**If bad language offends you don't read this post** Angry rant and vent!! Not F*@#%$*! happy Aussie car seat manufacturers (Safe-n-Sound exempt so far)

So Australian car seat manufacturers, with the exception so far of Safe n Sound, are pissing me off with their complete lack of customer service, information and drive to reach for anything other than the absolute MINIMUM safety requirements. I have been doing a bit of letter writing to manufacturers, members of parliament, Standards Australia and the ACCC pushing for type D (extended rear-facing seats) in Australia. Well the manufacturers are crap! The latest response I have received, from IGC Dorel, aka- Mothers Choice, Safety 1st, ZuZu, just to name a few they own, was major fuck up on their behalf. Not only did the reply contain a bit of nonsense, but they sent me the complete email with the trail of just about everyone it had been to and their comments. I'm adding the complete email trail below, beginning with mine sent to them. It shows their absolute lack of interest in providing a seat with the ability to rear-face past 12 months, and disregard of customer suggestions along with the need for retraining their staff in the sending of a simple email LOL
So they're happy with manufacturing seats that are okay, not leading in superior safety, or even humouring consumers. Just meh whatever, it passes the standards so it'll do. Well hopefully they lose out big time once Safe n Sound (if they do indeed come good with their saying they want to make an ERF seat for Aussie Kids) or if we can ever start to share international standards and use international seats. Maybe us parents pushing now will get the last laugh then! I'll personally send them a farewell card :)
The email follows below in red and white I've added what I would LOVE to send as my response to them. But I won't, I'll be a bit more grown up about it and respond in a mature fashion, with just a touch of sarcasm ;)

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-----Original Message-----

From: Lisa 

Sent: Tuesday, 20 March 2012 9:35 PM

To: info@nurseryelegance.com.au

Subject: No Subject

I’m writing to you as a concerned parent and consumer about the lack of availability of type D child restraints here in Australia.

After much personal research I have learnt that keeping a child rear-facing in the car for as long as possible is the safest way for children to travel.  Rear-facing until the age of 4 years old at least, is most beneficial. As I’m sure you are already aware, it has been proven to be 5 times safer than forward-facing.

I understand Australia has some of the most stringent safety standards for child restraints but I am shocked, and disappointed, that we do not recognise rear-facing for as long as possible, to be the safest option, even though there is already the provision for use of type D restraints in the road rules, Australian Road Rule Number 266 (2A) states:

“If the passenger is 6 months old or older, but is less than 4 years old, he or she must be restrained in a suitable and properly fastened and adjusted –

(a) Rearward facing approved child restraint; or

(b) Forward facing approved child restraint that has an inbuilt harness.”

Also in the Australian Standards, AS/NZS 1754, Type Designation as:

“Type D Rearward facing chair with harness, suitable for children 6 months to 4 years of age.”

Legally there is no reason these seats can’t be manufactured and used here, yet parents don’t have the seats available to them. It seems that it is ok to turn a six month old baby forward-facing, and there are seats available to accommodate this, even though it is not the safest way for such a young and physically underdeveloped baby to travel. But for those of us wishing to keep our children safer for longer there is absolutely no option to do so.  It just doesn’t seem right to me, and I feel that our children are being denied the ability to be the safest they possibly can be when in the car.

I’ve heard there is no market for these seats here.  However, there is a growing demand for extended rear-facing seats, due to parents becoming more aware of its safety benefits. There are several social media sites, Facebook pages and blogs, growing in numbers by the day that are educating even more parents and consumers, and creating an increasing demand for seats that are currently not available. Along with petitions, and more articles in the mainstream media regarding the safety benefits of extended rear-facing.

The American Academy of Paediatrics now recommends rear-facing children to a minimum of 2 years old.

Countries such as Sweden, rear-face their children until at least 4 years old, and they have the lowest fatalities in children 0-10 years due to car accidents. I don’t understand why our children deserve less than children overseas.

Roads, vehicles and driving styles may differ between here, the US and Europe, but the laws of physics don’t. Top tethers and anti rebound bars on seats may result in more stability in an accident, but the head and extremities not held back by the harness, still continue to be thrown forward with extreme force.  This could be so easily avoided by using a rear-facing seat to support the child more effectively.

I am extremely happy to hear of the introduction of ISOFIX into the Australian Standards. I think this will help with ease of installation, and cut misuse incidents greatly.

What would be a great step forward for Australian child passenger safety along with ISOFIX would be the addition of type D seats for sale and use in Australia.

As a parent wanting the best in child passenger safety for her children and generations of children to come, I’m hoping to see manufactures making type D seats available to Australian consumers in the very near future.

