Baby Seats

[Manaz]

We have two Safe'n'Sound AHR seats (one convertible from rear-facing, one just a forward-facing seat). Awesome seats, very safe and (apparently given the number of times my son has fallen asleep in one of them) comfortable.

Other countries tend to use the ISOFIX standard, but it has not passed ADRs here (not tested as the current standard is perfectly safe), and you cannot legally use an ISOFIX seat here. That said, they're no less safe if your car has the ISOFIX attachments (VWs do), so the issue if you do use one is not safety.

Britax are the parent company for Safe'n'Sound, and their seats are sold world over - they're as safe as you're going to get.

Do a search for ISOFIX, it's been argued to death in the past.

[mikinoz]

For a Golf, consider the Safe'n'Sound Compaq Deluxe as it is narrower and fits the profile in the rear seat well. We have 2 in the rear of our MKV and can carry an 8YO in the middle!

[Rocket36]

And remember not to switch from a multipoint harness seat too soon... Booster seats are a waste of time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

[DionM]

We took a different track to most.

We bought a Safe-n-Sound infant capsule first. These are the safest place for newborns. You can hire them; since we plan on a tribe, we bought They are also really handy for transporting little ones around - just unclip the whole thing. They are also smaller than a rear-facing convertible seat.



Once my son was old enough, we moved him into a Safe-n-Sound car seat (8-18kg rated one). I think it is called Guardian. Anyway, rated well, has the 5 point harness etc. Looks like any other. Big plus for us was since my son is tall (I'm 2 metres!) its a high back. It does convert (rear facing) but these seats are HUGE when that is done - one benefit of buying the capsule. Once he was in this seat he was forward facing.

Again we did the research and ensured we picked a well-rated seat (all the Safe-n-sounds are anyway; they all use the same base, its just the trim and extras like speakers etc that change).

Now he is 2.5 and the height and weight of a 4 year old so he is a booster - Safe n Sound . Its a tethered booster with anti-submarine clip. We have a H-harness that clips onto the seat and gives the equivalent of a 5 point harness. This is much better than the useless foam boosters that rely on the child holding it onto the seat ...



And that's where he will stay for a few years.

We have probably spent more than you would buying single seats, but as my son was a little tall we had to buy the "biggest' seats in each category. We are big fans of safe-n-sound stuff - its well made and sturdy.

We only bought 1 capsule, but the other seats we have 3 of - 1 for each of our cars, 1 for the in-laws. It is just too much stuffing around removing seats all the time, so since he rides in all 3 cars somewhat often, we bought seats.

It may pay to read up on the new laws. You are required to keep a child in a 5 point harness until they are 4. In our case, my son is already height and weight of a 4 year old so he is in a booster - but we still bought a booster that is tethered, and use an extra harness (attached to the same tether) to give a 5 point strapping.

The only thing I wish we could have in Australia is smart car seats. With the advent of side airbags some high end overseas seats can talk to the car's safety system and recalibrate side airbags to fire different when a baby seat is located there (Merc M-class has this feature).

[Rocket36]

From news.com.au:

New child car seat rules announced for New South Wales
By Stephanie Gardiner - AAP
November 04, 2009 04:08pm


CAR crash victim Isabelle Broadhead's legacy will live on, with the introduction of new car seat regulations.

Isabelle Broadhead, 3, died after an accident in April 2006 that occurred while she was using a booster seat and an adult seatbelt in a car travelling just 40km/h. Since then, her parents, Danielle and Noel Broadhead, have been campaigning for better regulations to keep children safe.

Today, the New South Wales Government announced new safety rules - dubbed Isabelle's regulations - that mean children aged up to seven will have to be strapped into car restraints.

An emotional Mrs Broadhead thanked Isabelle and said her daughter had given her many gifts.

"And for me the greatest gift is that she lives on longer than she was actually here, that she's close to us and that she gives back ... that she will help keep children safer," Mrs Broadhead said.

The couple have long been researching safe ways for children to travel and hope the new rules will be easy for parents to understand.

"Sometimes ... they just don't know that in an accident it can be catastrophic at such a low speed," she said.

"It was a minute in time and then she was gone."

The regulations, which are part of national reforms, mean children younger than six months must be placed in a rearward-facing restraint.

Those aged six months to four years must be secured in a rear or forward-facing restraint, while children between four and seven must use a forward-facing restraint or a booster seat.

Until now it has only been compulsory for children up to the age of one to travel in baby capsules or seats that contain their own restraints.

Premier Nathan Rees said the changes were about saving children's lives.

"We can always do more to reduce the road toll, to reduce the tragedy and the impact on loved ones that comes from those deaths on the roads," Mr Rees said.

The new rules come into effect on March 1 and there will be a four-month amnesty on enforcement so parents can get used to the changes. Information about restraints can be found on the Roads and Traffic Authority website.

Mr Broadhead hopes parents won't be reluctant to buy a new seat because of the cost.

"We would give any amount of money to get our daughter back and we're sure if they had even an inkling of what it's like to lose your child, they wouldn't think twice about spending the money to buy one of those seats," he said.

From the RTA's website (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/newsevents...hildrestraints) it looks as though it's only changing the laws to do with age and not the types of seat systems. This would be the perfect time to update the technology allowed by law though. I'm hoping someone in the NSW Govt. has the sense to think about that sort of thing.

Although, it's is a Labor Govt. so I wouldn't be holding my breath!!! ....

[shami]

Thanks for the input guys. I think i've sorted out the baby seat issue...now onto the other stuff

Its not going in my golf, thats siting in my driveway going nowhere. Its going into my wifes car, which, well i won't even mention what it is...

[Goldy]

Just out of interest guys can anyone tell me how well a backward facing car seat fits in a MK6 GTI?

My wife has a MK4 golf and when we went to look at buying car seats yesterday we did a trial run to check how it fits. Sure enough it fitted in the back but it meant the front passenger seat had to go so far forward neither my wife or I could fit in the seat.

Interested to know how others have dealt with this predicament and whether the Mk6 interior dimensions are bigger/more accomodating than the Mk4

I've got my heart set on a Mk6 GTI as my new company car and need to be able to look after my little one that's due late Feb. Safe'N'Sounds Infant capsule I was unaware of and I'll have to have a look into. (Cheers Dion M)

[midlifecrisis]

Just out of interest guys can anyone tell me how well a backward facing car seat fits in a MK6 GTI?

My wife has a MK4 golf and when we went to look at buying car seats yesterday we did a trial run to check how it fits. Sure enough it fitted in the back but it meant the front passenger seat had to go so far forward neither my wife or I could fit in the seat.

Interested to know how others have dealt with this predicament and whether the Mk6 interior dimensions are bigger/more accomodating than the Mk4

I've got my heart set on a Mk6 GTI as my new company car and need to be able to look after my little one that's due late Feb. Safe'N'Sounds Infant capsule I was unaware of and I'll have to have a look into. (Cheers Dion M)

Goldy did you get anywhere in your research. We have a Safe'N'Sound Compaq Deluxe in our old Pulsar and its got the same problem of forcing the front passenger right forward. I am seeing depth sizes of 480mm (620mm actually when in backwards facing mode) for it. I am hoping my planned Mk6 will not have this problem so if you have found anything out please let me know.