We are coming over for our validation trip in less than 2 weeks and I am wondering what to do about car seats.
Our youngest is nearly 3 and still needs to use a car seat at all times.
I don't know whether to bring one and have it stored on the plane with the baggage or actually use it on the plane.
Basically what did everyone else who has little ones do.

Thanks
Debbie

:rolleyes:

If you are hiring a car I would imagine the hire place will have seats you can rent. We had a motor home and hired a booster seat for our 3 year old. You could take it with you - but do you really want to hump it around everywhere?

Admittedly there were no seats in any of the taxis - we just had to strap her in . Fortunately there isn't so much traffic.

We hired a car seat for Matthew from the car company (which was in excellent condition) and we took Thomas's booster with a back as checked luggage, however, it was easier for us as we had a bike bag which it also fitted in. When I had enquired with Singapore Air about taking Matthews car seat, they said it wouldn't be allowed on the plane. I did enquire on 2 separate occasion and with the travel agent as I know my cousin regularly travels from America with hers on the plane and her child in it.

Hope that helps. :D

I am pretty sure British car seats do not meet Australian regulations. Car hire companies should have them available for hire.

They don't.

The australian car seats for babies & infants have to be anchored to the body of the vehicle. The U.K seats don't come with the necessaries to do this, so don't meet australian standards.

Booster seats for older tot's tend to be different too and come in child weight sizes. But even if your child is in the right weight range for the seat, if their head is above the top of the back of the seat, it's too small & therefore illegal.

Your hire company should be able to help you with the child seat.

Desiree
:D :D

Is that correct bubble as we were going to bring our Britax car seat over for our 1 y/o. How do they attach directly to the chassis in Oz? Do you actually know if British types are illegal in Oz as I guess they would still attach via the seatbelts as in the UK?

Cheers Darren

Hi Darren,

The child seats are required by law here to conform to Australian Standards and Design. It is not enough to secure them using the seat belts they must be attached via a strap to a bolt which is fitted to the chassis of the car. This bolt in a standard sedan is located, if not standard to the car, to the rear of the back seat. It is also illegal to seat a child in the front passenger seat of a vehicle no matter how well harnessed.

Hope I haven't confused you too much. After a few years of working in the vehicle rental business I have had the pleasure of installing a number of these seats, just wish I could find a website with more details for you.

Jet

Hi Darren,

Found a site, hope it helps,

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopi...&np=305&id=1486

Jet

Thanks Jet - guess we'll be leaving the car seat then!

As a matter of interest do most cars say under 5 years of age have these anchorage points?

Also there's a chance that we may be borrowing our friends old Subaru estate when we arrive which I think is 10 - 12 years old so was the law differnt do you know back in those days hence it would be unlikely to have the fixing points?

Cheers for your help ;)

Hi again Darren,

Even if the car does not have these anchor points they are available off the shelf and I am sure you will be able to fit it yourself, very easy to do if I can fit one anyone can! Some new cars have them already fitted but you really need to check as some of the vehicles we rented did not have them fitted as standard.

Jet

Jet,
Looking at the guidelines it seems that the UK belt system is fine as it doesn't mention these independant fixing points.
Had to chuckle at part of the link you sent me as they Ozzies obviously are biased against women car passengers from an early age:



If your child undoes the seat belt, stop the car and tell her firmly that the car is not allowed to go unless the seat belt is done up.
You may have to persist but it is important that she learns that undoing the seat belt is not allowed and that you will not drive if anyone's seat belt is undone.

D

Sorry Darren, there are so many sites on this issue and I can't for the life of me remember the name of the site I used to check for new legislation but this one gives more detailed information regards to Australian Standards.

http://www.sai-global.com/NEWSROOM/TGS/200...T/RESTRAINT.HTM

Not having children myself and being out of the rental industry a few years I guess things have changed, never mind I am sure there are plenty of other members of the site with children in Oz that will add more info onto the thread in time.

Jet

Thanks Jeanette,

As you say it's all fairly ambiguous at the moment.

Anyway what are you doing posting on here on your birthday!!!
Be off with you and go and enjoy your day :dance:

Thanks everyone for your input.

I was going to buy my almost 3 yr old a new seat before we move out permanently but with what you have to say I wont bother. It would only be a waste of money.

I did think that the Australian laws on this would be stricter than in the UK, they usually are, though this can only be a good thing.

I remember when living in WA as a child having to use seatbelts as it was the law and then we came to the UK and you didn't have to use them. :o But we were used to it by then anyway.

Thanks again
Debbie

We were going to bring our car seat for our 20 month old but realised it would be too big for the airline seat. Instead, he sat on our 6 year old's booster seat on the plane (for about 10 minutes, then my lap for the remaining hours :angry: )

When we arrived we used the hire company's car seat for a couple of weeks and then bought our own.

The seat we bought was expensive ($279) but is excellent quality - a rebadged Britax model called Safe and Sound. Wish we had shopped around as we bought it from a specialist baby store on South Road but could have got it around $40 cheaper from Bigw/Target/Kmart, they all sell them.

For all the safety around car seats, you can still buy them second hand here!

I think we will bring our seats with us, as I believe that any seat is so much better than none, and we have used them for 2 years in this country.

But if you have an accident and the child is injured or worse, guess who's too blame. The Isofix system is much better anyway.

I am sure you are right, and indeed, should I have a car crash that kills my children, I will obviously feel many forms of guilt and yes, now probably more so as I am not using the ISOFIX system. I sincerely hope I never have to find out, but thank you for making the point.


I am aware of in car safety and always use a car seat for my children, however, yet again it is one of those things that is hard to balance, for instance I know that the 2nd stage car seat I bought for my first child,by the time my 2nd was using it, (around 20 months later) had been superseded by a 'safer' model. I made the decision, rightly or wrongly, to still use this seat rather than buy a new one that could then become less safe than a new model in another 6 months. Maybe this makes me a bad mother but when do you stop, do you spend £130 every time a new model comes out or just make sure the seat and child are correctly fitted each journey?

I suppose my point was really that a child restrained in an age appropriate seat is so much better than an unrestrained child (as you frequently see on the roads) be it in a 2nd hand seat, an older seat or whatever. :)

You did'nt really see what I was getting at. If the child was to die and they find you had an illigal child seat (which you will have ) it would be a criminal offence and you could end up in clink for manslaughter or equivalent. Not good. Spend a few $$ on new.

G.

The car seat we were hoping to bring is an Isofix model, is Isofix standard on a lot of Australian cars?

The Red Cross hire car seats out which confirm to Aus standards. Here is the link to the price list.

http://www.redcross.org.au/sa/babyProducts.htm

Also the RAA Guide to child saftey restraints here ......... http://www.raa.net/page.asp?TerID=493