Yours sincerely,

Lisa Patterson.

_____________________________________________________

Dear Lisa

You are correct with your research. There are a number of problems which require attention, the  Australian standards AS/NZS 1754:2010 calls up additional head protection and a tether strap must be used at all times. Many seats that are manufactured overseas, don't require the use of the top strap and side head protection is also not required or tested. In Australia these requirements are mandatory.

Another issue which is some times over looked is the child's leg position, a older child's legs are cramped

I know that the CS 085 child committee has had discussions on this subject and are currently looking at these issues.

Currently we have manufactured a new seat called : Maxi cosi Hera model no CCA2010 which allows the child to be rear facing up to the age of 12 months or until the child's shoulders reach the upper height markers. 

Kind Regards,

Alan Tanner

Research and Development Manager

____________________

IGC Dorel Pty Ltd

655-685 Somerville Rd.

West Sunshine VIC 3020

Phone: +61(3) 8311 5357

Fax:    +61(3) 8311 5390

Email: Alan.Tanner@igcdorel.com.au

Thank you Alan for your reply. Yes I understand we require a mandatory top tether and head protection, oh and did you forget side impact protection too? So design a type D seat with those features! There are seats available overseas with said features so what the fuck is the problem here?

Obviously even though you said yourself I am correct in my research, and that rear-facing is indeed safer, it appears you still have no interest in producing a seat to rear-face as a superior safety choice for Australian children, why not?

I don't believe I have overlooked the issue of cramped legs in older children, especially seeing as it is a load of crap! Unlike you, obviously, I have researched other seats designed for older children that are used widely on a daily basis in Europe and the US and they seem to have overcome this Australian 'issue'and produced seats in which the kids are comfortable.(Or will you now tell me our kids have different legs than those of their overseas counterparts?) Also you do understand children are a lot more flexible than adults and rarely sit with their legs out straight or perfectly bent at the knee hanging over their chair FFS.

 Are you seriously the research and development manager? You don't seem to have done a lot of research into this in my opinion, and your development appears to be extremely slow compared to other parts of the world. If you have been researching, you clearly don't give a shit, or more likely because you're making quite enough money out of the seats you're selling now, so why bother hey.

I too already know that the CS 085 Child Committee are looking into this, so at what point are you going to tell me something I don't already know?  

Oh and woo fricken hoo for your Maxi-Cosi Hera rear-facing until APPROX 12 months seat. You have been able to get seats like that for quite some time here now so don't pat yourselves on the back too much there, you're not exactly ahead of the pack!

But thank you Alan for at least pretending to give a shit about my request and the request of other parents for safer seats for our children, and sending me an email full of fluffy nothings. I have obviously come to the wrong place, the child restraint manufacturer, for any improvement to safety without a change to what is mandatory. Maybe if the standards are rewritten you'll have to pull your heads out of your asses and manufacture a decent seat.

I do hope you manufacture seats a hell of a lot better than you send emails, because clearly you have fucked that up today, oh unless of course you wanted me to see the lack of interest in customer care and added safety for our children from the other staff at IGC Dorel that also read my email. I will reply to each of them individually as well.   __________________________________________________

-----Original Message-----

From: Tina Porcha

Sent: Wednesday, 21 March 2012 12:55 PM

To: Alan Tanner

Subject: FW: No Subject

Here it is, sorry Alan !

-----Original Message-----

From: Tina Porcha

Sent: Wednesday, 21 March 2012 9:13 AM

To: Customer Service Requests; Murray Sparks

Cc: Esra Erbakip; Robert Berchik

Subject: RE: No Subject

We received an email from this same person on this same subject last year and decided not to respond.  She's obviously persistent so perhaps we can prepare a quick response - Alan, can you please action !!!

Tina

          

Actually Tina, no, this is the first communication I have ever had with your company on this matter. So shit hey, looks like there's more than one of us. Who would've thought it?! But I can be persistent especially when patronised and in turn, pissed off! Perhaps you picked the wrong person to ignore! You have a nice day now :)

-----Original Message-----

From: Customer Service Requests

Sent: Wednesday, 21 March 2012 8:45 AM

To: Murray Sparks; Tina Porcha

Cc: Esra Erbakip; Robert Berchik

Subject: FW: No Subject

How would you like to respond to this? Do we even want to respond to this?

Kind regards,

Ben Berchik

Customer Care

IGC Dorel Pty Ltd

 

Ah Ben, says there in your signature you work in customer care. Pfft seems more like 'customer couldn't fucking care less' Why would you not want to respond? Maybe the issues are a little over your head? Because how would an average old consumer possibly know more than you? I think some retraining would benefit you in what your role as customer care should be, because clearly you have no idea!

