seen people driving with their kids in the back at around the ages of 12-18months with no car seats in the back :no:

Ive even seen one carload of people get out at the shops last year, 4 kids in the back and 4 adults with them :eek:

[Hollywood]

Sadly I've seen it done with my own eyes in children aged 3 and under. I also remember a thread on here over a year ago about someone who worked in a department store having a customer come in looking at booster seats, then turning around and asking "it's ok to put a 10mth old in a booster isn't it?".

There are a lot of people who are quite naive when it comes to car safety:no:

Wow, I had no idea. Scary.

[AM]

I get so confused, I thought all the car seat safety stuff was on body weight and length of child, not on age, as children vary so much in size at that age...what can be a safe seat for one child may not be for another...

[CharlisMummy]

Yep, I know someone who had their 3 year old in the front seat and their 22 month old in the backseat with the side seatbelt on NEXT TO AN EMPTY BABY CARSEAT!! :eek::eek::(

[zbazba]

About 3 weeks ago I read an article in the newspaper about new carseat rules coming into force mid next year. It states that a child up to 4 years old had to be in a carseat and that a child aged 4-7 had to be in a booster seat. I am very happy about this as I think our carseat laws are pretty slack at the moment (eg a 1 year old can sit in a seat with just an adult seat belt :eek:).

So DS is 16.5 kg and his car seat will take him up to 18kg. I'm hoping it will last until the new laws come into place in 6-7 months. But what do I put him in after that?
There are no car seats that cater for kids above 18kg. Are they going to bring in/manufacture new ones that have 5 point harnesses for bigger kids?
I think the maxirider goes up to 20 something kgs but wouldn't it be classed as a booster seat when you use the seat belt/h-harness and not the five point harness?

https://www.raa.net/media_news.asp?TerID=83&RefID=539

Do they class a child seat as a car seat with a five point harness?

Wow I didn't know about this. Thanks for sharing!

[Sheer Bliss]

I get so confused, I thought all the car seat safety stuff was on body weight and length of child, not on age, as children vary so much in size at that age...what can be a safe seat for one child may not be for another...

:iagree: It should DEF be on the weight, not age of the child. DS is 14kg NOW at 20months, I can't see him staying under 18kg by age 4.

It will also be interesting to see what they calssify as a booster seat and carseat too. We will have 4 kiddies next year, and the back seat of the car is most likely going to be 2 rearward facing convertibles, and a sns hi-liner in the middle, with then 2yo DS in the hi-liner with a protecta harness. Now......with the protecta harness on AND the anti-submarine clip in place, he will essentially have a 5-pt harness on (between his legs, one on each side, and one either side of his shoudlers) but is that still technically a car seat? IMO it's just as safe, esp as cars these days are NOT designed to have 3 seats accross the back. Then 4yo DD will be in a 'dickie seat' in the back with a protecta harness. The dickie seats don't fit a booster on them, they are made ofr kids (up to 38kg max) and the seatbelt is at the right height for her (which isn't that the point of a booster - to make the seatbelt the correct height?) AND with the added safety of the harness will that still make their guidelines? I have thought long and hard about our seating arrangements once the twins are born, and safety is important to me. I hope they take that into account, rather than just following rules, where other options may be safer.

[gizmoduckus]

My confusing question though is:
With the maxirider at some point you can't use the five point harness and have to take the straps off and then use a h-harness (like you use with other normal booster seats) is that right? So do they require the child to be in a five point harness (car seat) up until 4 years or can you use something like the maxirider with a h-harness? Would it then be classed as a booster seat?
Does anyone understand what I am trying to explain?

I was wondering that myself. Can't seem to find that information anywhere.

[Sheer Bliss]

It seems like it's a bit all over the place and not that well thought out TBH. They CAN'T implement it as LAW if there are no carseats available in australia to accomodate a child under 4 but heavier than 18kg.

I can also find news articles (from march-08) saying that NSW was also going to implement the laws, but nothing to say when, and there is nothing on the NSW RTA website. They need to get their act together. :shame:

[Me]

:iagree: It should DEF be on the weight, not age of the child. DS is 14kg NOW at 20months, I can't see him staying under 18kg by age 4.

It will also be interesting to see what they calssify as a booster seat and carseat too. We will have 4 kiddies next year, and the back seat of the car is most likely going to be 2 rearward facing convertibles, and a sns hi-liner in the middle, with then 2yo DS in the hi-liner with a protecta harness. Now......with the protecta harness on AND the anti-submarine clip in place, he will essentially have a 5-pt harness on (between his legs, one on each side, and one either side of his shoudlers) but is that still technically a car seat? IMO it's just as safe, esp as cars these days are NOT designed to have 3 seats accross the back. Then 4yo DD will be in a 'dickie seat' in the back with a protecta harness. The dickie seats don't fit a booster on them, they are made ofr kids (up to 38kg max) and the seatbelt is at the right height for her (which isn't that the point of a booster - to make the seatbelt the correct height?) AND with the added safety of the harness will that still make their guidelines? I have thought long and hard about our seating arrangements once the twins are born, and safety is important to me. I hope they take that into account, rather than just following rules, where other options may be safer.

