Maybe having another and moving back to Oz. What seats should I bring?

After much deliberation, DH and I have decided to try for another baby and move back to Australia. This is like deja vu since it's just what we did when I was pregnant with DS#2.

Anyway, since I am familiar with the Austalian seats and am not impressed at all....(One I looked at online today was $579 and it only goes to 40lbs!!! ) Which seats should I bring. We currently have a Radian which I don't want to take because it's a pain to install and I don't want to be stuck with it in a country where nobody can help me install it.

I am thinking of definately taking a Nautilus but that is only forward facing so what do I do for the rear facing stage? I would like to take a Marathon and an infant seat I think but it's been so long since I've used an infant seat I have no idea. I can't spend too much since DH is already having a heart attack about my seat buying frenzy.

Any advice? Oh, and it can be an American seat as well since I am already breaking the rules and importing seats anyway

Do you know what type of vehicle you'll end up with? I really wouldn't shy away from the radian because of install issues in this case. We can help you out a lot on here with issues. And, do you think the vehicle you'll have will be equipped with LATCH?

A Graco Snugride is an economical infant seat. The Safe Seat 1 can also be purchased for around $100 if found on sale. The SS1 goes up to 30 lbs.

I'm not sure what kind of vehicle we will have yet. I guess we will be looking at mini vans. Or at the very least a big station wagon. I would prefer a van to seperate the kids though

I think the newer vehicles in Australia have LATCH but I'm not sure if it's the same as ours. They might not be compatible. I just don't want to be stuck like last time. I had to import a MA and that was the biggist pain in the ass ever.

I would take a high weight rear facing seat, maybe a truefit as Australian seats only rear face up to 12kg (26lbs), and a radian as they are super skinny. I would probably buy an infant seat there as they are nicely padded & safe, but I think they can be quite pricey.

Thanks for the replies so far. I wanted to stay away from the infant seats there because they are expensive. I think close to $300 and they only go up to 9kg.

I guess once the baby reached that weight I could put him/her in the Marathon or Radian though. I probably won't want to be carrying an infant seat much longer than that as it would be quite heavy.

I live on the Gold Coast and I use American seats! Dh just about killed me when I just brought back another GN and 1/2 booster from our trip home at x-mas.

I would defiantly go w/ a Britax Marathon. I just left my blvd in the states.
I did have a Radian and traded it here w/ a friend for her GN, I could not get a great fit in 2 of cars w/ the radian. I love how easy my Blvd installed!

Do you think that you may have family or friensds come over for a visit? If so they could always bring you a GN later when the baby is ff.

The box size will be too big to be shipped through the post office, even though I was able to get a Britax Regent mailed over here to me.

Where in Au are you moving back too?

Target has a infant seat on sale this week for $199 and it is a Fisher-price.

You can have a look on-line at www.target.com.au

Please let me know if I can help you.

I am originally from the Bay area in Ca and have lived here for 11.5yrs.

I really miss pamper diapers, I just brought back 2 bags since I can't get diapers big enough here for my son.

That is so funny that you mentioned Pampers. I really missed them too when I had Ben. I despised the Huggies.
Where on the Gold Coast are you? We were living in Sydney but when (if) we go back, it will definately be Brisbane. Sydney is too busy and expensive and we love the Gold Coast. Any suburb suggestions? DH will most likely be working in the city and I would like to be close enough for him to commute and still be close to the theme parks.

I actually sold my Roundabout over there and I was surprised at how many Americans there were that wanted them. Maybe I should bring a bunch and start a business..lol

Hey, do you know what the laws are about using non-Australian seats? I didn't really research it too much. I was more concerned about keeping Ben in a harnessed seat instead of putting him in a booster at 2.5.

I know the booster law changed just as we were leaving. Do you notice that kids are actually using them now? NObody did when we were there and ODS always got made fun of. It really used to piss me off.

Anyway, sorry for all the questions.....

They were talking about changing the booster laws at the end of 2008, but I have not heard anything about it yet. But kids still don't use booster here, my dd is 8.5 and is still in a full booster (the only one in her 4th grade class).
She hates it when she goes w/ someone else and I make her ride w/ the other parent in a 1/2 booster.

I live near Dreamworld in Coomera Waters, it is about a 45 min drive from the city, but we do have the train station near us.

I am not too sure about the suburbs near Brisbane but I do know that the closer you get to the city the more housing prices are, but it is still less than Syndey.

I and 2 American friends called Qld transport about the use of American car seats and we were told as long as they had a top tether and a 5 point harness for ff we were ok, that was a couple of years ago.

But when I did some more research, once a child reaches the age of 1 there is no law it is only recommend. But that will change if the new law gets passed.

I have no problem using American seats, this is what is safest for my kids since the booster here only go to 26 kilos and car seats to 18 kilo.

My ds is 5 y/o and I could not imagine putting him in a booster at his age!

If you have any other questions please let me know.