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Creepy stalker extended rear-facing info cards.

So I had some business cards made up with information, well as much info as you can squeeze onto a business card. I take them out with me and in the car-park when I see cars with baby seats in them, I pop one on the drivers side window.

 (The purple is the reverse side of the card. Crap pic I know but I can't get it to come out any better)









The Man rolls his eyes and tells The Monstar "Mum's being a creepy stalker again" LOL
I think it's a good idea, don't know if anyone takes any notice of them, but hey, it's worth a try. Even if someone has a read then whinges to a friend that some idiot put a card on their car crapping on about rear-facing longer. They might think yeah whatever, but the friend might have half a brain and think hey there might be something in that, and do their own research. Or maybe someone will actually have a light bulb moment and be grateful for the info that could protect their child. Either way it's a win. Yeah yeah I'm sure most of them end up in the bin, but well I'm doing what I can.

I've sent quite a few out to members of my Facebook page too Extended Rear-Facing For Aussie Kids I was pretty pleased when I started getting requests for them :)

Someone said people will think I'm having a go at them and criticising. I'm not, they're meant for information not criticism. I want to get people talking and thinking. The more people get the message that our kids here in Australia are being ripped off the better. The more people making noise the more likely a change will be made.

When is the best time to move your child to a forward-facing car seat.

Simple answer, when they have reached the MAXIMUM height and or weight limit for the seat you are using, and NOT before.

In my opinion if this happens before they are 4 years old it is still too early. But if we live here in the lucky country, Australia (not so lucky when it comes to car seats) we don't have that option, crap I know! People have the unsafe, but legal, option of turning their babies forward-facing at 6 months if they choose to do so. But if you actually want to keep your children safer for as long as possible, bad  f*#@%^! luck. There's my little rant for today.

So when it's time to turn forward-facing...

*Currently here in Australia that will be either 9kgs or 12kgs.
Always check the manual to be sure of your seats limits.

*If you own a newer seat it will be when they reach the rear-facing HEIGHT MARKERS on the seat.

 *Your child's head needs to have at least 2.5cm (1 inch) of the seat's shell ABOVE their head when rear-facing for sufficient protection in an accident. 


This reference is used mostly on US seats.  

 *AGAIN ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SEAT'S MANUAL FOR SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION ON THE LIMITS OF THE SEAT YOU ARE USING.*

Some "reasons" for not rear-facing, and their solutions.

"My son/daughter cries when they can't see me." - Get a mirror! You can see them with out turning around, and they can see you, simple. They can even look at themselves in there too. The Monstar's quite often pulling faces at himself.

We have this one. The Monstar calls it his cheeky monkey :) We got it in BigW. They're pretty easy to find in stores and on line.


 ___________________________________________________________
 "Their legs are uncomfortable." - I doubt it have you checked out how they sit normally? Reading, playing, watching TV...

Not many straight legs happening here...even on the couch...










 So do these kids look uncomfortable?

I think not :)
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"Their legs will be broken in an accident." -There are actually NO statistics to show rear-facing children with leg injuries from accidents. There are however studies showing forward-facing children are more likely to suffer leg injuries in an accident. http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats_6.html

More to the point, there are children with serious neck and spinal injuries, and children who did not survive accidents because they were forward-facing. Even if it were a factor, wouldn't you prefer a broken leg?
____________________________________________

"There's nothing for them to look at, they can't see out the window." - The Monstar gives a running commentary on what he's looking at all the time. He tells me when we're nearly home, or when we're nearly at the shop.  Just because they can't see what we see out the front, doesn't mean they can't see anything.  If they have siblings travelling with them, there's another source of amusement for them too.
____________________________________________
"My toddler doesn't like rear-facing." -Well to be honest if they don't know any different they're hardly going to complain are they. If your toddler wants ice-cream and Coke for breakfast lunch and dinner, do you give it to them? Is your toddler allowed to play on the road, because they want to and they think it's fun? Seriously that is just a ridiculous excuse to forward-face when there's the option to rear-face.
____________________________________________
"What about in rear end accidents?" -Frontal and side impacts are the most common types of accidents. They account for 96% of all accidents. They are also the most deadly type of crashes (especially side impacts) and rear-facing children have MUCH more protection in both types of crashes than forward-facing.
 So rear end accidents only account for 4% of accidents are are less likely to be the most severe, as forces are different, they're often at lower speeds, and both cars are travelling in the same direction.