It might be worth double checking, but last week when I had a look at the hi-liner, it was labeled as only going up to 23kgs where most other boosters go up to 26kgs(eg. Explorer is slimer version of the maxi with a few variations, but is a booster up to 26kgs).

[Sheer Bliss]

Thanks - it is 26kg, i just double checked the website. http://www.britax.com.au/Websites/Business/brproddb.nsf/LUPages/Child%20Car%20Seats-Hi-Liner%20with%20Anti-Submarine%20Clip#

[onemummmy]

all safe n sound carseats with 5 point harnesses the harnesses are weight tested to 22 kilos. You can use it to at least 20 kilos no worries. the safe n sound hiliner is weight tested til 32(I think) kilos. our current weight limits are the MINIMUM requirements. so once your child is 20 kilos the best option is a hiliner with harness til 32 kilos :) Hopefully they get some aussie standards approved seats here with higher weight limits on the 5 point harnesses and rear facing til 18 kilos at least. its just safer. no doubt about it.

[Me]

Thanks Tan, I was being lazy before and didn't download the actual product recommendations pdf. It's a shame the baby shop I went to was wrong because I completely stopped looking at that seat the second I saw that and even commented to the shop assistant that I thought it was weird. Mind you she wasn't very helpful or know her products very well. At 1 stage to show me how to lift the head part up on 1 of the seats she put her foot on the seat and pulled it up with all her strength. I'm so glad I don't intend to actually buy from that shop, I want to buy somewhere with confidence!

[pixiemum2]

I'm glad I'm not the only confsed one. I agree that they (whoever they are) need to get their act into gear and give us some specifics of the requirments. I'm very curious to see if they will manufacture or bring in some carseats that will suit the older/heavier kids.

[Just Add Water]

Laws vary from state to state so please check with your local roadside service, or even call into a police station and have a chat with them to ensure you are following the relevant rules.

[NibbleCurlynBub]

Why would they bring in laws that the car seats that are in Aus can barely meet.

Seriously, I never knew how difficult this was but now that I need a GOOD SAFE seat for my kids it is becoming so obvious how pathetic we really are when it comes to safety.

How are we supposed to meet or excel at those laws if there is no car seat enabling us to do so. :no:

RIDICULOUS.

Upgrade the car seats THEN the requirements.

[Miss_Vicki]

hey , this comes in as of 1st of may anyone know about it ?

i dont age on the age thing , my dd is 4 months(almost)an 10 kg not of carseats go up to 12 kg for rear facing , i asume they think all up to 6 months olds are under 12 kg ;)

[Zada]

ok so a H harness with a submarine clip is a 5 point harness yes? My 2.5yr old DS is in a safe n sound pegasus booster he weighs around 14kg and has the H harness on. Im not about to go buy a new seat when this is surely a 5 point harness

[naebie]

The new laws will require:
• infants up to six months old to be restrained in a rearward facing child capsule;
• children aged between six months and four years old to be seated in either a rearward or forward facing child seat;


So I take it you now HAVE to use a capsule rather than a rearward facing carseat for a newborn... That may not be viable financially for all families, also, there aren't a great number of capsuls on the market, are there? Plus, aren't they only suitable to 9 kgs- some bubs are that big at 4 months!

[Chunkydunks]

No you don't have to have a capsule. Rear facing carseat is perfectly fine. I really think they should be doing all this by weight. Kids just vary too much to have it done by age.

I have a 8 yr old niece who fits perfectly into DS's trek 8 (same size as the maxi riders). You can't tell me that just because she's 8 that she's doesn't need a bit more protection. She's tiny. Her younger siblings are the same. my 7 year old nephew isn't much bigger than DS and my 5 year old nephew is smaller than him (and not even in a booster:banghead:).

But then on the other hand my sister is having problems with my 2 (nearly 3) yr old nephew because he's tall and solid (mind you right now she's just got him in a foam booster with a seat blet:banghead:). He's 97cms and 15kgs already. He's almost out of his current seat height wise and she's looking at getting something like we have for DS.

Basically I'd say they will allow exceptions to the rules simply because there are always going to be kids who are either taller, heavier or both. They can't expect you to keep a child in a harnessed seat thats only safety test to 18kgs and they can't expect you to keep them in a seat they're too tall for.