Which type of car seat ?

[Cian's Mum]

HI everyone .

I'm expecting and already thinking about car seat ...

I don't know if it's better to hire a capsule for 6 months or buy the convertible car seat ???

Which one did you buy ?

Just what to know what the other Mum and Dad did ...

Thanks for sharing your experience .
Take care .

[mum_2_5]

For DS1 we had a reversable car seat for him. With DS2 we were using the same reversable seat for him but on the way home from hospital he managed to get both his legs on the same side of the strap. Cause he was small we ended up hiring a capsule to be on the safe side. DS1 was 6lb 10oz. DS2 was 5lb 10oz.

[Bree79]

We got a convertible car seat. I figured we'd have to get a car seat anyway, so we may as well get one that we can get a fair bit of use out of! Haven't had any probs with it either. If you decide to go with a car seat, I would definitely recommend one that has the automatic rectractor for the harness - makes things easy when you are strapping bubs in and out.

[ziggie]

We bought a reversable car seat... only because we'll be able to use it for a couple of years... I did think of getting a capsule, coz of the fact that you can take it out of the car without disturbing bubba, but if you check out the weight range, you'll see that you'll have to buy a regular car seat anyway coz your bubba wont be able to go from a capsule to a booster.... does that make sense?!?!?!?! :D Our car seat looks real comfy too... we bought the padded insert to make it nice for newborns, so their heads don't flop around. DS Loooooooves it :sleeping: !!!!

[bpato]

:wave:

We went for the reversable car seat. One reason was because you have to buy one enventually and two you have to pay for the capsule unless you buy or own (they are quite dear to purchase outright), and we figure why fork out money twice.

We went for the good old safe and sound, and purchase the royale model which is middle of the range, and went for the retractable model so we weren't ahving to pull and puch things to adjust the straps each time we put bub in or out of his deat.

Hope this has helped.

Belinda

[Cian's Mum]

Thanks everyone for your answers ...
I'll try to make up my mind :D

Take care .

[Princess_Alisa]

We hired a baby capsule for the first 6 months ($90 for 6 months). The reason we did not go for the convertable seat was that apparently the capsule is safer than the convertable seat for small infants (I read that somewhere), because the baby is much more protected on the sides.

An advantage of the capsule is, that you can take it out and put it in a shopping trolley if your baby is asleep. Or when the baby falls asleep during the car ride you can just bring him or her into your house and let him sleep in the capsule a bit longer. (We also used to bring DD to restaurants or friends in the capsule and she slept in it).

A disadvantage of the capsule is, that as the baby gets bigger, as heavier it get's (if you want to carry him or her around in it).

I was really happy with my choice and can really recommend hiring a capsule and buying an other carseat later:thumbsup: .

Good luck with your decission :fingerscrossed:

[Elijahsmama]

We had a capsule for DS for the first few months then he went to the S&S Maxi Rider which is for ages 6mth-8yrs. I was going for a convertible but the sales lady talked me out of it because DS was so big, she said he'ld be out of it within a year!
We love the seat. DH said he saw it on TV the other night rated as one of the safest.
Goodluck on the journey of trying and buying a milllion and one products for one precious bundle!

[maddysmama]

We bought a reversable car seat as I thought it was more cost effective.

However for next bub I will definately hire a capsule for the first 6 months as she would wake the moment we got her out of the car seat. I would have loved to have been able to unclip her capsule out of the car so she could continue to sleep while i was visiting a friend or returning home etc.

[shed]

We have hired a capsule and two bases, one base for each car that the capsule just fits onto. The capsule goes in and out and the bases stay in each car.

I couldn't be bothered shopping for two reversible car seats or one that has to be lugged between two cars.

I just rang up, hired the capsule and the guy is coming out to fit it into both cars next week.

I will worry about a car seat later.

[jessgray]

we have a fisherprice convertable car seat for ds1 and we are currently looking at a booster car seat for ds1 for when ds2 comes in ocrober :)
we didnt get a capsule as ds1 was 8 pound 15 when he was born so he wouldnt have got much use out of it lol

[LucyE]

We hired a Safe'n'Sound capsule for the first few months (cost $60)because it is the safest way to transport a young baby in a car. We then purchased a Safe'n'Sound Meridian which is a reversible carseat that can stay in the rearward facing position up to 12kgs. Again, we chose this option because keeping DS rearward facing is much safer than forward facing. We will keep him in this carseat forward facing until he hits the maximum weight limit (they say on average around age 4 but depends on the size of the child).

Here is a link (http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/resources/file/ebeb6449f3acfab/child%20restraint%20evaluation%20program%20results %20(CREP)%20july%202006.pdf) to a brochure with the lastest Australian carseat crash test results. There are a few issues I have with the test results (such as the booster seats not being used with H harnesses etc) so anyone reading the results will need to bear that in mind.

[Missus S]

We didn't bother with a capsule and have always used the Safe n Sound convertible seat - Meridian I think.

Apparently you shouldn't leave your bub sleeping in a capsule for longer than 2 hours as it isn't any good for their spinal development, but lots of parents do this with the capsules. I find that I'll wake Gemma when transferring her from the carseat to pram or baby bjorn........but she'll go right back to sleep after 10 seconds anyway :sleeping:

[Cian's Mum]

Thank you everyone for your answers ...:thumbsup:

You have been great ...

Take care .