Here's a link to a rear end survival story from the UK
 https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=303948046323061

Here's another from Australia 
https://www.facebook.com/notes/extended-rear-facing-for-aussie-kids/rear-facing-protected-the-6-month-old-baby-in-this-rear-end-accident-in-australi/235615796535269


And another from the US 
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=268397099878156
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Happy to see my 2 year old has an awareness of passenger safety :)

 Sometimes The Monstar doesn't like to travel alone, and the mirror doesn't quite cut it. So on days like that instead of having a cranky toddler making a fuss one of us sits in the back with him. He lets us now who he'd prefer, he's just a little bossy :)

 So this day it was me, he was in a bit of a cheeky mood (not unusual) but he also had his BFF Tamba the purple dragon with him. We'd been driving a few minutes when he decided Tamba needed to be strapped in too!!


He supervised making sure I did the belt up and made him look comfy.

So even at only 2 The Monstar is showing some awareness of passenger safety, for both people and dragons :)

I'm not sure about belt placement here. We may need to get some kind of dragon booster if he's going to travel with us regularly.

SQUISHING!

 The angle adjuster is beginning to squish! When I first installed with it there was a gap between the top of the seat and the back of the passenger seat head rest.

Now after only a few weeks, it's touching the head rest. The Radian is allowed to touch the back of the front seat, but, I'm wondering how long it will be until it completely squishes down and we're back to the original recline? I was once in love with the adjuster, now that I have used it, the honeymoon seems to be coming to an end. It's still a good idea. It may just be an idea that needs to be repurchased every 6 -12 months, maybe, time will tell I guess. I'm thinking a solid rear-facing toddler boot, making the recline angle less than the original rear-facing boot, may have been a better way to go. Well better for me, and the average consumer.

 So I wonder if this could be the deal breaker when it comes to buying a second seat for the grandparents car? Hmmmm, another few weeks to see what happens maybe. Not to mention my ridiculously drawn out decision making abilities as an indecisive Libran :P 

Bit of a rant and link to a story showing Australia is way behind in keeping our kids safe in the car.

I just watched this report on Australian car seat safety versus European car seat safety. I am not usually a fan of Today Tonight, but I thought this was good at getting the ERF message out in the mainstream media. It really didn't focus as much as I would like on ERF, more focus was put on ISOFIX, but it did touch on it and overall it shows how we are backward here Down Under when it comes to keeping our kids safe in cars, even though we boast about such stringent standards for child restraints. The Swedes should be the ones boasting with only 5 deaths in about 40 years!
I'm willing to bet that the introduction of ISOFIX here would also bring about extended rear-facing too.
You really have to wonder what, how much politics, and more likely, $$$ in the car seat manufacturing world are playing a big part in not wanting things to change here.

With all the facts, and, the laws of physics, (which I always thought were the same worldwide, but please correct me if I'm wrong!) and lowest death and injury rates where rear-facing is practised for the longest, Australia still thinks we're doing ok, WTF! With excuses like, 'Vehicles and driving styles are different so you can't compare statistics.' Load of crap there! In an accident if you're rear-facing you are safer, doesn't have much to do with your driving style, seriously *roll eyes*  'We have top tethers and anti-rebound bars so our seats are superior.' So manufacture a rear-facing seat catering for kids up to 4 years with a top tether and ARB to meet Australian standards, duh! I even read somewhere parental misuse is the big factor in deaths and severe injuries in Australia. Well that may be a contributor, so here's a thought, ISOFIX would greatly cut down cases of misuse because it makes installation so easy! And hey, how about better education? Now there's a thought. Stop telling parents, and legislating things like, it's ok to forward-face your baby from 6 months, and maybe they won't.
What am I missing here? It all seems like pretty simple logic to me.

*Rant over*

Anyway it's worth a look :)
http://www.cadoges.com/auto-quotes/2010/10/17/safe-child-restraint-in-modern-cars-australia-v-europe.html

Volvo's Lotta Jakobsson says Australian laws allow children to face forwards far too early

It's here, but does the angle adjuster really have magical abilities...

Very excited to receive the angle adjuster!!  There was no one else home and I was so keen to try it out I took The Monstar out to the car with me while I played with it. That was fun with him jumping in and out of the back seat and trying to get in the seat while I was installing it :)

But it was very exciting, it gave a good couple of extra inches so I even tried to install the seat in the middle, and....it is possible! No way anyone taller than me could actually drive the car, but the drivers seat goes back to my driving position. So there are some advantages to being 5'2. Very happy with being able to have The Monstar in the middle, rear-facing still and in the middle even safer again.