This was just updated in Dec 2008:
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Hom...e/Child_restraints/Rs_mv_choosing_a_restraint

It looks like the law was not passed. It says this:

Under Queensland law, the driver of the vehicle must ensure children under 16 years of age are wearing a correctly fitted child restraint or seatbelt. The penalty for failing to do this is a A$300 fine and three demerit points.

So it looks like a parent can think that a 2y/o can fit properly in a seatbelt then it is ok?:scratcheshead:


Here are some questions that were posted:
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Hom...s/Rs_mv_restraints_frequently_asked_questions

Here is the seatbelt law:

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Hom...hild_restraints/Rs_mv_restraint_seatbelt_laws

It does not really state that a child 0-4 must use a car seat and 4-7 use a booster which is what they wanted to pass. If they had passed the booster law till the age of 7 then they would have to make higher weight booster seats. It still looks like it is up to the parent to think that there child is large enough for a seatbelt.

I really miss the candy! It was snowed in for 2 weeks in Seattle at x-mas and I could not really go shopping when I was at my sisters! It was the most snow they had seen in 30 yrs!

Well that's good to know that as long as they have tethers and 5 pt harnesses they are ok. Honestly, I think they would just be happy to see a kid properly restrained anyway if you got pulled over.

I guess it's just in NSW where they changed the law. I thought it was going into affect just after we left last year but I found this:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/01/2177181.htm


And speaking of the snow, I am hating it as well. We are in Vancouver, BC so pretty close to Seattle and we got even more than they did. A record since 1971. Oh well, at least we had a white Christmas but now it's just annoying. In Australia I really missed the snow but now I am loathing it and looking forward to some sunshine

I just heard from a friend that the laws are suppose to change in March, but who really knows since they have been saying this for awhile.

ben&jakesmum said:

We were living in Sydney but when (if) we go back, it will definately be Brisbane.

Click to expand...

Just butting in to say my boss is from Brisbane. We're working on a movie set in OZ and I've been doing a ton of research for it. That along with the fact that my BFF is an Aussie I feel like I'm an honorary Aussie. Now I just need to convince my boss that we need to take a fact finding trip there!

Sorry for the interruption.

Hi im Aussie and live on the southern end of the gold coast and id say bring over a marathon and/or either a regent or GN
I have 5 US seats,
2 regents
1 Marathon
1 Wizard
1 snugride
then i have 4 AU seats
1 SnS unity capsule...ssooo heavy compared to the snugride
1 SnS converable
1 infa full back booster(which was rated highest safety in AU last yr
and 1 SnS low back booster
my hubby is going to kill me if i buy anymore carseats or covers for all these seats.

Also most (but not all) of the RF seats, converables and infant capsules, now go to 12kgs not 9kgs... however the converables lay too far back for a toddler , which I think is why most parents here FF to early.Most children FF from approx 6-8months old.

aka.SnS = safe n Sound...Britax in Australia

we are buying a toyota tarago hopefully this week, and from my researching larger cars, from about 2006 mark the all toyota's, suzuki's, subaru's have them...hope this helps you.ill post pics of my seats in our new car when we finally get it.

my sister has a Suzuki Swift2006 its has them, my inlaws have a Toyota Kluger2006 it has them..Toyota Taragos from 2006 have them, and my sisters boyfriend has a 2006 Subaru Impreza standard version and it has them.

so youll have a few option too choose from IF you come over here.

ben&jakesmum said:

I'm not sure what kind of vehicle we will have yet. I guess we will be looking at mini vans. Or at the very least a big station wagon. I would prefer a van to seperate the kids though

I think the newer vehicles in Australia have LATCH but I'm not sure if it's the same as ours. They might not be compatible. I just don't want to be stuck like last time. I had to import a MA and that was the biggist pain in the ass ever.

Click to expand...

Not all cars have latch, my 2006 Ford Territory does not and the newer models do not have it either. It is not legal to use latch here in Au. It just depends where the car is made. They think that people would get confused here because of the different weight limits latch has on different cars.

None of the car seats here are latch compatible.

My Mazda Tribute did have it and so did my Subaru Forester and my dh's Subaru Liberty (Legecy in the states) does have it. But it does not give a maximum weight for it and when I call the dealership to ask they said they did not know because it was not legal to use it here.

Thanks for all the info. So, some cars have LATCH but it's illegal to use it? That is so bizarre. Are the cars with LATCH compatible with US seats? I mean, if I'm already breaking the rules with an imported seat, I might as well go all the way right? As long as it's safe though. I would only use it if it was the easiest install. We had a '98 Ford Falcon and the belts didn't lock so if we didn't have the MA it would have been a pain.

On a side note, I saw Hugh Jackman yesterday. He is in Vancouver filming the next X.Men movie. He looks so hot in real life...yummmy.

The latch will work here. I do use it in dh's car because I can get a better fit than the seatbelt. Once ds reaches 48lbs then I will have to stop using it.

I have a friend who rented a capsule (bucket) seat when they had a baby. I don't know if that's a popular option but I surmise it's because it's so expensive to buy one.

I am not sure I'd be comfortable with that though.