Using an overseas baby car seat to prolong rear facing for my DD in the car

[bilbylove]

my bub is getting too long to keep rear facing in her Aust standard Turn a tot, so i either

- have her forward facing in the Turn a tot
or
- buy an overseas rear facing seat that goes to bigger weights

i want to know the ramifications of this

my dh puts up "roadblocks" to me doing this

- the seat won't get thru customs cos it doesn't meet Australian standards
- the front passenger seat will have to be WAY forward to accomodate it
- if we're in an accident, the insurance won't pay up if we have a non-AUstralian standard child seat

are these real concerns or not?

any ideas?

i drive a 1990 Nissan Pintara (hatchback)

would love to hear from people who have "been there, doing that".

am assuming shipping for such an item would be high.

thanks

[mummygeorgie]

It's illegal to use a non-Aust standard car seat AFAIK.

ETA: What part of her is too long? You can keep using it RF even if she seems uncomfy, if she's within the weight limit for rearfacing. (Sounds harsh, but better to have broken legs because they were bent up kinda funny in a RF position, than a head injury or worse.)

[mum2henry]

I know Bek had her kids rear facing as long as possible, but her kids are littlies. As to using non Aussie standard certified I personally wouldn't, but surely you might be able to find somehting a bit bigger - I know our Mother's choice covertible is a BIG car seat

[kiki]

No you can't use an over seas car seat. The reason for this is that Australia is the only country in the world that uses a tether strap to secure the seat (this is the strap that goes to the back of the car) all other car seats around the world only use the car seat belt to secure the car seat into the car. Therefore an overseas made car seat is A) illegal in Australia and B) not as safe so you'd be wasting your money. If your little one is too big to be rearward facing then she is probably ready to face forward and be perfectly safe anyway.

[MadMumof3]

i'm impressed that at 20 months shes rear facing all of mine by 1 were forward facing cos they wanted to see me and interact they all tried pulling themselves up in their seats to crane around to see me.
i would think that if shes too long then its time to turn her around. the seats are designed to be safe if shes in the 8kg + weight range forward facing .

and no i wouldnt use a non aussie seat for hte same reasons Kiki posted a lot on the international market dont have the tether strap

[cathyrubin]

I think its kinda safe to probably have her front facing is shes 20 months old now. I would trust having an overseas car seat and I think your DH's concerns are right.
If your DD gets injured in a car accident (I dont even think TAC will pay anything since the car seat is not australian), the bills will be big and may impact on her treatment type, I wouldnt risk that, TBO.

is there a reason you want her to remain rear facing?

[~Melissa~]

There's a forum on EB specifically for discussion about car restraints, have you looked there for info G? I've only been in there a few times but there are some very knowledgeable people who post in there & I'm sure you would be able to get the answers to your questions there.

[Nicole_M]

Originally Posted by kiki

No you can't use an over seas car seat. The reason for this is that Australia is the only country in the world that uses a tether strap to secure the seat (this is the strap that goes to the back of the car) all other car seats around the world only use the car seat belt to secure the car seat into the car. Therefore an overseas made car seat is A) illegal in Australia and B) not as safe so you'd be wasting your money. If your little one is too big to be rearward facing then she is probably ready to face forward and be perfectly safe anyway.

This is not strictly true...We have a US made car seat that we bought in Dubai. It has a tether strap as most US seats now do. I'm not currently using it but have been led to believe that I can apply to have an Aus standards sticker applied to it if it passes inspection.

[bilbylove]

YouTube - The Importance of Rear-Facing

I think the Australian car seat standards are lower than other countries, where kids are kept rear facing until the age of four.

THanks Mel, i posted the same question on EB too. I thought that rear facing seats fits into attachment parenting, so that's why i thought lots of Nappycino mums would know about this area. (more so than EB).

i don't know about the five point harness bit, i would certainly want to investigate that angle.

I would only go ahead if i thought it was the safest thing for my child.

[bilbylove]

i just googled and found this - is that what you mean or similar?
it says for up to 18kg, but doesn't say what weight you can rearface up to

my bub is 11kg now, but i would like to have her rearfacing as long as possible (til four would be great)

Originally Posted by mum2henry

I know Bek had her kids rear facing as long as possible, but her kids are littlies. As to using non Aussie standard certified I personally wouldn't, but surely you might be able to find somehting a bit bigger - I know our Mother's choice covertible is a BIG car seat