Bugger it! The excitement was short lived when I jumped in the car to go to the shop a couple of hours later.  I worked out that the angle adjuster gives a great upright angle for more room back to front but also adds height. So now with the seat in the middle, I can't actually see out the back of the car, using the rear view mirror or turning to look directly out.  So way too dangerous for reversing and just general driving I'd have no idea what was going on behind me. Back to the disadvantage of by being 5'2, and back to the passenger side goes the seat :(

Before the angle adjuster.

After the angle adjuster, you can really notice the height difference at the head rest.

The adjuster has allowed better leg room for the passenger, but sill not great in my little Getz. Anyone besides me, needs to concentrate on keeping their knees off the glove box area, which is where the air bag comes out in an accident. As pretty much all other regular passengers are taller than me, it's still not really practical or safe.

I am seriously considering a booster seat for me. Even now with the seat back on the passenger side, the extra height makes it so I have huge blind spot out that side of the car. I really have to turn and stretch up as far as I can to do a head check on that side.
I put a friends backless booster in and the difference in visibility was enormous. The placement of my seat belt was also much improved. The booster was a bit on the narrow side, so where the edges rise up they dug into my bum cheeks and hips a bit, so not comfy enough to drive with. I am thinking a piece of dense foam cut to size might work.

 Or it could be time for a new, bigger car...

The hunt for the angle adjuster.

Now that the angle adjuster has been released I am very keen to try one. I've checked out where they are being sold and started trying to order one. I say trying because again it's turning into an ordeal *sigh*
Ok let's look at this as a challenge rather than an ordeal! Maybe that will keep my stress levels to a minimum.
So Amazon won't ship here. Not that they have them in stock you have to pre-order, but seriously Amazon. This is definitely the last time I will attempt to buy anything from you. I was told years ago how fantastic Amazon was, you get anything you want from them pffft! Every single time I've wanted to order from them they won't ship here. Usually they have the excuse it's too heavy. Well the angle adjuster weighs next to nothing so that can't be it this time.
Seem to be getting the same response from most suppliers in the US. They just don't want my business.
Apparently Diono are selling them direct from their website so that's the next stop. Oh why am I not surprised they've only been released in the US so far, and even Diono won't sell me one. Alright ,I'll cruise around the carseat.org forum and see where everyone's getting theirs from, maybe I can find one retailer that will ship to me here.
Whoa is that a pic of someone in NZ with adjuster? Yes! Omg where did they get it??? I sent them a personal message to see if they'd tell me. Or if they were guarding the secret with their life, because I thought they hadn't been released in NZ yet. But if they found a retailer in the US to ship to NZ then surely they'd ship here.
The nice poster on the forum tells me they contacted Diono NZ direct so I'm off to try that. When you go to the Diono website and try to order from there, they automatically put it through to the US site because They aren't available in NZ yet, but the US won't ship here. So here's hoping If I contact them directly via email I might get somewhere.

Woohoo!! They are going to send me an angle adjuster. I didn't know if it would work for me or against me, but I told them my story of being an Australian parent importing their car seat so I can ERF longer, and that no one in the US would ship one here. Now it's on it's way!!! YAY!!
Can you tell I'm a little excited? hehe They had some available in NZ for techs, for training and demonstration purposes and were able to find a spare :)

We need another seat, a Radian? Or something else?

So seeing as the grandparent's expired car seat has been retired, we need to replace it. So I thought we'd just go another Radian, but, now I'm not so sure. Not because we don't still love the Radian, but the lack of room is now an issue for the grandparents too as they bought a new car.  A Honda, a much smaller car than the Ford Falcon they had before where the Radian would have been no problem at all.

A few things have happened since the seat was retired too. Sunshine Kids Juvenile Products, the manufacturers have changed their name. They are now Diono. The XTSL models are now old news, and the new range of RXTs have been released. They are still the same seat just with some changes. One of which is they can now be used as a booster with the seat belt when your little one has out grown the harness. They also have a longer seat bottom with expandable sides, so if your little Monstar has a chubby butt you can widen the seat :) Another is a new range of colours. Now I know this is no way to select a car seat, but they have a cover called plum, it's a gorgeous purple!! :) But I have controlled myself and not jumped straight in and placed my order for a plum XRT :P But I so want one!!


The other HUGE news is the release of the looooong awaited angle adjuster!  Yes, this is the magical piece we have all been waiting for.  It is said to give you at least four more inches between the top of the seat and the front passenger seat!!

I was eyeing off a Graco Duo Logic or Britax HiWay2 before the announcement of the angle adjuster.   Both seats are supposed to be great for small cars the DuoLogic even lists the Getz as a car it will install in, in both outboard and centre seats.

I would love to get him in the centre seat!

So these are my 2 new things to investigate...

Isn't it beautiful!♥

The magical angle adjuster not much to look at really :)

I really hate when people say...

"But I'm a good driver." It really shits me! Yes you might be a fantastic driver, but, you're not the only one on the road and you have no control over what others on the road do. Seriously, how many people do you think get up in the morning and think "I'm such a crap driver I'm sure I'll have an accident today."? I'm guessing nowhere near as many as the ones that say they're good drivers, which they probably are but that doesn't guarantee you some kind of magic pass to never be in an accident.

Take my friend's daughter and her family last weekend coming home from a weekend at the coast. Doing all the right things. It was wet so they were crawling back up the mountain, a steep winding road with no room for error especially when it's wet! When a woman coming the other way lost control of her car, came across to the wrong side of the road and hit them head on. There was nothing they could do, if they'd swerved one way they could've been off the side of the mountain, or the other way into another car. So they just had to wait for the impact. All were ok, thank god!  But he was (is) a good driver and was doing all the right things, and ended up in a serious accident, not his fault.

 The car was a complete write off. Mum and Dad in the front were ok, completely freaked out, but ok. Dad, who was driving had sore arms and hands, from holding the steering wheel on impact and the airbag going off. They had an adult rear passenger who ended up the worst of all. Head and facial injuries from hitting the back of the front seat (no airbags in the back) neck and back pain, as well as suspected dislocated hips. The hips would have most likely popped out and popped back in again, pressure from where the seat belt was holding them in across the hips I'm guessing.
And yes they had their beautiful little baby in the back also, rear-facing and she came out the absolute best of all of them! Imagine if the baby was in a forward-facing seat, I doubt she would have come out so well judging by the forward-facing adult passenger!

So next time you think you might skip your seat belt, or pop the littlie in their big brother's booster, because it's a quick trip and "you're a good driver" think again!! The accident may not be your fault, but the result of you, or your kids being seriously injured or killed might be, if you or they are not properly restrained.

And just a final YAY for rear-facing!!!!! It kept that precious bubba safe :)

Oh shit!

Well all of a sudden I had a light bulb moment I don't know why, but it's bloody lucky I did. The grandparents have a car seat in their car for when they need to go somewhere with The Monstar. They live next door and we're lucky enough to have them look after him while we're at work.
They have an Aussie seat which he now has to forward-face in. It does not thrill me, but I try to console myself with the fact that he doesn't travel with them too often. But, they bought the seat from a good friend of theirs who used it when they were driving their grandchildren. Anyway, it just came to me that I never checked the expiry date. The grandparents, and their friends, didn't know there was an expiry date for car seats, (they aren't car seat freaks like me) so it didn't occur to them to check before they bought it. It was a nice seat in great condition, so if you didn't know you would just think great seat no problem.
So I went out to check and sure enough it was expired!!! Shit!! Only just, luckily, but about 1 month, but shit my heart jumped into my stomach when I saw it.  Bad bad Mummy moment! I really should have checked that straight away :(
So I broke the bad news to the grandparents and let them know to cut the straps and dispose of it.
An expired car seat can fail big time in an accident. Even if it looks fine, the plastic will be weakened just from age, sun, heat etc and won't protect you kids in an accident. So very important to check.

You can check your seat's expiry date by looking at the sticker on the side or maybe back of the seat. In Australia, I think they still just have the manufacture date (I am not positive about that though) But Australian car seats generally have a 10 year expiry date, so 10 years from the month and year of manufacture is the expiry date. Don't use the seat after this date. If it's not 10 years the manufacturer will state how long, be sure and check the seat's manual.

Most seats will have 'date clocks' not always easy to find but another way to check.
Some seats will have the actual expiry date stamped on them too.
There's a detailed explanation of all this here Car seat manufacture/expiry dates explained-NZ Child Restraints

Seeking short passengers only.

So we are loving the Radian still, and are happy The Monstar is rear-facing. He seems very comfy and the head wings are perfect for resting his head on when he sleeps. But, after the initial novelty starts to wear off, the reality of really no room for a passenger taller than me (which is really short!) kicks in. You can squeeze someone in there but I really don't feel it's safe. They seem way too close to the airbag, especially if they have long legs as their knees actually rest on the glove box where the bag is :/ So generally we put passengers in the back. This means the car is now really only a 4 seater instead of 5. Not always convenient.
A big problem too is when a passenger does get in the front and before you can tell them not too they move the seat back. Faaarrrk!! This mucks up the installation of the seat and you have to redo it before you can let The Monstar in again, so frustrating!
If you have a decent size car none of this is a problem, actually with the Radian you do need a pretty big car before you don't have passenger issues, it is a huge seat, and my car is tiny.

I have joined the army of Radian lovers appealing for a 'toddler boot' or some such wonder to make it possible to install the seat more upright. You really only need the 45 degree angle for newborns. I think it's actually safer for older heavier kids to be more upright rear-facing. Fingers crossed there will be a magical attachment not too far off.

A bit of an unexpected bonus with the Radian :D

So we're off to visit grandpa, a good 40-45 minute drive from home. We had to make a detour on the way, something The Monstar hates. When the car stops he thinks he should be getting out, and if that doesn't happen he gets cranky big time! So we were hoping he would fall asleep on the way and we could leave him in the car with his big brother. (The big brother is really big, 17, so not leaving 2 kids unsupervised in the car! Although I guess that's debatable lol) It really is a hassle to get him out for the whole 3 minute stop then wrestle with him to get him back in again when he thinks he needs a bit more of an out of car adventure before we head off again. He was getting very tired but just not dropping off. I was siting in the back with him and thought it was a shame I couldn't get a boob in his mouth then he'd drop off in no time. Hmmm... actually, looking at it, the new seat is really low to the actual car's seat, I think it's doable. If I just squidge over a bit and sit up really tall and lean just a bit over to the left, BINGO! Yes, and in no time, and after only one car passing, looking over pointing and laughing,  we had a happy sleeping baby :) Mission accomplished. Not the most comfortable position for me, but I didn't need to take my belt off, not that I would anyway, and at least we know when it's needed we can calm The Monstar without stopping. Well, provided I'm not driving that is :) Just another little woohoo for the seat.

IT'S HERE!! :o)

Much to my relief the new seat arrived safe and sound :) Now the fun part, get it all out read the instructions and play with it before installing it. Ooooh very heavy, looks good, the Monstar's trying it out on the floor in the lounge room while I peruse the instruction book. It even has instructions for installation on planes! Something I've never heard of here, Geez, we're not only behind in car safety, but air travel safety too. Come on Australia it's time to wake up! Seriously! Are our kids that much less valuable than the US and European kids?

So after reading the book a few times it's out to the car. I'd heard horror stories about installing the Radian, not very user friendly apparently so I was ready for a fight. But you know it really wasn't that bad. There was a slight struggle, but we got it in. There was some swearing involved. The most frustrating thing was if you accidentally let go of the seat belt buckle while threading it through the seat's belt path. In the middle of the belt path is a slot, which inevitably, the buckle would slip into and flip over making it extremely hard to get your hand in (a very small space) and at the right angle to get it out. *@%#!

Anyway, it was a team effort, one of us holding the seat belt ready to click it in, with the other squatting or kneeling on the seat bouncing until the belt was done up. LOL I'm pretty sure the neighbours wondered what the hell was going on in the rocking car, in the driveway, in broad daylight Hahaha. But it's a successful instalation technique, called the 'Bounce-bounce-click' (one I'd picked up from the car seat forum I'd joined) used when installing with the seat belt rather than Isofix, which is another thing we don't have in Australia. Well not unless you have a newish car that has the points, and even if you're lucky enough to have them, you can't buy a seat here to take advantage of them. But that's probably for another post.

We managed to get the seat in and at a slightly more upright angle than 45 degrees. The seat is pretty huge because it accommodates bigger kids. Because my car is tiny, this means that there was no way we could get it the in the centre seat, and it also meant the front passenger could only be comfortable and have any leg room if they were under 5 1/2 feet tall, so I just make it :) But for now we're happy The Monstar is travelling rear-facing!

Looking pretty cute and comfy while doing so too :)

Which seat?

 Now with only a few hundred grams to go before the dreaded 12kgs, the search for a new seat to keep the monstar rear-facing began. Where to start? You can't just pop to the shop, so internet here I come!
After spending what seemed like an absolute fricken eternity looking at seats on overseas sites, as well as joining a car seat forum and reading through posts, questions and recommendations on there, and only just before my head was ready to explode with an overload of information, we decided on a Radian XTSL.

We chose the Radian for a few reasons.


* Radians are one of the safest car seats on the market.

* The Radians have one of highest rear-facing limits available. Up to 20.4kgs. A hell of a lot better than our 12kgs here!

* It is a convertible seat (so can be turned forward-facing) and can be used with the five point harness up to 36kgs. So really should last until the Monstar needs a booster.

 * Diono (back then known as Sunshine Kids) Publish their crash test results. Car seat manufacturers aren't required to do this. Even though being able to see the results is good, you can't really compare them with other seats so a bit hard to make a decision based on the results, but, I thought it showed the company had nothing to hide with their products.

 * I liked the fact it had a steel frame which also made it heaps heavier than the plastic ones here.

* The XTSL model has head wings, for some extra side impact protection.

* The seat can be tethered rear-facing. There aren't a lot of extended rear-facing seats that allow this. Any extra safety features are good in my book.   Wondering what a top tether is? Click here :)

* I also liked that Diono have a branch in New Zealand, just a bit closer to home than the US or Europe. (This proved very helpful later on.)

So now with the final decision made it's time to find the best price. International postage costs are pretty high, so it's a matter of finding the best combined price, seat+shipping. Then to find a supplier that will actually ship it here. Far out what a bloody nightmare that was! Some didn't do international shipping just because. Some didn't  because they said it was too expensive, um, pretty sure that's my issue yeah? Apparently not, pfft. Sadly I think some of the US stores didn't know where Australia was and answered with a puzzled "Where?? No, we don't ship there."  :/  hmmm...
I was almost ready to order from a NZ supplier, when I got lucky and found a US eBay store with a sale! Woohoo saved a couple of hundred dollars!  **Oh and yes it was a brand new seat in it's box with instruction book and all.

With the seat ordered, it's time to wait patiently for delivery. Well a little impatiently actually. I love getting parcels and after the epic process of finding the seat, I didn't want to wait too long. I think I almost thought it was too good to be true after finding such a good price. Maybe it was scam, it might not come at all. Or will it not be what was advertised?? Only slightly paranoid lol

The decision to import

I'd just like to point out that the decision to import a seat that's not legal to use here, wasn't done on a whim. I have no interest in possibly compromising my son's safety just to be a rebel, yes someone actually suggested this *roll eyes* Not even to get back at him for chronically depriving me of sleep for the past 2 years hehehe. We researched, researched some more then weighed up the risks, and came to the conclusion that importing a seat would only increase the safety of the little Monstar.

The beginning...

So, the search for the perfect car seat began when it was time to return the capsule we'd hired before the Monstar was born. Not a huge issue I thought, Australia has the toughest safety standards for car seats so really you can't go too wrong buying a seat here right. We found a nice seat, good price, and well rated. Done. Well so I thought.
A few months later it was coming up to 12kgs, that's when it's time to turn your baby forward facing. Well we were lucky enough to have a convertible seat that allowed for rear-facing up to 12kgs, a lot here only allow up to 9kgs.
I was talking to a friend when she mentioned she was thinking of importing a car seat for her little one, only one month younger than my Monstar. This would let them keep him rear-facing longer. She explained to me how a child's head to body ratio is really top heavy, that, along with the fact that their little spines and neck muscles aren't fully developed can equal horrible outcomes in an accident if they are forward-facing.
That got me thinking. So I was off looking at stats, crash tests and articles and it didn't take long for me to work out I didn't want to turn my little Monstar forward-facing in another 300 grams! I started to feel really sick about having to do it, so started to look at seats from overseas. Even though it is illegal to use an imported seat here because they don't comply with Australian standards, I really felt that the benefits outweighed the risks. And so the quest began...

Here's a bit of a visual to help with the head to body ratio info...
A child’s head is 25% of their total body weight compared to an adult, which is 6%.  With the huge forces during an accident, if forward-facing, their head will be thrown forward and can lead to huge injuries, even internal decapitation.  In a nut shell, if they are rear-facing the force is spread over a larger surface avoiding their head being thrown forward and preventing the same horrible chance of injury or death.

Customisation complete! ...Just a test post really :)

Well what an ordeal that was! Trying to work out how to start and customise a blog with a toddler that's been particularly velcro all week and in an absolutely foul mood today. It's only taken me the best part of the day, a browser change and a tension headache, but I think I've done it. Maybe the monstar will be in a better mood tomorrow so I can have a bit of time to really make a start in here, fingers crossed. Things are looking up he's outside with the baby wipes now, wiping his BFF's bum and changing his nappy (his BFF being a stuffed purple dragon) very cute :)
I think I need to pay some attention to my freshly trashed house now, the price you pay to spend  hours at the computer fending off the feral toddler while trying  to start a blog I guess.



Here's the BFF left outside after his bum cleaning, wipes and all :D